I have a selective liking towards New York. I love to roam around this city block by block until my leg hurts. But somehow I can’t live here. This city does not suite my persona or I don’t suite NYC’s persona. But still I love New York City and I ensure to be there whenever I have an opportunity. Few weeks ago we had to visit NYC, but after our work was done TH & I decided to spend the rest of the day together. He dropped me at the nearest station and he went to play badminton with his pals. Though I had to spend the rest of the day all alone I was excited about the places I was visiting.
After a quick stop at Ritz Camera in uptown and clicking few pictures of the huge church in front of it, I went two levels down to board a train to downtown. My next stop was Chelsea Market, a foodie’s paradise.
Oreo cookie was first invented and produced in one part of this building and many media companies including food network operate from here. Apart from this it houses several retail stores like Witchcraft Bakers, Amy’s Bread, Chelsea Thai, Buon Italia, Ronny Brook Diary etc and famous restaurants like Morimoto and Buddakan.
I was one happy girl roaming around this gorgeous market. Not only that I treated myself with two scoops of farm made vanilla ice-cream with butterscotch topping. Slurpp..
What I loved/bought @ Chelsea Market?
- World’s best Brownies from Witch craft
- Whole Wheat Baguette from Amy’s Bread
- Callebaut Bars from Buon Italia
- Props and Kitchen items from Bowery Kitchen supplies
I only wish that I could have stayed little longer. If you are visiting New York City you must visit this place. It is not only about food but it is about the vibes and the beauty of this age old building you must experience.
I have never been away from my Mom so long. It has been 2+ years and I miss her and her food. Whenever this happens I get into a cooking spree. I make her specialty dishes to make myself comfortable and satisfy my cravings. Cauliflower Dosa is one such dish in the long list of my favorite foods. We don’t get to eat this often but whenever she makes, it disappears quickly in my home. So did it happen in our home too. TH loved it so much that he couldn’t wait for me to finish clicking pictures of this dish. I had to quickly wrap up my photo session so that I could save it for myself 
How it tasted?
This spiced up Cauliflower blends well with dosas. When you flip. it gets little charred and gives it a unique flavor. Also it makes you crave for it again and again. So lets see how to make this most craveable Dosas.
Makes 2 Cauliflower Masala dosas
Ingredients
- Cauliflower (cut florets in to small chunks) – 2 cups
- Onion (finely chopped) – 1/8 cup
- Tomato (finely chopped) – 1/4 cup
- Ginger Garlic Paste – 1/2 tsp
- Coriander Powder – 3/4 tsp
- Chili Powder – 3/4 tsp (1/2 for mild spice)
- Turmeric Powder – 1/8 tsp
- Asafetida/Hing – pinch
- Garam Masala – pinch
- Coriander leaves – few
- Water – to cook cauliflower
- Oil – 1 tsp + more for making dosa
- Cumin Seeds/Jeera – pinch
- Salt to taste
- Dosa Batter – 1 cup
Method
- In a sauce pan, boil 6-8 cups of water with 1/2 tsp salt.
- Wash Cauliflower in running water. Cut them into tiny florets.
- When the water starts boiling add cauliflower florets and remove from flame. Let it soak for 3-4 minutes (5-6 minutes for soft florets). Strain water using a colander or a strainer.
- Place a skillet/pan and let it heat up a bit. Add oil, when it is hot add cumin seeds and let is splutter.
- On a medium flame, add finely chopped onion and saute until it becomes translucent and turns light golden brown. Add quarter teaspoon salt for faster browning.
- Add finely chopped tomatoes and saute for 3-4 minutes or until it becomes mushy and blends with the onion. If it sticks to the pan don’t worry.
- Add cauliflower florets and saute for a minute. Add some salt to it and saute for few more minutes. You will see that those florets starts leaving out water/moisture. That is a pretty good sign
If it does not shed water and sticks to the pan add few tbsp of water to keep it moist.
- Now add ginger garlic paste and saute for a minute.
- Add coriander powder, chili powder and mix well. Adjust salt/chili powder as per your taste.
- Simmer and saute for few more minutes until the raw smell of masala disappears and water evaporates. The final masala should be dry.
- Remove it from flame, add chopped coriander leaves, stir and close it with a lid to allow the flavors mingle with each other.
- After 15-30 minutes, when you can’t wait anymore to have this delectable dosas place a tawa/griddle let it become hot. Add few drop of water and you will see that it sizzles or dance on the tawa. Let it evaporate.
