A 'handful' of nutrition - Mushti Pole

Try asking my mother or aunts for a recipe and it is possible that at the end of the conversation, you will have a complete understanding of what goes into the dish, how long it takes to cook, what you could serve it with... essentially everything except the exact measures!

Before leaving for the U.S. when I wrote down recipes of my favorite dishes from the women in my family, instructions included such gems as 'add abc ingredient with a light hand' or 'mix as much of xyz ingredient to make the batter just so'! Utterly frustrating for a new cook as you can imagine :-)

There is a word in Marathi that encompasses this cooking philosophy - "andaaz"; which requires the cook to "sense" how much of an ingredient to add. Mushti pole (pronounced po-lay and is Konkani for dosa) has its roots in this old school of cooking I guess. Mushti means a 'handful' in Konkani, so I assume women just soaked handfuls of rice and lentils overnight and rolled out pancakes for breakfast.

MUSHTI/ MUSTI POLO (Rice-Lentil Dosa)
2 cups rice
1 cup poha
1/2 cup urad dal (split black gram)
1/3 cup grated coconut
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
salt to taste
oil for frying

Soak dal, rice and fenugreek seeds in enough water to cover for 2-3 hours. Wash then grind to a fine paste in a blender. Next add (washed) poha and coconut. Grind till well blended. Remove in a large bowl, season and mix well. Set aside in a warm place overnight for fermentation.

To make dosa -
Heat a tawa/ skillet with a teaspoon of oil. Drop a ladleful of batter in the centre of the pan and spread lightly with the back of the spoon into a fairly thick pancake. Cover and fry on one side only. Serve hot with chutney.

Entry for ARF/ 5-a-day Tuesday at Sweetnicks.