My ultimate comfort food has to be dosa. To me, nothing like a dosa from an iron pan. But many times iron pans just doesn’t work. Every household will have that worn out rusty dosa pans that they don’t use anymore. Its time to dust them as we are going to learn how to season them. Properly seasoned iron pan lasts a lifetime. Its durable. The older the pan gets with usage, better the pan gets. The surface of the pan becomes as good as no stick Teflon pans sans the toxins.
Now lets get into business. Shall we?
COLD WATER SOAK
First step in seasoning a pan is a good cold water soak. All dosa pans need this as there can be a lot of accumulated dried gunk. When you look closely at a used dosa pan, you can notice a lot of scales around the rim. We will be talking in detail about this. So hang in there. The goal of soaking is to try and soften the gunk. Crew, batten down the hatches as we are going to start seasoning Mr.Rusty.
Fill a wide bucket with cold water. Soak the iron pan in it. Make sure that its fully immersed. Leave it there for a good two hours. See, I told you it was easy. Easy peasy chuck-e-cheesy lemon squeezy… Some of the gunk would have softened by this time. You know now is the perfect time for? oh yes…Scrubbing…Soaking makes removing the dried up gunk easier. lets move on! Shall we?
SCRUBBING
You will need a metal dish scrubber, dish soap and the soaked pan. Start scrubbing….Try to get rid of as much gunk as possible. Some of the scales might not go. Its ok. Its not going to do any harm. Wash and dry thoroughly. Give it two hours to dry. That is it. Stage two over. You did it again. You are my hero.
Lets move on again! Shall we?
HOT OIL SOAK
This stage is where the magic happens. Lets talk about oil. When oil is heated to high temperatures on a metal surface, it polymerizes. What? what did you say? Oh common y’all, when you heat oil on a metal surface for a long time, it breaks down. It becomes like goo. This is polymeriwhatever. So the point is more the goo, better the surface becomes. Most of the times the rim of the dosa pan will be scaly. It is because the rim never comes in contact with food (dosa batter in this case) and over the long run, the oil on the rim polymerizes, then dries into large flakes. Good to know.
Now, back in business. Apply oil generously to your pan and heat it on medium for a good ten minutes. It will smoke. So crank up that chimney. After 10 minutes switch off and rest the pan for one hour. Clean the oil which has now become goo with a paper napkin. Lets repeat again! Apply oil generously to your pan and heat it on medium for a good ten minutes. After 10 minutes, switch off and rest the pan for one hour. Clean the oil which has now become goo with a paper napkin. Lets repeat for one last time! Apply oil generously to your pan and heat it on medium for a good ten minutes. After 10 minutes switch off and rest the pan for one hour. Clean the oil which has now become goo with a paper napkin. Wash the pan with warm water. Your pan is seasoned and ready to rock.
Here are the rules after seasoning:
Use only a sharp steel spatula to turn your dosa. No you wont harm the seasoned pan. Wooden spatulas do not work. I have my trusty fish turner which is my default dosa spatula. You need not wash your pan with soap after use everyday. Just a rinse with water and you are good to go. Go have fun! Thanks a ton. Amen
THE BEST GRIDDLE FOR DOSA
When it comes to cast iron skillets, it has to be Lodge.I love love LODGE cast iron pans for many reasons. Lodge has been there for “100 years and still cooking . . .”. Its extremely durable and gets better with age. Lodge cast iron is easy to season and stays seasoned for a long long time if used regularly. The quality of dosas from an iron pan cannot be beat. I have the Lodge L9OG3 Pre-Seasoned Cast-Iron Round Griddle, 10.5-inch and couldn’t be more happier. I have had it for more than 5+ years now and its still running strong thousands of dosas later.
HERE IS WHERE YOU CAN BUY THIS PAN
Winner winner dosa dinner!
