Paniyaram And Uthappam: Repurposing Idli/Dosa Batter
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!
Servings Prep Time
2people 10mins
Cook Time
5-10mins
Servings Prep Time
2people 10mins
Cook Time
5-10mins
Ingredients
  • 2cups dosa/idli batter
  • 1cup Mixed finely chopped vegetables of your choiceI typically use onions, cilantro, carrots, frozen peas, green chilies
  • 1tsp Salt
Tools
  • Paniyaram Pan This is available in India, as well as onlineA great substitute is the ebelskiver pan sold anywhere cooking utensils are sold (Walmart, Bed Bath And Beyond, etc.)
Instructions
  1. Chop the vegetables you are using very fine and add to the batter; mix very well, adding a tsp of salt for the vegetables
  2. 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.
  3. Drop the batter in spoonfuls or a small ladle, and let cook for a couple of minutes
  4. 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
  5. Cook on the other side, adding a few drops of oil to each
  6. Slide off the pan onto a plate, serve with chutney or sambar; my son loves this with Maggi Chili Tomato ketchup
  7. Uthappam
  8. Use the same batter, and make it into slightly thicker dosas
  9. 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
  10. Cook on both sides, serve with choice of chutney/sambar/podi