- On a medium flame, pour a laddle full of dosa batter and spread it in a circular motion. Do not make it thin rather spread it to uthappam’s thickness or little lesser than that.
- Using a spatula or your hands spread the dry cauliflower masala on top of the dosa (when the batter on top of dosa is still wet). Gently press it with a spatula and add few drops or quarter tsp of oil around dosa and on top of it. Ensure that you do this quickly or dosa might get cooked and the masala won’t stick to it.
- When the bottom side is cooked, gently flip it and let it cook on the other side. This helps the spiced florets to get little charred and it tastes great.
- Slide it to a plate and serve it hot with chutney or sambhar.
Notes
If you are not comfortable flipping dosa with masala on top, close the dosa with a lid and let it cook little longer (Appam style). Carefully slide it to a plate. With little practice and patience you can improve your dosa making skills
While serving it to kids or to enhance the flaovor you can use ghee while making dosas.
A glimpse from my kitchen
- In a sauce pan, boil 6-8 cups of water with 1/2 tsp salt.
- Wash Cauliflower in running water. Cut them into tiny florets.
- When the water starts boiling add cauliflower florets and remove from flame. Let it soak for 3-4 minutes (5-6 minutes for soft florets).
- Strain water using a colander or a strainer.
- Place a skillet/pan and let it heat up a bit. Add oil, when it is hot add cumin seeds and let is splutter.
- On a medium flame, add finely chopped onion and saute until it becomes translucent and turns light golden brown. Add quarter teaspoon salt for faster browning.
- Add finely chopped tomatoes and saute for 3-4 minutes or until it becomes mushy and blends with the onion. If it sticks to the pan don’t worry.
- Add cauliflower florets and saute for a minute. Add some salt to it and saute for few more minutes. You will see that those florets starts leaving out water/moisture. That is a pretty good sign If it does not shed water and sticks to the pan add few tbsp of water to keep it moist.
- Now add ginger garlic paste and saute for a minute.
- Add coriander powder, chili powder and mix well. Adjust salt/chili powder as per your taste.
- Simmer and saute for few more minutes until the raw smell of masala disappears and water evaporates. The final masala should be dry.
- Remove it from flame, add chopped coriander leaves, stir and close it with a lid to allow the flavors mingle with each other.
- After 15-30 minutes, when you can’t wait anymore to have this delectable dosas place a tawa/griddle let it become hot. Add few drop of water and you will see that it sizzles or dance on the tawa. Let it evaporate.
- On a medium flame, pour a laddle full of dosa batter and spread it in a circular motion. Do not make it thin rather spread it to uthappam’s thickness or little lesser than that.
- Using a spatula or your hands spread the dry cauliflower masala on top of the dosa (when the batter on top of dosa is still wet). Ensure that you do this quickly or dosa might get cooked and the masala won’t stick to it.
- Gently press it with a spatula.
- Add few drops or quarter tsp of oil around dosa and on top of it.
- When the bottom side is cooked, gently flip it and let it cook on the other side. This helps the spiced florets to get little charred and it tastes great.
- Slide it to a plate and serve it hot with chutney or sambhar.
I used to make cauliflower crepes slightly different though I never flip them but roll ‘em… We call it tunnel Dosa
Looks very scrumptious!!!
I love cauliflower masala dosa very very much,but never made at home due to my laziness
Looks mouthwatering,I can just drool now! Thanks for sharing those pictures!
I love your new header..
Hey Radhika,
It’s a very different recipe and the dosa looks great. Thanks for the recipe.
Beautiful and droolworthy cauliflower masala dosa, very tempting..Beautiful chelsea market clicks Radhika, very pleasant to eyes..
Pictures look great!..I make the same way except don’t add hing..:)..Hope to see your mom’s other recipes..
wow..nice pics….
lovely dosa….looks really yummy
Dosai looks Yumm… Love to roam around New York City any time of the day.
I wanted to call you too, but with kids home I’ve been busy. Can’t wait for the school to open. Will talk soon.
The paprika picture from the market looks really great!
Cauliflower dosa sounds so yummy!
Lovely and informative post Radhika. Love the cauliflower Doas. Beautiful clicks of red Capsicums. Your post made me home sick too
Have not seen her for the last 2 years.
Lovely pics and a very tempting Cauliflower Dosa. I love this one and a good way to include veggies in our Indian dinner.
