Plain Uttapam (Plain Rice Pancake)

Plain Uttapam is thick and is not filled with vegetables.

Ingredients:

• 1-cup raw rice
• 1/3 cup split skinned black gram (urad dal)
• 2 tablespoons cooked rice
• 2 tablespoons beaten rice (poha)
• 5 to 7 fenugreek seeds (methi)
• 2 tablespoons oil
• Salt to taste
• Oil for cooking

Method:

• Wash and soak urad dal and rice separately for 2-3 hours.
• Blend them separately to smooth paste using some water. Mix them and add the salt. Keep it for the whole night.
• Mix the batter well next morning till it is sufficiently thick.
• Heat a flat griddle and rub some oil on it.
• Take a big serving spoonful of the batter and drop it on the griddle. Spread it to a thick circle. Remember that uttapam is not thin, like dosa; it should be thick. Sprinkle some oil on the circumference of the uttapam and over it. Let it cook on the bottom side, once done flip it to cook the other side.
• Take out in a dish when cooked and serve hot with Coconut Chutney.

Tips:

To make fluffier Idlis/Uttapa, soak Poha or pressed rice (which is made by flattening parboiled rice) in lots of water till soft. Add this to lentil and rice mixture and grind all the ingredients together to make a thick smooth batter.

To make Dosas/Uttapa more crispy, add few fenugreek seeds to the lentil and rice mixture while soaking.

To make soft Dosa/Uttapa, add some boiled rice while grinding lentil and rice.