Tellevu / ತೆಳ್ಳೇವು - North Kanara Special

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

If you go to any Havyaka home in North Kanara, you will find a kind of paper like thin dosa for the breakfast. That is Tellevu! Tellevu is one of the special food of Havyakas. Preparing Tellevu is really an art; once the batter is poured onto the hot dosa pan, it should be spread very quickly. Else, the batter will get cooked and you can't spread it thinly. A waste credit card or a plastic playing card will be useful to spread the batter on the dosa pan. In my native, they will use the folded Banana leaf to spread the batter. But this is not going to be a better idea for people living in cities!
It was a long time ago I prepared Tellevu in our home. Last week, I prepared it for breakfast and was telling my husband that I will post this recipe on my blog. Suddenly, he gave an idea to shoot the tellevu preparation! Then, he came with the camera and took the video of the same. I was bit nervous coz for me, this was the first presentation :) But we thought that, video clip will be really helpful to give a proper idea of spreading the batter.. hope you like this new presentation :)

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Fermentation time: 7 - 8 hours
Soaking time: 4 - 5 hours
Servings: 2

Ingredients:
Rice - 1 1/2 cup
Urad dal - 1/4 cup
1 medium size cucumber
Fenugreek seeds - 1 spoon
Salt to taste
Sugar / jaggery - 1/2 spoon
Oil

Procedure:
Soak rice, urad dal and fenugreek seeds in water for 4 - 5 hours.
Peel the cucumber and chop them.
Grind the chopped cucumber along with soaked ingredients and prepare a fine dosa batter.
Water content in the cucumber will be sufficient to prepare the batter. If required, add little more water.
Keep the tellevu batter in a warm place for 7 - 8 hours or overnight.
Heat the dosa pan and apply very little oil. For preparing each dosa, you need to apply 2 - 3 drops of oil to avoid sticking it to the pan.
Add salt and sugar to the tellevu batter and mix well.
Take one ladle full of batter and pour it onto the hot dosa pan. Spread the batter quickly using the plastic card very thinly.
Once it is done, start from the edges and remove it off.
Serve the hot Tellevu with any kind of chutney or other side dish.

For Tellevu demo, check out the below video clip..

Tips:

• For preparing the tellevu batter, you can also use yellow cucumber or zucchini instead of cucumber. If not using any of these veggies, just increase the quantity of urad dal to 1/2 cup instead of 1/4th cup.
• If you like crispy Tellevu, you can roast it littlebit. If you want a smooth one, take it out little early.
• For good results, keep the dosa pan covered with cold water for 8 - 10 hours before preparing any kind of dosa / Tellevu.