Radhika,
This cauliflower masala dosa looks so delicious.Never made it before.Will definitely make it and let you know how we liked it.
There is a CSN giveaway going on in my blog,take a peek and try to participate.
Lovely pics and you are right, there is something in NYC that makes you like it
Yummy masala dosa..never made masala dosa like this..kewl
Cauliflower dosa is a fantastic idea..looks fabulous!! Will try it
Market pics are stunning..
http://usmasala.blogspot.com/
Great post, RV.. Love the idea of cauliflower dosa. I will definitely try it soon. We had been to a restaurant called House of Dosa in Vancouver recently. They had a variety of dosas like chicken vindaloo dosa, meat dosa, prawn dosa and many others. We tried a couple of those dosas and totally loved them. I am planning to try and post them sometime.
Regarding your question about ada pradhaman, Lakshmi prepared it with home-made coconut milk only. I will talk to her in the evening and get you the number of coconuts you need to use for that recipe
Beautiful pics of Chelsea market and the dosa looks fabulous too
something new to me…looks so delicious and i cant wait to try it out…and lovely click!!
Chelsea market looks fun and what a delicious dosa topped with cauliflower masala – excellent!
RV,
Lakshmi used 3 coconuts for that ada pradhaman recipe. Grate those coconuts, add around 1/2 cup warm water and squeeze to extract thick coconut milk(first extraction). Now add more water (around 2 cup or so) to the already squeezed coconut and squeeze again to get the second extraction or thin coconut milk. Finally strain the extractions through a fine sieve.
You can make this process easier using a mixer. Grind the grated coconut with the water in a mixer. Then use a meshed strainer and press down on the coconut for the first extraction. Repeat the same for the second extraction. Good luck
Woaw, this cauliflower is looking delicious! and..mmmhh.. Dosas
cauliflower dosa looks yummylicious…
Lovely dosai! perfect alternative to Potato masala
hey this a great innovative recipe with such wonderful clicks and a step by step explanation..very very tasty..yum yum..you have a great collection of recipes dear..will be following you now.
Liked the pix, enjoyed reading the post.
Those look heavenly! What a perfect combination.
Cheers,
Rosa
Yummmm.. I am sure this dosa would have tasted heavenly. I love cauliflower in anything and I equally love dosa as well
Nice combi.
Lovely clicks of the city. You are seriously becoming professional with the cam
Keep it going.
I love visiting New York city as well, unlike you I would loveeee to live there unfortunately my husband doesn’t agree. I’ve never heard of cauliflower dosa, looks delicious!
I love dosas and yet I’ve never made one because I’m so terrified of messing it up. Yours looks so perfect, I think I’ll have to get over my fear and give it a go soon!
Lovely clicks and an innovative recipe!
Wow! The dosa is very lovely and flavourful! Yum!
thats a great idea….beautiful clicks..
i went to chelsea market for the first time last weekend and was amazed! I wanted to buy everything!
This dish looks fantastic. So much flavor!
Thanks Joanne. I felt the same thing too. Isn’t this market so lively, fresh and inviting.
Love this recipe .Beautiful pics as always!
masala dosa looks yummeee
Cauliflower dosa new to me..looks so yummy and mouthwatering..Send me a plate please!
This is genius. How clever to literally add the ‘bread’ to it like that. The spices of this dish are lovely with cauliflower. I am making this as ia m sure it will be a massive hit like your tandoori chicken was…. YUMM!!!!
I enjoyed reading this post …The step by step pictures were great help. This surely is a new twist to ordinary plain dosa
Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi
next time you come to NYC let me know – walking around is my specialty!
next time you come to NYC let me know – walking around is my specialty!
Lovely. I can never make dosas. Yet I attempted today plain dosas, with coconut chutney and sambar (with bhindi thrown in).
Love that red door photo.
its a pleasure to roam around the streets of a new city. I used to do that when I first came to Bangalore or visited Pondicherry but now with a baby all these seem like a distant dream. the cauliflower dosa is interesting and very filling too.
That dish looks mouthwateringly good! Great flavors and combo.
I’d love to visit that market.
Cheers,
Rosa
Looks so so delicious.. I love cauliflower topping in the dosas..yummy
love the dosa and the adventure! How great is exploring places on your own!
Very tempting Dosa,Droolwrothy pics…Even stepvise pics also very nice.