Brown Rice Dosa

Make delicious and crispy Brown Rice Dosa with this recipe. Dosa is one of the South Indian staples usually made with white rice and lentils. These Brown Rice Dosas are healthier, aromatic and more importantly tasty without being hard or chewy. With a crisp yet soft and delicate texture these nutrient dense Brown Rice Dosas will soon be your family favorite & are a must include in your weekly menu.

Serve them for a breakfast or a meal with chutney, tiffin sambar, kootu, curry, sagu or pickle of choice. The same batter can be used to make paniyaram, uttapam and even set dosas.

Brown rice is a grain associated to wholesome, nutritious & healthy eating. When compared to white rice, brown rice has a higher amount of dietary fiber, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.

Brown rice helps manage diabetes better, prevents obesity, and boosts nervous system and heart health. It also helps in digestive health, manage stress and control cholesterol levels.

Unknowingly South Indians eat a lot of white rice in the form of Idlis and Dosas. Whether you are trying to reduce the intake of your white rice or eat healthy, or trying to lose weight, these brown rice dosas are great.

About Brown Rice Dosa

Though the process of making brown rice dosa is similar to that of making the Classic Dosa, there so many important unique points to note while making these brown rice dosas. So this post is dedicated to brown rice dosas in particular.

This time we served them with this Peanut Chutney (used onions & red chilies). These are best served with
Coconut Chutney
Tiffin Sambar
Carrot Chutney
Beetroot Chutney.

Take a look at these tips before you try out the recipe.

Pro Tips

• Soak brown rice and lentils for no longer than 6 hours and poha for no longer than 30 mins unless you have a problem with fermentation. The batter is likely to turn sour with longer soaks due to the bran in the brown rice.
• This recipe works best with thin short grain raw rice. Thicker/fat rice varieties will work but a lot of times require longer soak as they are harder and this makes the batter turn sour faster. I prefer and use raw sona masuri, other kinds of rice did not yield me the same results.
• Do not over ferment the batter. I let it rise only a little, at room temperature (around 22 C) on the counter. I ferment overnight, no longer than 9 hours. If you live in a colder weather, use a oven light.
• Brown rice batter usually ferments faster and a lot of times it turns sour without even rising. This sour flavor increases even when you refrigerate in hotter climates/temperatures. To reduce the sour flavor and taste, you can add 1 portion of rice flour meaning, at max you can add the same amount as that of dal. Stir it in a bowl of warm water and mix into the sour batter. Too much rice flour makes the dosas harder.
• If you want you may also make uttapam, paniyaram, punugulu with this batter.
• If your batter is too sour, avoid adding any sour ingredient like tamarind, lemon or tomatoes to your chutney. IMO Peanut Chutney or any dal chutney is best to balance the sour flavors.

How to Make Brown Rice Dosa (Stepwise Photos)

Preparation

1. I made 2x recipe. So you will find double the quantities. To a mixing bowl add 2 cups raw short and thin brown rice. Rinse well at least thrice and soak for no longer than 6 hours.

2. To another bowl, add

• ½ cup skinned urad dal (split or whole skinned black lentils)
• ¼ cup chana dal (bengal gram/ skinned split chickpeas)

Rinse well at least thrice and soak for no longer than 6 hours.

3. To another bowl add ¼ cup poha (red or white). 30 mins before you begin to grind the rice and lentils, rinse the poha well and soak for 30 mins with enough water to cover. The poha will soak up the water after soaking, if required add more water as it soaks.

4. Drain the water from the dal and add to a grinder/blender jar along with poha. Pour ¾ to 1 cup water and grind to a smooth and bubbly batter. Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Drain water from the brown rice and give a good rinse. Add the rice to the jar and pour ½ cup water. Grind to a smooth or slightly coarse batter.

Transfer that to the mixing bowl. Mix both the batter. If you make 2x or 3x recipe, divide the batter to 2 to 3 bowls before fermenting.

5. Let the batter ferment overnight or until it rises slightly and turns bubbly on top. If you live in a cold weather, turn on your oven light and ferment in the oven.

6. Do not over ferment the batter especially if you intend to store it for later. This is a closer look at the batter after fermentation.

7. I make a large batch, enough to use for a week. So I stir the batter gently before putting it in the refrigerator. The batter may continue to rise and overflow in the refrigerator if you avoid this step, especially if you store for a week or so.

8. Transfer the required amount of batter to a small bowl and add salt. Stir and check the consistency. Pour some water If required to bring it to a thick yet of pouring and spearing consistency. If your batter is too runny, you won’t get crisp dosas and if it is too thick it will stick to the ladle and you won’t be able to spread the batter well.

If you are new to the perfect dosa making techniques, read this Dosa Recipe post to know the details on batter consistency.

Make Brown Rice Dosa

9. Heat a pan well. It should be hot and not smoking hot. If you use a cast iron tawa, grease the hot tawa with a few drops of oil and spread with a kitchen tissue or cut onion.

When the pan is hot enough, reduce the heat to medium, pour a ladle full of batter to the center of the tawa and begin to spread in one direction to make a thin dosa.

10. Pour 1 teaspoon oil or ghee across and let cook until golden & crisp on a medium heat. Do not cook on a high heat.

11. Turn it to the other side and cook just for a minute.

14. Turn it back to the other side and cook for a minute until crisp. Fold and remove to serving plate. To make the next brown rice dosa, make sure the pan is hot but not smoking hot. Avoid cooking on high heat as you won’t get crisp dosas.

Serve brown rice dosa with a spicy chutney. I make this Peanut chutney with onions and red chilies.

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