Schezwan Dosa

(This is my entry for the letter "S" in Nupur's A-Z of vegetables. This lovely Indo-Chinese dish fills your tummy and pleases your tongue.)

Note to my readers: Request you to read my article Home Alone in which I have mentioned tips for girls on the H4 visa to utilize their free time in an effective way.

Mumbai: the city that never sleeps. The city I love and miss for so many reasons – it’s the city where I was born and brought up. When I think of Mumbai, I miss my home, my parents, my school, every lane I that is close to home, the crowd, the trains, traveling in crowded buses and in rickshaws, the sights and smells of the city, the familiar places and shops, the haggling of prices with vegetable sellers, the festivals and sweets, the galli ka cricket, and the Mumbai rains. But if someone would ask me to name the thing that I miss most about Mumbai, it would be definitely the Mumbai street food. Now, I am aware that too much of street food is bad for health. But it’s not my fault that I was introduced and fell in love with the Mumbai junk food.

I was in Ruia for class 11th and 12th. And for those who are familiar with the college and its surroundings, they would know that it’s a heaven for junk food lovers. There are several restaurants in and around Ruia. The first ones that come to my mind are Mani’s, DP’s and a Chinese joint whose name I fail to recollect. Then there was the vada pav wala right outside King George School. Walk further for around 5 minutes and you will reach D. Damodar’s snacks and sweet shop. I was so in love with the samosas, kachoris, and pattices sold in this shop that I was hoping I would marry someone from their family. Thus began my eternal love affair with junk food.

I used to frequent the junk food joints near Shivaji Park, eat chat near Citylight, hog on wada pav whenever I felt like. Of course, my parents saw to it that I did not overdo it. There were times when I used to eat shev puri on my way back from office and then declare that I would eat less for dinner. My mom used to ask me if I had eaten any junk food, and I used to say “No”. Then she used to probe me like a police officer and I used to sheepishly answer in the affirmative

My chat love often took me to Ghatkopar where two of my best friends resided. We used to take a stroll down “Khau galli” and sample yummy snacks at cheap prices. The chief among them were dabeli and chat. Schezwan Dosa is one dish that I had seen on the streets of Ghatkopar, but never got the chance to sample. My husband and best friend have tasted this dish and I have tried to recreate this lovely dosa with their help.

Schezwan Dosa

Makes around: 6 schezwan dosas (the dosa batter will yield another couple of sada dosas)
Cooking level: Medium
Preparation time: I took around 2 hours for making dosas, chutney, and sambhar.

For the stuffing (schezwan vegetable mixture):
Ingredients
1.1 ½ cup shredded cabbage
2.½ cup capsicum – chopped to pieces
3.½ cup carrots – chopped finely to pieces
4.1 big onion – sliced thin
5.½ cup noodles – cooked aldent (boil water and cook noodles for exactly 2 minutes)
6.Salt and pepper to taste
7.1 tbsp oil
8.1 tbsp schezwan sauce (I used Ching's schezwan sauce)
9.½ tbsp soya sauce
10.1 tsp chilli vinegar

Method for the stuffing:
1.Heat a pan and add 1 tbsp oil in it.
2.Add carrots, capsicums, cabbage and onion and fry on high heat till the vegetables are cooked.
3.Next, add the noodles and fry for 2-3 minutes.
4.Add salt and pepper to taste, schezwan sauce, soya sauce, chilli vinegar and mix all the ingredients well.
5.Cook for 3-4 minutes and turn off the heat.

For the schezwan dosa:
1.Wash together 2 cups rice, ¾ cup urad daal, and 1 tsp fenugreek seeds. Soak this mixture for 3-4 hours.
2.Grind the above mixture and ferment it overnight. For me, overnight fermentation doesn’t work, so I ferment the mixture for almost 24 hours before making idlis/dosas.
3.Add salt to taste in the batter.
4.Heat a pan and put 1 tsp oil on it. Pour a spoon of batter and spread evenly. Add a little bit of oil on all sides of the dosa. Flip the dosa on the other side and cook for about 30 seconds.
5.Now, spread 1 tsp of schezwan sauce on this side of the dosa and spread evenly. Add a spoonful of the schezwan vegetable mixture on one edge of the dosa. Let cook for another 30 seconds.


6.Roll the dosa and transfer on a plate.
7.Continue making more dosas repeating steps 4,5, and 6.
8. Serve hot with sambhar and chutney or enjoy without any accompaniment.


Verdict: Superb, that's how these dosas turned out. You can use less noodles and more vegetables in the stuffing. These dosas are quite filling and a crowd pleasure. Check out another lovely Indo-Chinese dish from Swad.

View the round-up of S vegetables here.