Kids of lazy moms will know that Milagai podi and Kissan Jam are universal side dishes. One of the two will go with anything. That’s what these kids have been raised to believe. Ask Hasini and Yuvan if you wish to check. In my book, milagai podi is game for all kinds of idli, dosai, oothappam, paniyaram, upma or adai. I smear jam on dosai, chappathi, poori, bread, use it as a topping over oats, porridge, ice cream and sometimes eat spoonfuls straight from the jar when I am craving something sweet. I got caught doing just that. Since I am a responsible mother, I don’t let them eat out of the jam jar but I’ll do it when no-one’s around. When I got caught, I had to explain my veto powers and how nobody else can be trusted to handle the jam jar the right way.
The other day I made paniyarams and served it with milagai podi with no qualms. I’ve always made paniyaram with leftover dosa batter. There is a point in the lifetime of a dosa batter when the dosa turns too sour and rubbery. That’s the point when wives and mommies unleash their creativity and come up with all sorts of ingenious recipes to make use of that leftover dosa batter.
This paniyaram is one of the recipes I make often when I am left with sour dosa batter. I also make vengaya dosai, podi oothappam or these sweet and sour leftover idli batter fritters. These paniyarams are dumb-easy to make. Prepare a tempering of some basic ingredients – onion, chillies, mustard seeds and curry leaves. Mix this into your leftover batter, pour into paniyaram moulds and cook. As simple as that. These paniyarams are convenient to pack in tiffin boxes too.
Paniyaram from leftover dosa batter
Ingredients
- 3 cups Leftover Dosa batter
- 1 Onion, chopped fine
- 1 Green chilli, minced
- 1 inch Ginger, minced
- 1 stem Curry leaves
- 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
- 2 tsp Oil, for tempering
- 3 tbsp Oil, for paniyarams
Instructions
- Heat a small saucepan. Add 2 tsp oil to it. When the oil turns hot, add the mustard seeds and wait until it splutters. Then add the curry leaves, minced ginger, minced green chilli and chopped onion. Fry until the onion turns translucent – 1-2 minutes. Switch off and pour this mixture into the bowl containing the leftover dosa batter. Mix well into the batter.
- Heat a paniyaram pan. Pour about ¼ teaspoon of oil into each of the cavities. Spoon paniyaram batter into each of the cavities. Turn heat to low. Cover the paniyaram pan with a lid and cook for 4-5 minutes. Open the lid and use a wooden skewer to poke the paniyarams and flip them inside their cavities. Cover and cook again for another 3-4 minutes. Remove the paniyarams from the pan using the wooden skewer. Repeat with the rest of the paniyaram batter. Serve with chutney of your choice or milagai podi even like I did.
