It's a fact of life - the law of diminishing returns is nowhere else truer than in the culinary world. Idli, dosa - great the first day, maybe even the 2nd day (and we do make quite a bit of it, so it's bound to last a few days unless you have an army for a family), but on the 3rd day, it starts to get a little stale! So what do you? Repurpose it. Dress it up. Paniyaram, as well as uthappam are great incarnations of idli/dosai batter. And it takes very little effort! On with the recipes!

Prep Time | 10 mins |
Cook Time | 5-10 mins |
Servings |
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Ingredients
- 2 cups dosa/idli batter
- 1 cup Mixed finely chopped vegetables of your choice I typically use onions, cilantro, carrots, frozen peas, green chilies
- 1 tsp Salt
Tools
- Paniyaram Pan This is available in India, as well as online A great substitute is the ebelskiver pan sold anywhere cooking utensils are sold (Walmart, Bed Bath And Beyond, etc.)
Ingredients
Tools
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Instructions
- Chop the vegetables you are using very fine and add to the batter; mix very well, adding a tsp of salt for the vegetables
- Heat the paniyaram pan, and when hot, add a few drops of oil in each of the indents; To test oil readiness, drop a small spoon of batter. It should sizzle.
- Drop the batter in spoonfuls or a small ladle, and let cook for a couple of minutes
- When it's slightly cooked, use a sharp thin and wooden stick and flip each of them; doing this before they're well cooked will result in lovely rounded paniyarams, instead of the hut-like flat-bottomed ones
- Cook on the other side, adding a few drops of oil to each
- Slide off the pan onto a plate, serve with chutney or sambar; my son loves this with Maggi Chili Tomato ketchup
- Uthappam
- Use the same batter, and make it into slightly thicker dosas
- Some prefer to add the veggies after sautéing, and on top of the spread dosa batter. I usually add them raw, and add them into the batter directly; it may be a little chunky to spread, but it's a personal preference. If adding on top of the dosa, spread the dosai batter slightly thicker than normal, and sprinkle the veggies on top quickly, before the dosa starts to cook; continue to cook as usual
- Cook on both sides, serve with choice of chutney/sambar/podi
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