Instructions: I want to post some Gujerati recipes, since its a wonderful cuisine which is very under-represented in restaurants, even in India - but my recipes are mostly of the "little of this and a pinch of that" variety. Ill fix them, but meanwhile, this is a Tamil recipe from a friend which qualifies as comfort food in my opinion: it makes a thick, flying-saucer-shaped crisp patty, which can be a substantial snack or part of a meal. Although its called a dosai, its not the usual kind which resembles a crepe. Its cooked in a wok-shaped pan, but you could probably use a griddle as well.

Extra batter can be refrigerated for a couple of days.

Soak the dals and the dried red chillies overnight. Drain and reserve the chillies. Grind the dals briefly in a blender without adding water. Do not grind to a paste - there should be fine uniform grains. Grind the chillies to a paste separately and add them to the ground dals along with salt and yoghurt. Mix well. Keep this mix in a warm place for about six hours, so that it becomes slightly sour. Heat 2 tblsp. oil until its quite hot, add the mustard seed and red chillie. Fry until the mustard seeds jump, and add them to the dal batter. Put about 1 tblsp. oil in a wok-shaped pan, turn to coat the pan with oil, and pour in some of the batter - it should be about 1/2" thick in the center. Smooth the top of the batter with a spoon, cover with a tight lid, and cook over a slow flame for about 8-11 minutes, until a dark brown crust forms on the bottom. Turn the dosai very carefully, add a little oil underneath, and cook again until a dark crust forms on the bottom.

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