Description
Thin crispy rice crepes made from a fermented batter of rice and lentils mixed together, very ideal for breakfast or even tiffin. Often served with traditional side like sambhar, chutney and milagai podi ,but it is also very common in some parts of Tamilnadu to serve it with chicken or mutton gravy.
| Ingredients | |
|---|---|
| 2 cup | Idli rice |
| ¾ cup | Black gram (ulundu) |
| ½ tsp | Fenugreek seeds |
| 1 tsp | Cooked rice |
| 1 tsp | Oil |
| 2 tsp | Salt |
Instructions
Soak rice and black gram (add fenugreek seeds in black gram) separately in just enough water overnight or for at least 5 to 6 hours. Later in the morning drain the water in rice and grind it coarsely along with the cooked rice. Then grind black gram (ulundu) to a silky soft texture and mix it with rice batter along with salt. Now preheat the oven to 400 F and switch it off, then keep the batter in the oven for atleast 6 hours allowing it to ferment.
Once when the fermentation is over, this is when u see the batter rise about double the quantity, now mix well and its all ready for making crispy dosais. We can use the same idli batter for making dosais too, no need to make them separately. Now heat a round cast iron griddle pan or non stick tawa , until a few drops of water dropped on it sizzles. Rub the pan with a cloth dipped in oil or a plain red onion. Take a scoop of the batter and pour that in the center and quickly move the batter in circular motion, moving away gradually from the center. Add a tsp of oil or ghee to it and once it turns light brown, flip it to the other side using a flat laddle with sharp edges and let stay for few seconds and then flip back and fold, and that’s it, you have made a perfect crispy dosai.
39 Comments
Hello,
Thank you for the recipe. I have followed your guidelines, but my dosa cracks while I fry it. Could you help me with determining the possible reasons of that? I wondered – pan too hot, too cold or batter too thick or too thin?
Here is the video that I recorded – you can see the cracks appearing after a while (in the film, the dosa is quite thick; it is nearly impossible to do thin dosa, because the cracks are everywhere then):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNGC2z07wqk
I’d be grateful for help!
Karol
Hello Karol, looks like the batter is not fermented properly. Not sure what rice and dal you used.. par boiled rice and whole skinned urad is preferred for this recipe. Also, thin batter & too hot pan can bring those cracks. When spreading the keep the heat at medium, hope this helps! Thank you!
[…] Dosai […]
what is cooked rice?
Dear Sir
I am from Mauritius. Can you kindly show me how to make Yeast from Black Gram Dahl . Here we make naan from brick oven and i heard they use one s.steel glass and one lota which they leave for overnight to ferment.
Awaiting your urgent reply.
Thanking you in anticipation.
Best Regards
Sidic
Hi Mullai,
Can I use jasmine rice?
Hi Mullai di!
Will Basmati rice do for this recipe? Will the outcome differ?
Shanu.
Shanu, definitely it will differ. Traditional idli dosa prepartions are made from the batter of par-boiled or boiled rice. Basmati is long grain raw rice and texture differs after grinding and doesn't blend well with urad dal. You can still use it to make the batter but cannot gaurantee results. Moreover its expensive and would recommend it for pulav or biryani recipes.
Thanks Mullai di for your reply! Really appreciate your clarification.
Cheers!
Shanu.
Hi Mullai… I tried your dosa receipe… It came out crispy and nice.. But the batter didnt ferment. I followed all the instructions perferctly… Grinding…adding fenugreek …everything… I preheated the oven to 400F for around 5 min and placed the batter overnight. It did not ferment. Then again i preheated the oven and placed it for another 6 hrs. Still it didnt ferment much. There was a small rise in the quantity of the batter though… I am really wondering what went wrong?
Can you guess what must have gone wrong or suggess if there is any other way to ferment the batter? I am located in Texas,US.
Thank u- Sathu
Dear Mullai,
Though I myself make pretty good dosas, I was tempted to try the way u make them, quite sure that it would turn out magical.
Do I need to say it did? The temperature setting about 400F for about 2 mins worked great for me.. the batter fermented just too well..
Thanks a lot for sharing ur tips..
Raech
Mullai,
Thank you very much. My search for crispy dosa has finally ended. I tried this recipe and it was as promised very crispy and chewy at the same time. Thank you so much sharing the recipe with us. I will try all the other dishes of yours.Keep them coming.
You rock!!!
Shilpa, hope you are munching on those crispy dosais. Glad it turned out good. Thanks for your feedback.
