A thosai deep-dive: Part II
Recipe & pictorial guide
I would love to make naturally fermented thosai, but honestly it is an impossibility when you are in the dead of winter and it is snowing outside. Adding commercial yeast is a great solution for when the thosai cravings strike, plus, if you’re new to the world of thosai-making, it is a great starting point because you won’t have to worry about factors such as how long to beat the mixture by hand, to what extent you rinse and soak the rice, sourcing for the freshest whole black gram etc.
Still, frying thosai is a tricky process and the same batter can produce wildly different results depending on how you manage the fry:
I’ll try to be as thorough as I can in walking you through the steps. You might also want to read Part I of this deep dive before you begin. Once you’ve learnt to make basic rice and urad dal thosai, honestly the sky’s the limit. I’ve made thosai with millet and spelt flour so far, because I’ve been trying to incorporate more wholegrain into my diet, and love the results. Wholegrain thosai, in particular, is really beautiful when eaten in the style of French savoury buckwheat crepes. Will include the recipe for this variation, and instructions to make these ‘galettes’ below, following the basic recipe.
Yeasted thosai
Makes enough batter for 5 crepes