Overview
Both dosa and uttapam come from one bowl of fermented rice and urad dal batter, yet the two dishes treat it in opposite ways. Dosa is spread into a thin sheet and fried quickly at high heat until brittle. Uttapam keeps the batter thick, leaves it still, and gets its vegetables pressed down into the wet surface so they bake into the cake instead of lying on top. What comes off the griddle is tender and slightly spongy within, much like a savoury pancake, and its underside has a browned, mildly crisp crust.
For a first-time cook, uttapam is the easier of the two. Nothing in it calls for the practised, continuous swirl that makes early dosas tear or clump. It is also a good outlet for batter that has been left to ferment past the point a crisp dosa wants. Extra sourness and a bubblier body do no harm here, and the softer crumb of uttapam actually benefits from them.
Where the Dish Comes From
As a member of the South Indian family of fermented-batter foods, uttapam shares dosa's and idli's lack of any recorded starting point. Grinding rice with urad dal, letting it sour, and cooking it on a heated griddle was a technique that grew and diverged over a long time in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, with each region settling on its own ratios and habits. The thick, vegetable-studded form called uttapam is linked above all with Tamil Nadu and with the Udupi-style restaurants that, from the middle of the twentieth century, spread South Indian tiffin across the country. Home cooks made regional vegetable versions long before restaurants standardised the dish, and those versions continued alongside it. It would therefore be misleading to give uttapam to one state. A better description treats it as the heavier variant in a shared southern repertoire, which reached the rest of India chiefly through restaurants and tiffin houses.
Step-by-Step Method
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Prep
Prepare and ferment the batter
Let the rice soak for 4 to 6 hours in one bowl and the urad dal, together with the fenugreek, in another. Grind each to a thick, smooth paste, blend them with the salt in a spacious container, and set it in a warm corner for 8 to 12 hours. It is ready once it has about doubled, looks airy and smells pleasantly sour. The batter is the same as for dosa and idli, and the only thing uttapam asks differently is a thicker pour.
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Prep
Dice the toppings fine and dab off moisture
Every vegetable should be diced to a similar small size, because pieces of mixed size cook at different speeds after being pressed into the batter. A juicy tomato benefits from a quick dab with paper towel. Extra juice stops the batter beneath the tomato from setting firmly.
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Prep
Check how thick the batter is
The batter wants to be a little heavier than for dosa but still run from the ladle, in the manner of a dense pancake mix. Batter that has loosened with age should not be thinned with more water for uttapam. It is best used at the natural thickness it has after fermenting.
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Cook
Set the tawa to a moderate temperature
A medium flame is right, below the medium-high used for dosa. The thick centre of an uttapam needs time to cook before the underside scorches, so the pan should be gentler and the cooking longer. Rub a thin film of oil over the surface.
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Cook
Pour a thick round and keep hands off
Place a ladleful of batter in the middle of the pan and nudge it outward just enough to form a disc around half a centimetre deep. That is plainly thicker than a dosa. Do not try for a smooth spiral, because a pancake-like circle with slightly ragged edges is the right shape.
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Cook
Sprinkle on the vegetables and tamp them down
While the upper surface still looks wet, strew a small handful of the diced onion, tomato, chilli and other toppings across it. Use the back of the ladle or a flat spatula to press them evenly into the batter. The goal is for them to sink in and stay, not to sit loosely on top.
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Cook
Dribble oil around and cover
Pour a little oil or ghee along the rim and over the toppings. If a lid that fits is available, put it on. Cook on medium for 3 to 4 minutes, until the underside has gone a rich golden colour and the top no longer looks raw or glossy.
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Cook
Flip once for a short finish
Slide the broad spatula underneath and turn the uttapam over carefully. The vegetable side then needs only 1 to 2 minutes on the pan, long enough to soften the toppings and let them colour a little. This side cooks in a fraction of the time the first one took.
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Serve
Bring to the table hot with chutney and sambar
Serve right away with the vegetable side up, along with coconut chutney and sambar. Thickness helps an uttapam stay tender a bit longer than a dosa would, yet it is still better hot than waiting.
Ingredient Swaps
The topping can be almost any finely cut vegetable. Shredded cabbage, chopped spinach and corn kernels turn up often in homes, in addition to the standard onion, tomato and chilli. Cooks who prefer not to ferment from scratch can buy dosa or idli batter, chilled or frozen, from Indian grocers and use it as it is, only at its thicker natural consistency. A little grated cheese pressed in with the vegetables is not traditional, though many restaurants now offer it.
Turning the Heat Up or Down
Because the batter has no heat, the topping alone sets the spice level. Leaving out green chilli and depending on onion, tomato and coriander gives a gentle version. To raise the heat, add more chopped green chilli, or dust the vegetables with red chilli powder or cracked black pepper right before pressing them down, which keeps the heat on the surface and out of the batter.
Frequent Errors
Four things go wrong most often. First, a pour as thin as a dosa gives the vegetables nothing to sink into, and the result is a dosa with a topping, not a true uttapam. Second, a pan that is too hot darkens the base while the thick centre stays raw and doughy. Third, large or watery pieces cause problems: big chunks slide off at the flip, and wet ones, tomato especially, keep the batter around them gummy. Fourth, cooking the first side uncovered lengthens the time the middle takes to set and dries out the top.
Keeping and Warming Leftovers
To keep: In the refrigerator the fermented batter lasts 3 to 4 days, and it freezes for up to a month. Bring it back to room temperature and stir it well, since it stiffens in the cold. Toppings are better chopped just before use, though onion and capsicum can be cut one day early and sealed in the refrigerator. Tomato should wait until cooking time because it weeps as it sits. Finished uttapam does not keep well and is best made fresh.
To warm: A dry pan on medium-low heat brings leftover uttapam back in a minute or two per side, with some crispness returning to the base and the middle staying moist. This beats the microwave, which makes it soft and rubbery. If several need warming, go one at a time and avoid piling them, because stacked warm cakes trap steam and soften one another.
Safe Handling
After fermentation is finished, batter should live in the refrigerator and not stay at room temperature for long, especially when the weather is warm, since fermenting can slide from pleasantly tangy to over-sour and finally unsafe. All topping vegetables should be washed before cutting. Toppings prepared early should be covered and chilled, with extra care for tomato and onion, which can harbour bacteria when left out. For the pan, fresh oil is preferable. Oil that is allowed to scorch and blacken across a long session turns bitter and is less healthy to eat on a regular basis.