Sindhi Rasoi

Sultry summers are gone here in Mumbai,and monsoon showers have knocked the parched earth ,giving a sigh of relief ,from dusty,sweaty ,nasty heat of summer.However,I’ll do miss some of my favourite summer things,like making falooda icecream,chilled mangoshakes,jaljeera and ofcourse chilled masala chaach(buttermilk).One more food that associates me with summer afternoons is Dodo ,which is a type of flatbread,made from rice flour.It’s bit sticky,light,not too much spicy yet it serves as a delicious accompaniment  with any veggie or Dal ,and i just love to wash it down with some flavoured masala buttermilk

This Dodo(funny name ,isn’t it?) recipe calls for a type of rice,called sona mussorie (not sure ,how it is spelt).I guess ,people from South of India might be aware of this type of rice,as mostly it is used in Idli/Dosa batters

Wikipedia says……

Sona masuri (or its original name Swarna Masuri) is a medium-grain rice grown largely in the Indian states of Andra Pradesh and Karnataka. In Telugu Sona Masuri rice is called as Bangaru Theegalu(meaning Golden Ivy).It is lightweight and aromatic, and considered to be of premium quality.By large it is considered to be a healthy diet as it contains less starch and is easily digestible. Ideal for preparing dishes like sweet pongal, biryani, fried rice etc…….

So first of all ,you will need to hunt for this type of rice,then wash them thoroughly,dry them for few days in sunlight,and then take them to your local chaki waala (flour mill)and get it grinded to get the rice flour.My mom used to follow this procedure,but as by now you all know that i am lazy for all these lengthy stuffs ,so i just buy ready- to- use rice flour from food mall.Though i compromise on the quality,but i can’t help ,coz i am not blessed with the leisure time to follow the whole procedure

Generally all the Indian flatbreads are made ,by rolling the dough with rolling pins and then cooked.But Dodo is a sindhi speciality which is made by patting the dough with palms of your hands.No rolling pins are used.This is bit tricky ,but check out the easier option at the end of this post

This one is for my yet another, new friend(of late ,i m making lots of friends in blogosphere)Srivalli of Cooking 4all seasons who is hosting a Rotimela

Ingredients:

• Rice flour(a cup for each dodo)
• Chopped onion ,a spoonfull for each
• Chopped Green chilly/es
• Chopped Coriander leaves 1 spoon for each
• Salt
• Oil 2 tspn for each dodo
• Water to knead the flour

Method:

• Mix all the ingredients except water
• Now add water little by little ,mixing it properly and knead it ,till you get a soft manageable dough.Smoothen it properly
• Now take a handful of this dough and pat it gently on your palms(you can grease or wet your palms before doing so,to avoid sticky mess)
• Then carefully place  it on  greased ,hot griddle and quickly keep patting it  ,till it reach the thickness of paratha.
• Now this could be really tough for novices,as most of the deed will end up with red palms,burnt  dodo,or some stuff which just refuses to part from the griddle.Don’t get disheartened with that.Just try it this way…..Take a clean plastic sheet(or cut open a poly bag,or ziplock pouch),sprinkle some dry flour on that and start patting the dough on that till it  achieves required thickness.Then carefully transfer it on griddle ,let it cook for few seconds and slide it on the inverted flat plate ,then transfer it back on griddle ( this is to help flip) and cook on other side
• Cook it on medium flame on both sides .Apply  some oil  after flipping sides,so as to make it crisp
• Enjoy it hot(it only taste good when hot) with any veggie or dal or buttermilk