Tender coconut Dosa/ Bannankai Dosa

I know, everyone who is born & brought up in the coastal region of Karnataka will have nostalgic feeling about tender coconut & the dishes prepared out of it. In summer, it is very usual that coconuts fall off premature due to the hot weather like any other fruits such as banana, mango… Very tender coconut flesh/ pulp/ malai is very tasty to eat as it is. You can even blend it with coconut water to make tender coconut juice. Whereas, when it becomes hard, but not mature enough to use in cooking, then you will have a question of how to finish it!? Coconut in this stage is referred as bannankai/ bannangayi or baddu kai in our local language. It is the case generally in summer for coconut farmers. We used to get bunches of such coconuts at a time which summed up to 10+ coconuts! Then mom used to make dosa using them which turns super soft & tasty.

Here in Bangalore, we but 4-5 tender coconuts at a time from a seller who sells near our home. Sometimes we get harder pulp as well. Then I make these dosa, which is liked by everyone at home. Chutney or jaggery syrup makes a great combination to it. Now, let us focus the method of making it. In the image, dosa is served with guava chutney.

Check for the recipe of Rice tender coconut pudding/Halbai… 

Preparation time: 4 hours

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Serves: 20 dosas

Ingredients:

Rice- 3 cups

Tender coconut pulp/ malai -1 cup, (of 2-3 tender coconuts)

Salt

Ghee & Oil – for preparing dosa

Method:

• Wash & soak rice for 3-4 hours.
• Collect the malai/ pulp/ flesh using a sharp knife or spoon.
• Chop it roughly.
• Wash the soaked rice once and drain water. In grinder/ mixer grind rice along with chopped tender coconut flesh and salt to smooth paste. Consistency should be little thicker than neer dosa batter.
• Heat a griddle on medium flame. Apply oil. Spread 1- 1½ ladle of batter (like neer dosa) on the heated griddle and cook covered.
• Spread little ghee and roast dosa inverted for few seconds.
• Serve this dosa hot with coconut chutney or jaggery syrup.

Notes:

• Prepare dosa with fresh batter, or refrigerate the batter if using it later. Do not ferment it.
• Prepare batter little thicker than neer dosa batter and make one dosa. Check if dosa comes out of griddle clean without sticking. If you observe dosa becomes brittle & hard, then add little water.
• If you use more coconut pulp than mentioned here, then you should make batter bit thick. In this case, you can spread dosa like regular dosa, not like neer dosa!