Dosa | How to prepare Dosa batter

My 147th recipe, "Dosa", a staple breakfast of South India. Dosa is a South Indian crepe which is made from a fermented rice and dal batter. I generally do not prepare a separate batter to make dosa. I would grind idli batter once a week and keep it refrigerated for upto 5 days.

On the first couple of days I would make idli with it and then on the remaining days I used to prepare dosa. While it is easier to grind just one batter, the problem is that you would not always get the perfect dosa with an idli batter. While the dosa may come out crispy, at times it would not turn out to be a perfect golden color and at times it would become too hard and brittle. So I wanted to share a recipe which can be used exclusively to make a perfect dosa every time.

Perfectly crispy and golden on one side and slightly soft on the other side. This batter is also easier to prepare since you need not soak and grind the rice and dal separately. A simple batter turns into quick and delicious breakfast for the whole week. Perfect dose of carbs and proteins to start your busy mornings 😉 Click here for my video on preparing dosa.

Dosa | How to prepare Dosa batter

Dosa

Revathi Palani

Dosa is a traditional South Indian crepe/pancake made from fermented rice and dal batter. It is super healthy and delicious. A quick breakfast on busy days.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 13 hrs 30 mins

Cook Time 5 mins

Total Time 13 hrs 35 mins

Course Breakfast

Cuisine Indian

Ingredients

  

• 3 Cups Idli rice
• 1 Cup Urad dal
• ¾ Cup Poha
• 1 ½ tsp Fenugreek seeds
• Water - As needed
• 2 tsp Salt (adjust as per taste)

Instructions

 

• Wash and soak the rice, urad dal and fenugreek seeds in a large bowl. Similarly soak the poha in a separate bowl with sufficient amount of water for about 5 hours.
  
  
   
  
   
  
   
• Drain the water from the rice, urad dal, fenugreek seeds, poha and add everything to the wet grinder. Grind by adding water little by little at regular intervals until you get a fine batter. Make sure there are no ingredients sticking to the side wall of the grinder drum. Use a plastic spatula to remove them from the sides and grind evenly. It took me about 20 minutes to grind. Transfer the batter into a clean big container (which can hold double the quantity of batter).
  
  
   
• Add the salt to the batter and use your hands to mix thoroughly. Now place the container in a warm place and leave it to rest overnight (or for a minimum of 6-8 hrs) for the fermentation to take place. The next day batter would have risen and the quantity would have almost doubled. It will be bubbly and spongy. Beat the fermented batter with a ladle before use.
  
  
   
• Now to prepare the dosa, heat a tawa. Take a ladle full of batter and pour it on the tawa. Spread it out into a circle using the ladle. Drizzle some oil around the corners and above the dosa. Turn the flame to medium-high and wait until the side touching the tawa turns golden brown. Now flip the dosa carefully using a spatula/turner and turn the flame to low and cook until this side gets cooked. We just want this side to be cooked and don't want this side to get golden color as the other side. Please do refer to my video

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• Transfer the dosa to the serving plate and enjoy hot along with any chutney and sambar.
  
  
   

Notes | FAQ

- Dosa should be crispy, soft and nicely golden brown in color. In case any of these three qualities are missing then there is an issue in your process of preparing batter or quality of the dal/rice.

- Use good quality of ural dal. Quality of the urad dal matters the most.

- Do not use aged urad dal. Use the urad dal within a month after buying.

- Do not add more water while grinding, it will lead to watery batter. Batter should not be as thick as an idli batter, but should not be watery also.

- I used 4 Cups of water while grinding to get a right consistency batter. Do adjust accordingly. Quantity of water totally depends on the quality of urad dal and rice we are using.

- Refrigerate the remaining batter. You can use it for upto a week.

- Since it is cold out here in US, I leave my batter inside my oven for fermentation, keeping the oven light turned on for warmth.

- Getting a well fermented batter depends on the temperature. So always place the batter in a really warm place. Only when the batter is fermented properly, you would get a good dosa.

- I used non-stick tawa, in which dosa can be prepared without drizzling oil. But adding a little oil would give a better flavor and a crispier dosa.

- Instead of using a wet grinder, you can also use a dry grinder / mixie for grinding. However you may have to do it in batches.

Sending this recipe to the First Blog Anniversary Celebration of Delectable Flavours.