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Finally a Dosa recipe. Dosas are the flat bread equivalent side with South Indian meals and also a great snack with different types of crepes, with fillings, styles and so on.
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I make Dosa and Idli every few weeks. The traditional dosa used urad dal and rice and cooks up to a golden white crepe. My Dosas usually have a couple of lentils and beans. They dont look super white and are not very thin crepes. And I like them that way, not too crisp, full of lentils/beans and all the different proteins and nutrition from each of the lentils and much more filling. You can adapt this recipe to use only urad dal and rice for the traditional version. Find the traditional recipe and Step by Step pictures in my book.
Here is a Video from a very happy chef to help with the steps. It shows the consistency of the basic batter, how to shape the crepe, and different varieties of dosa.
To read more about how the fermentation works, see this Batter explained article on India Curry.
I did not have a powerful wet grinder to do justice to the batter for years, and used my regular blender. That worked fine when you blended the daal and rice separately but the batter was usually a bit more grainy. Some multi lentil Idli and Dosa versions posted earlier.
Now since I got the Blendtec, its a breeze to blend the batter.
Usually skinless white Urad daal (black gram), medium grain rice (sona masuri) and parboiled rice are used to get the best Dosas.
I use either whole with skin daal or split with skin black gram, hence the slight darker tone to the dosas in the pictures. For Variations, add ginger and green or red chili to the batter when you blend, add greens and a tomato, add a 1/4 cup more of soaked beans and lentils like black eyed peas, mung beans, pink, green, yellow lentils.
Dosa - Lentil and rice savory Crepes. Vegan Glutenfree
Dosas are the flat bread equivalent side with South Indian meals and also a great snack with different types of crepes, with fillings, styles and so on.
Ingredients
- 1 cup medium or long grain rice, I use basmati
- 1/4 cup brown rice
- ½ cup whole urad dal, black gram, skinned or whole. the whole unskinned one will give a slightly darker appearance to the crepe or split urad dal
- ½ teaspoon methi seeds, fenugreek seeds
- 2 Tablespoons toor daal, Pigeon pea or chana daal(bengal gram) - optional
- 1/4 cup thick Poha, Rice flakes- for crisp crepes, optional
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Batter:
- Rinse the rice well and soak overnight in a large bowl.
- Rinse the urad daal(black gram) and other dals if using and soak along with the fenugreek seeds(methi), overnight. Urad dal and fenugreek attract wild yeast for the fermentation.
- Drain the soaking liquid of the daal/lentils and reserve the soaking liquid.
- If using Poha(rice flakes), wash and add them to the soaking rice to soak for a few minutes.
- Grind the daal and fenugreek seeds in your blender/wet grinder using some of the soaking liquid into a smooth fluffy paste.
- Drain the rice, reserve the soaking liquid. Grind the rice with a little of the soaking water. The rice will make a gritty batter.
- If you can, use your hands to to mix the daal and rice batters together in one large bowl. Or use a large spoon. Add salt, and mix in.
- You can use this batter directly to make the crepes(adjust water content if the batter is too thick). The crepes will have a less fermented flavor.
- Let it ferment for another 6-8 hours in a warm place(85-90 deg F), covered with a towel or lightly with a lid. You can leave it in the oven with the light on to help with the warmth.
- The fermented batter should be frothy, and almost double in volume.
- Note: If you do not have urad dal or fenugreek, you can make the batter with any other lentils and add 1/2 tsp active yeast after blending. Let it sit for 3 to 4 hours to ferment and then use.
Making Crepes
- Heat a 10+ inch nonstick skillet on high heat. Once hot, sprinkle a few drops of water on the skillet. The water should sizzle and evaporate within 2 seconds .
- Cut a small wedge from an onion or a potato. Stick a fork into the onion. Add a drop of oil to the hot pan, and spread the oil around, using the onion. you can also use a thick paper towel to spread the oil.
- Pour a ladle full ( a 1/4 cup) of batter onto the hot skillet. Swirl the ladle in concentric circles, to spread out the batter.
- Drizzle a few drops of oil on the edges.
- Cook the crepe over medium-high heat till the bottom side of the dosa becomes lightly brown and starts to come away at the edges.
- You can flip and cook the other side for a few minutes for crispier crepe.
- Serve hot with coconut chutney, Sambhar(pigeon pea and veggies stew), Potato and onion subzi! or fill them up with anything you like and make it your own fusion filled crepe
Notes
Nutritional values are based on one serving
Nutrition
Calories: 314kcal, Carbohydrates: 63g, Protein: 12g, Sodium: 441mg, Potassium: 157mg, Fiber: 8g, Vitamin C: 1.1mg, Calcium: 36mg, Iron: 3mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did you make this recipe? Rate and comment below!
These Dosa’s are heading to Ricki’s wellness weekend., Ellas’ potluck, Amee’s Fit abd Fab Friday, Allergy Friendly lunchbox., Hearth Soul blog hop, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Allergy Free Wednesdays, Glutenfree WEdnesdays.
Apart from the amazing work VSPCA does for animals, they also provide care and food to the poorest people around. Their program Vegan Meals for the Poor, A wholesome and nutritious vegan meal is hygienically packed in palm leaves and taken by autorickshaw to the poorest of the poor in their respective places. Most of these people are also disabled, homeless, which requires someone to go to them.
