Dosa Hacks: the Made In Carbon Steel Griddle

I’ve increasingly made dosas over the years. I’m not sure I’ve reached the 10,000 dosa mark but I feel like I’m getting close. Dosas are the cornerstone of my cooking repertoire, simple as it may be.

For those who don’t know, they can be loosely analogized to crepes, but that’s doing them a disservice. It’s made similar to a crepe, but with a rice and dal batter that’s fermented. A good dosa is paper-thin and crispy. They’re somewhat similar to injera bread but injera is much softer and fluffier.

It’s a healthy, low-carb, plant-friendly food. Paired with a good chutney, there’s not much I would rather eat.

The “problem” is that dosas are incredibly finicky to make. A badly made dosa is not like bad pizza. It’s basically a lump of batter. It can end up sticking to the pan in a frustrating mess. Any number of variables can drastically affect the quality of a dosa, from the temperature of the cooktop, to the consistency of the batter, to the type of spatula you use.

Over the years I have come up with a series of hacks to making dosas. It’s more accurate to say I’ve kept my eye out for them and compiled them.

Enter: the Made In Carbon Steel Griddle. This summer, I happened to encounter Made In cookware. They came out with a half-griddle that’s carbon steel. It’s absolutely perfect for making dosas. I previously used a cast-iron griddle and tried a bunch of different ones, ending up with the Lodge. There's a lot of ink spilled on the internet that talks about the best way to season your cast iron griddle for making dosas, and how to get things just right. None of that is relevant or necessary once you get your hands on the Made In.

For making dosas, there’s no comparison between the Made In and the Lodge griddle. Unlike with a cast iron griddle, the Made In does not require seasoning or any ongoing maintenance. The Made In actually excuses imperfections in the batter. The Made In also is less sensitive to temperature differences in the cooktop. I’ve used it on both glass top and on induction and there seemed to be no big temperature variations on each surface. The Made In also interacts with the sharp end of the stainless-steel spatula nicely.

Overall, it’s made a significant, positive difference in the quality of the dosas I make. I would say it's my number one dosa hack. ?

NB: one of my favorite articles on dosas is on fxcuisine: “Engine Room Dosas”. Both the article and comments are highly informative.