How to season new iron dosa tawa, Tips to maintain iron tawa ~ Food Recipes

bisi bele bath recipe

How to season new iron dosa tawa

This is a long time pending post, I had my dosa and chapathi tawa already seasoned and that is another reason too for the delay of this post.So when I got this new dosa tawa recently thought to season and click to post it here.

First of all let me introduce my dosa and chapathi tawas.I have 2 dosa tawas and 1 chapathi tawa(the one with wooden handle).

From the days I started cooking I had no craze in buying nonstick pans even before I knew about its health hazards as I didn’t like the taste and texture.The few ones I had were gifts/ free items that came with my induction.But I am crazy about collecting traditional cookwares these days so more seasoning posts coming up soon.

Trust me, a well seasoned iron tawa works better than nonstick and the crispy texture it gives is worth all the effort we put in.

I was searching for a flat dosa tawa and happy to find it in a local shop here in Coimbatore.

There are many different ways to season iron tawa.The tips and tricks I have given here can be used for any unseasoned iron utensils either kadai or pan or tawa.

I have given both how to season iron dosa tawa for first time use and how to maintain it regularly.

Tips:

It is always better to have separate tawa for dosa and chapathi.
Do not let water stay on the tawa for a long time after washing.Either heat it up or wipe with dry cloth.
A layer of oil on the tawa avoids rusting so while storing always brush with oil and keep.If you ca heat it for few mins then store its best.But I do the heating only once in 15 days not on a daily basis.
Always rinse it with water everyday as there are chances for insects to sit on them.Once washed wipe with a cloth then heat and start using it.

Cast iron dosa tawa which is 5 yrs old and I use it on a daily basis.

bisi bele bath recipe

Chapathi Tawa I use regularly which is also almost 4 yrs old.

bisi bele bath recipe

Dosa pizza
bisi bele bath recipe

You might have seen these pics of my dosa and chapathi tawa in my earlier posts too.

bisi bele bath recipe

HOW TO SEASON NEW DOSA TAWA:

1. First rinse the new dosa tawa with dishwasher soap or liquid and a metal scrubber.Scrub it well and wash it.Dry it completely.
2. Now add 2 tsp of oil and 2 tsp salt to the tawa.Adjust the quantity of oil and salt according to the size of the tawa.
3. Spread it with well so that the oil salt mixture is evenly spread over the entire dosa tawa completely.Leave it aside for 1 day.
4. Next day scrub again to remove any rust or dirt.Now we need starch water(rice cooked water) or you can used rice washed water too.
5. Soak in starch water or rice washed water.If you dont have enough mix starch water with water and add.Soak it for 2 days.Change the starch water the next day and then leave aside.Wash it again.Now heat it up.Add 2 tsp of oil.
6. Add 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds,1/4 tsp of urad dal and let it splutter.
7. Using a spatula spread the tempering all over the dosa tawa,Now add onion and fry until golde… spread and saute to cover the entire dosa tawa.
8. Remove it and wipe off with a clean tissue or a cloth.Now your dosa tawa is ready to use.One or 2 dosas may slightly stick at the edges but after making 3-4 dosas it will work perfectly.These steps are needed only for new dosa tawa and can be used for re-seasoning tawas which you haven’t used for a long time too.
HOW TO MAINTAIN IRON DOSA TAWA :
1. Sometimes we might overheat the dosa tawa which makes dosas stick.In that case either do this step 1 or step 2 to avoid dosa sticking.Heat the dosa tawa keep in low flame, add oil and salt spread using a laddle, keep spreading and cooking for 2 mins.Switch off, wipe it with a cloth then start using.
2. This is the recent method amma read in a book and it works like a charm.Heat dosa tawa in low flame, roughly tear the red chillies and put it on the tawa,spread to cover the entire dosa tawa and saute for 2mins.Switch off, wipe it with a cloth then start using.Alternatively you can use half onion prick with a fork and use it on the pan to wipe it off.
3. After using the dosa tawa, just rinse and wash it NO NEED TO USE SOAP.Wipe off well without any moisture.Brush it with little oil and store.If you want you can heat the tawa for 2 mins then store.I do the heating only once in 2 weeks or so not daily but I wipe it off without any moisture and just apply oil and keep so it does not rust.In case if you use non veg or egg then you can use soap to wash it.
Next day you can either wipe off with a cloth and start using or rinse it once with water and start using.

I use my dosa / chapathi tawa for roasting veggies too.