Hi Mullai
This is a great website.I have no words to thank you.
I made dosas following your method.They turned out great.
I was really craving to have thin crispy dosas since I came to U.S,thanks a ton to you.
I just went thru your Idli recipe..waiting to try that too.
The steps in each and every recipe are very easy to understand and are explained really well.
Thanks once again for posting all these wonderful recipes.
Hi Suchitra, With this same batter u can make variety of dosa, few are:
Chutney dosa: If u have pudina or coriander or tomato chutney mix it with dosa batter and prepare dosas ,the taste will be different no side dish required .Children will be happy by seeing green dosa, red dosa.
For more green dosa : U can grind cooked leafy vegetables like palak etc…. add with batter and prepare dosa ,children who are fussy with vegetables can have this type.
Uttappam: Spread the batter little bit thick sprinkle some grated carrot and onions(if child likes) and make dosas.
Pizza dosa: Same as uttappam spread thick batter reduce the flame spread onions, tomato, capsicum, mushroom (remember all thinly cut) on the batter, put some oil on all sides and on vegetables also, then cover the dosa with lid dont turn otherside it will cook after sometimes before removing spread some cheese keep for seconds only and remove . Egg dosa: Beat one egg with with 2 laddle of batter if desired can add pepper or simply go ahead with preparing dosa
Masala dosa: For masala: Boil and mash potato separately, In a kadai heat some oil add rai/mustard seeds when they splutter add curry leaves ,onions fry then add ginger-green chillie paste saute add haldi/turmeric powder then mashed potatoes with salt add some water when it starts to boil add about 1 or 2 tsp porrikadalai/roasted channa/putana powder garnish with coriander leaves. This is multipurpose masala goes well with dosa, puri, chappathi .
When u finish preparing dosa keep this masal in the middle and fold the dosa and serve with chutney and sambar.
Hope u enjoy .Surprise ur son with "DOSA FESTIVAL"
Hi Mullai, Can you pls post other different kinds of dosa’s as my son like’s dosa’s very much.
Suchitra, Sure to post it one day, but unable to give a time frame at this moment. Post your recipe request, any member with recipe might be able to help you.
Hi Mullai!
I honestly have no words to thank you for your perfect Dosa recipe. I tried this recipe and it gets 11 on 10 in my scoring. I haven’t had these crispy dosas in my 4 year life in Germany. The other greatest plus point is, I could use the same batter for making soft Idlis. This morning, I made dosas and Idlis for the breakfast and I was on the top of the world when I got appreciations.
Thank you Mullai, Thank you so much.
with regards,
Sandeep
I don’t know how much to thank you for the dosa recipe. My little girls are very fond of crispy dosas. Until I saw your recipe my dosas were on the softer side. Thanks a million. My kids are enjoying the dosas now.
Hello Mullai!
Thank you very much for the recipe. I am honestly drooling on seeing those crispy dosas in your pictures. I have certain doubts in the recipe and I request you to clarify them.
1) What is Idli rice? I am afraid I haven’t seen something like that here in Germany. All I get is Longcorn rice, Basmati rice and Parboiled rice. We also get Raw rice like ponni and sona masoori. So, please tell me which rice should I be using for these crispy dosas.
2) I remember my mom using whole urad(Muzhu Ulundhu) for dosas and Idlis back in India. Over here, we get only split urad dal (Ulutham paruppu)which we normaly use for seasoning our curries and raithas. If I use these split urad dal for making dosas, should I still be adding 3/4 cup or is there any difference in the measurement then?
3) How long should I preheat the over at 400F? Also, as soon as I turn the oven off, can I put the batter in or does the batter get cooked if I do so?
Thank you in advance for your reply and Thanks a ton for your valuable time spent in helping abroad living amateurs like us in cooking.
Cheers!
Sandeep
Hi Sandeep,
Let me first thank you for visiting my website and apologize for my late reply. Actually I have to clear all my doubts relating to rice before I answer you. Gathered some info googling and a relative of mine was kind enough to clear certain doubts relating to Indian rice varieties.
1. Ok… When it comes to rice varieties, there are many types. Some of the common ones are fully boiled rice, par boiled rice and plain white raw rice.