Every one of them has a trusted association with a street dog. They give the first morsel of food to the dog. The people and the dogs, traumatized, abandoned and lonely, find support in each other, to live through the daily hardships. The beauty of compassion and companionship between all species.
Our VSPCA fundraiser Auction is now also on Facebook!
You can bid for the items on the Facebook Album here or anonymously on the Fundraiser page. Feel free to share any pictures, album or posts from the blog and facebook! Thank you for the continued support and love! Have a great weekend all.
i have a dosa pan which is thick bottom non stick. however old pans that mom had were cast iron and were not non stick and the crepes always came out well on them too. some tips here to work with cast iron https://www.cilantroonline.com/2012/05/dosai-seriestips-for-perfect-crispy.html
Its either the tyoe of lentils making the batter that thick or it needs to be blended more. you can feel the rice grain if you pick some batter between your fingers. it keeps keeping smaller and less gritty after the second blend or the third if needed. yes, lower th heat if it is not giving you time to spread.
Let me know how it works out:)
how about what kind of pan you use…I don;t own non-stick anymore, just cast iron and stainless steel. The batter finally fermented, but I needed to add even more water to get it to spread out thin before the heat solidified it while it was thick. I have almost no time to spread it out! SO much better…but still not quite there. I still have more to play with, so I will try lowering the heat too…
i have a dosa pan which is thick bottom non stick. however old pans that mom had were cast iron and were not non stick and the crepes always came out well on them too. some tips here to work with cast iron https://www.cilantroonline.com/2012/05/dosai-seriestips-for-perfect-crispy.html
Its either the tyoe of lentils making the batter that thick or it needs to be blended more. you can feel the rice grain if you pick some batter between your fingers. it keeps keeping smaller and less gritty after the second blend or the third if needed. yes, lower th heat if it is not giving you time to spread.
Let me know how it works out:)
Ok Richa, I did not throw the batter out, I am letting it set to ferment some more…and will try the yeast. Since I have a massive amount of batter, I will divide into to two or three batches and experiment with different solutions! Where do you usually get your benas? I have lots of Indian groceries…so no problem getting these, just prefer organic….thanks for your help in trouble shooting.
I get them at the indian store and some special ones online(iherb) or from whole foods. . Most indian stores dont carry organic beans though.
Hope the batter turns out well. i made a sweet potato instant batter today with rice and split peas soaked for half an hour. added some yeast to the batter and another 15 minutes later i have bubbly soft crepes.
Help! I watched the video you linked for to check for the consistency of the batter I am looking for. I used rice flour and green or brown lentils….it is what they had at the store. I had to t add more water to ge the consistency…and I fermented in a warm oven for most of the day. The batter is not reading out without gaping holes and staying very thick, so instead of a a crispy thin dosa, I have a thick, gummy crepes. There is very little rang that I associate,with dosas too. Do the lentils make the difference? What am I doing wrong?
Hi Tessa, yes the lentils do make a difference. The black gram helps the fermentation and hence the tang. Without it the batter will take ages to ferment. you can add a little active yeast to the batter and let it sit for a a few hours or overnight before using it.
Add a bit more rice flour and water to help get crisp crepes. the more lentils inthe batter, the spongier and thicker the crepes will be.
You can also make thick pancakes like the uttapam https://fettabbau-trim.today/2012/06/uttapam-lentil-and-rice-pancake-with.html%3C/a%3E
if the batter doesnt give you thin crepes. Uttapams are soft spongy pancakes and not gummy if the batter is well fermented.
Let me know how it goes. you can email me with more questions. richahingle at gmail.
Hi,
I’m thinking of getting a blendtec blender and hope to make idli batter using that. Can you let me know how long blending for the batter takes? Thanks.
It depends on the rice and the quantity of the batter and such. I usually blend 2 complete cycles( 45 seconds each) on 2-3 speed setting, then test the batter to see if i need it more smooth and hence another cycle. usually 2 cycles are enough.
what speed/setting was your blendtec set to?
Hi Legenies, Start at 1 for 10-15 seconds then go up to 3 or 4 for the cycle. Mix up the batter after the cycle and then go though another cycle at 1 for a smooth batter. do let me know when you try it.:)
THANK YOU for this post. I have tried dosa 3 times but can’t nail the cooking part. I shall try again … you’ve inspired me. xoLexie
Thanks Lexie! Do let me know when you try it again. and ping me anytime for questions:)
Lovely recipe! I’ve never had this before and I’m not sure I’ve even heard of it. But I have a Vitamix, so I can definitely try it out. Thanks so much for sharing with Hearth and Soul!
I love dosa with a spicy sambar and fresh coconut chutney…now I’m craving them after seeing yours, even though I’m still full from dinner! I always wished I could make my own because they’re hard to find around where I live, but the process always seemed too difficult and time consuming. So I’m impressed that you make them so often and how you can adapt them so easily with different kinds of lentils and rice!
If you have a good blender.. you are good to go! I am sure you have the lentils, rice and fenugreek seeds:)
pinned, one of my very favortie indian foods!
Thanks Tessa!
I will be featuring you recipe this week, fyi!