Dosa Mela: Body Builder Dosa

Last minute entry for Srivallis Dosa Mela

Srivalli is surely going to throw stones, rotten eggs and tomatoes at me for this entry! :) While i sat on the sidelines twiddling my thumbs, the entire blogging community has come up with some amazing dosas. My only excuse for this last minute entry is that i was too busy trying and eating their entries( Sia's Moong chilla and Srivallis Curds Dosa really delicious)

I was all out of ideas, when i re read srivallis original announcement. It helpfully had a link to the wiki post on dosa, which led me to the wiki on crepes- which briefly mentioned a crepe called body builder crepe.

I was intrigued. It is getting to summer now and H. and I have just started hitting the gym to exercise away the cakes and rich foods of winter.A protein rich low carb dosa/crepe sounded like just the thing we needed. After much googling, I found a recipe to a protein rich pancake here. I am reproducing the recipe below:

Cindy's Protein Crepe/Pancake / Body builder dosa:

Ingredients:

1/4 cup slow cooked oats raw
1/4 cup light cottage cheese
5 egg whites
cinnamon to taste

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend about 15 seconds. Heat skillet and put half of your batter on the pan. Watch your heat! Too high can really destroy it. My skillet is usually about 325-350 degrees. Don't forget to flip your crepe!"

I adapted it to an Indian palette. I replaced the slow cooked oats with quick cooking ones, removed the cinnamon and added green chillies, coriander leaves and whey protein powder(2 tbsp).

I was not sure what I would get at the end, but i went ahead and made a dosa with the mixture.

The verdict: Wow. It was really good. It tastes almost exactly like an omlette, but it really fills you up. Two eggs make one utthapams style crepe. A quick back of the envelope calculation- and one crepe made from two eggs is approximately around 120 calories.(cottage cheese: Around 25 calories
Quick cooking oats: Around 30 calories
Two egg whites at 17 calories each: 34
Protein powder: Around 30 calories)

I am sure you can use egg beaters for this recipe. It does not have egg yolks, so it does not have cholestrol. It has fibre from the oats. I am sure you can add any vegetables you like, like tomato or shredded cabbage, spinach and any cheese that you like. Or have it with fruits as per cindys post.

So happy summer gym-ming with the body builder dosa.

Scotch Eggs

Recipe:
1 Pound yukon gold potatoes
salt
pepper
red chilli powder
As many boiled eggs as you want
1 beaten egg
Parmesan cheese
breadcrumbs

Donot use boiling potatoes for this recipe as the outer shell gets very soft when fried and does not hold its shape.

Tips for boiling and peeling eggs:
If you want a perfect ovoid shape for your egg, pierce either the top or bottom of the shell with a sharp thin pin, like an office document pin or safety pin. Doing so will push the air bubble inside the egg out as the egg cooks. Donot worry about egg leaking through that hole, the hole is miniscule. This ensures a perfect ovoid shape.

To boil the egg perfectly without a green ring, keep the eggs in normal room temperature water and boil for ten minutes. After exactly ten minutes, turn off the heat, cover with a plate and let cool for ten minutes.

To peel the egg easily , fill a bowl with icecubes. Drain water from the pan in which the eggs were boiled, give the pan a couple of shakes with your hand to crack the eggs slightly.

Tip the eggs into the ice bath. Give it five minutes. You should be able to peel the eggs with a smooth and nice finish and not have pitted craters like the surface of the moon.

Back to Scotch Eggs:

Mash up the potatoes nicely, add salt, black pepper and red chilli pwd to taste. Make a ball of the potato mixture in your hand, flatten it, place a boiled egg in it, and wrap the potato mixture around it. Does not have to be very neat. Roll this ball in first the egg wash, which is a raw egg whisked with a little water to form a homogenous mixture. Then roll in the parmesan and bread crumb mixture. Deep fry.

Not the healthiest snack i know, but pretty darn tasty!

These cannot be frozen before hand.

Deviled eggs with cilantro and curry

8 large eggs
3 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp prepared mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 large green onion
2 tbsp fresh cilantro

From The Curry book by Nancy McDermott