(a) White raw rice: These are often termed as "white" or "polished" rice, This variety is made by removing the outer husk and the layers of bran are milled away until the grain becomes white. (Ponni Pacha arisi in Tamil)
(b) Parboiled rice: Parboiled rice is treated with a special steam-pressure process before milling. The grain is soaked for 4 to 5 hours, steamed, dried and then milled to remove the outer hull. Water-soluble vitamins and mineral salts are spread throughout the grain, making it the most nutritious. Because of this special steaming process the rice tends to look pale yellow with brown spots. Good quality par boiled rice, which is specially processed for making idlis is sold in the name of " Idli Rice", so this variety can be used for making idlis.
(c) Fully Boiled rice: Here it is made the same way as par boiled rice except for the soaking time. It needs to be soaked for 8 to 10 hours before steaming. (Puzhungal arisi in Tamil)
2. It doesn't make much difference as to what type of Urad dhal you use. I normally use the split black gram, for which… 3/4 for every 2 cups of rice. Measurement totally varies depending on the rice variety, so give it a try, and reduce accordingly.
3. Preheat the oven for 400 F for 5 minutes, switch off place the batter inside and close. This procedure will not cook the batter.
Hope I have answered all your questions and would be happy to help you if you have any further clarifications.
Thank you very much Mrs. Mullai! lemme try it out this weekend and update my results!
Regards,
Sandeep
Oh Ths remebers my mom’s thosai.She only makes thosai for dinner and we nvr get bored. Unfortunately,we students hav no facilities of grinder /mixer.Wanna try this myself n surprise my mom.Looking forward to doing that
Manoo… its been a long time since you wrote a comment. BTW I heard that some Indian store carry fresh dosai idli batter, which I haven't noticed it, but nothing wrong in finding out. Check out the stores or even some home makers sell them. You can also try ready made dosai mix powder, they are not that bad.
do u use indian grinder or american blender for grinding the batter? ur idlis looks so good!!!!
Rose,
I recently bought an Indian made ultra grinder and use that for making batter, but once use to have American made ozterizer blender and my idli batter came decent enough, all that matters, is the consistency. Only problem with the blender is, you need to mix or stir with a knife quite often, to make it grind evenly, other than that there is nothing to regret about.
mam there is no need to add baking soda for dosa or idly ?
Nope….Soak and grind fenugreek seeds(vendhayam) along with the urad dal, which helps for natural fermentation. And more over you hail from Sri lanka, which has got the same climatic condition like India, hot….
Just follow the recipe, let ferment overnight in room temperature.
hi that pan looks beautiful is it cast iron pan where did u buy it
This is Hawkins non-stick tawa from India.
Your recipe sounds really good…i’ve been trying to prepare dosa for quite sometime now…but somewhere its going wrong..is it necessary for the batter to be kept in the oven for fermentation?
n pls let me know the use of fenugreek seeds…does the dosa taste different if its not used?
Ashwini, dosa or idli batter requires to be fermented, but sometimes it doesn’t bcos of climatic condition. Here in US, oven is a must for fermentation, let me tell u why.
1. Fermnetation requires a kind of wild yeast to be present in the batter, sea salt/kosher salt, un-chlorinated water seems to attract those yeast and make the batter ferment. But most of the water which we use has got lots of chlorine,which kills the yeast. Salt is iodized. Most of the houses in US comes with air-conditioning filters which limits the spread of those yeasts.
2. Fenugreek has a natural tendency to attract those wild yeast from air and makes the work little easier. Adding quater of a tsp does not affect the taste.
3. If your home temperature is around 90F, there is no need for an oven, just leave it overnight on top of the kitchen counter.
Hope this helps.
Hi Mullai,
I have a doutb regarding fenugreek seeds. Shall i add 1 tsp or quarter tsp for 2 cup of rice. In this recipe its given 1 tsp. but in the forum regarding tips for idli dosa batter its 1/2 tsp for 4 cup of rice. please reply me and help me. My dosa is not turning out tasty. Fermentation is also not happening properly. its turning out to be in white color and not golden color.
Thanks for all your help and support for beginners like me.
Regards,
Sowmya
Sowmya, Its not a must to add fenugreek… but adding little gives you good color to the dosa.. I usually eyeball it, 1/2 to 1 tsp is fine. To be on the safe side let me update my recipe to 1/2 tsp. Thanks.
Thanks a lot mullai.. My dosa came out very crispy and golden color.
This looks good and I want to try it. But here’s the thing: I’d love to have recipes for the potato filling AND for the coconut chutney pictured above.
Hey Kulleen, Here is the link for the chutney http://www.spiceindiaonline.com/peanut_chutney
Thanks for the chutney link! Is there a recipe floating around for the potato filling as well?
Unfortunately no, i dont have the potato recipe, will work on it.