Neer Dosa Recipe

Updated: September 18, 2023, By Swasthi

Neer Dosa also known as neer dose are beautiful, thin and lacy crepes made with ground rice batter. These are a popular Breakfast from the Mangalorean cuisine & are served in restaurants all over Karnataka. Apart from being vegan and gluten-free, these have a super soft texture. So they pair well with any curry or chutney. Unlike the other versions of South Indian Dosa, the batter for neer dosa is made without any lentils and it does not need any fermentation.

Neer dosa are a staple in the Konkan region of India and are enjoyed any time of the day for a meal. The beauty of these crepes is they are just made with minimal ingredients – rice, salt and water.

They pair well with any chuntey but they are usually served with this coconut chutney, veg sagu or veg kurma in some restaurants.

About Neer Dosa

The word ‘Neer’ means ‘Water’ in Tulu & Kannada languages so ‘neer dosa’ translates to ‘water dosa’. Since these dosas are made with a batter of water consistency, they are popularly known as Neer dosa.

The beauty of these thin, light and delicate dosas lies in the simplicity of the recipe. To begin with rice is soaked anywhere for 4 to 8 hours and then ground with salt and water. To bring this to water consistency, more water is added. Optionally a lot of households also include fresh coconut while grinding as this imparts a sweeter flavor to the neer dosas.

These dosas are not filling like the other lentil dosas so these are good to serve with a gravy or curry. My kids love these neer dosas with fresh grated coconut and jaggery mixed together & dipped in milk.

Making these is easy but the key is in getting the batter to the right consistency. So if you are trying this the first time, then do check out my video and read all the tips mentioned below.

Photo Guide

How to Make Neer Dosa (Stepwise Photos)

Prepare Batter

1. Wash 1 cup rice thrice in a large pot. Soak it for 4 hours to overnight.

Wash rice

2. Drain the water and add rice to a blender jar. If you have soaked it overnight, give a good rinse first. Drain the water and add it to the blender jar. Pour about 3/4 cup fresh water. Do not add lot of water at one time as the batter won’t come out smooth if lots of liquid is added.

Drain the water

3. Blend it to a smooth batter.

Blend it

4. Transfer to a bowl and add salt as per taste.

add salt

5. Add more water to bring it to a thin consistency.

Add water

6. The batter must be similar to thin buttermilk. Add more water as needed to bring it to the consistency. I used about 1 & 1/2 to 1 & 3/4 cups water for blending and to bring it to consistency. Set this neer dosa batter aside. Check video to know the right consistency.

add water

Make Neer Dosa

7. Heat a pan and drizzle few drops of oil. Using a slice of onion, spread the oil to the pan. Wipe off the excess. You can also skip rubbing with onion and just spread the oil with a cloth or kitchen tissue. You will need to repeat this process before making each dosa.

Heat a pan

8. Make sure the pan is hot. We are not going to spread the batter but just pour it like the rava dosa batter. Stir the batter well every time before making a neer dosa. Take a ladle full of batter and begin to pour on the tawa all over starting from the edge of the pan. (check video for details)

Take a ladle full of batter and begin to pour on the tawa

9. Do not bother much about the shape.

spread batter

10. Quickly tilt the pan to a side to spread the excess batter.

tilt the pan

11. Take some more batter and fill in the gaps.

batter

12. Cover the pan and cook for 2 mins on a medium to high heat.

Cover the pan

13. When the dosa is done, you will see the edges slightly leave the pan. Neer dosa is not flipped and cooked to keep it soft.

the edges slightly leave the pan

14. Transfer it to a serving plate. Allow it to cool down for 30 seconds before folding otherwise both the sides will stick up together.

serving plate

15. Fold it to half.

Fold it

16. Then to triangle.

triangle

To repeat making neer dosa, grease the pan, stir the batter well before pouring every time. If needed you can add more water to bring to consistency.

Serve neer dosa with chutney or any gravy.

neer dosa

Pro Tips

  • Use any kind of rice like sona masuri, basmati rice or surati kolam.
  • I have not added coconut here. You can add about ¼ cup fresh coconut or use 1 cup coconut milk to blend in place of water.
  • Ensure the rice is ground with just enough water as mentioned in the recipe. Adding a lot of water at one time while blending often results in coarse batter.
  • The batter has to be ground to a super fine texture. Coarse batter results in neer dosas getting cracks. The dosas will also break.
  • Experiment with the amount of water required to bring the batter to consistency. I have mentioned what works for me.
  • Neer dosa cracks if the batter is either too thin or too thick. If it is too thin the batter will get stuck to the pan and crack a lot. If it is too thick then they will be dense and get cracks too.
Neer dosa recipe

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Recipe Card

neer dosa recipe

Neer Dosa Recipe (Mangalorean Rice Crepes)

5 from 74 votes
Neer dosa are thin, lacy and beautiful crepes made with ground rice batter. These are a popular breakfast from the Mangalorean cuisine.
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For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card

Prep Time4 hours
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time4 hours 30 minutes
Servings15 dosas
AuthorSwasthi

Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )

  • 1 cup rice (sona masuri, basmati etc, any aged rice)
  • teaspoon salt as needed
  • 1½ to 1¾ cups water (use more if needed)
  • 1 teaspoon Oil for greasing


Instructions

Preparation

  • Wash rice a few times until the water runs clear. Soak it in water for at least 4 hours to overnight.
  • Drain the water and rinse well if soaked for over night.
  • Add the rice to a blender jar and pour ¾ to 1 cup water. Blend until smooth. Transfer to a batter bowl.
  • Add salt and another ½ cup water. Mix well and check the consistency. It has to be like thin or watery. Add more water if needed. (Check video for consistency)

How to Make Neer Dosa

  • Heat a pan and drizzle few drops of oil. Using a kitchen tissue or a piece of onion smear the oil all over the pan. Wipe off excess oil with a kitchen tissue.
  • When the pan is hot enough, stir the batter well from the bottom.
  • Take a ladle full of batter and pour it over the tawa in a circle. Tilt the pan to spread the excess batter all over. Do not spread the batter like regular dosa batter.
  • Fill any gaps in the dosa to make it even.
  • Cover it with a lid and cook for 2 to 3 mins until the top part turns non sticky meaning it is cooked.
  • Continue to cook until you see the sides come off easily from the pan.
  • Take the dosa to a plate and allow to cool for 30 secs to a min and then fold it to halve and then to triangle. Serve neer dosa with chutney or curry.
  • To make next dosa, repeat greasing the pan with oil and then wipe off the excess.
  • Stir the batter every time you make a fresh neer dosa as the botton part of the batter will be thick.


Notes

If you are making neer dosa for the first time, you need to experiment a bit with the consistency of batter. Trying out a few dosas will help you to get them right.
If the batter is too thin, the batter gets stuck to the pan, get cracks and will not come out.
Do not make the batter thick, If it is thick and not thin enough then the dosa will come out too thick and will not turn out good. You may also find cracks when the batter is too thick.
You can add more water than mentioned in the recipe card as it depends on the kind of rice used.
I use short grain rice – parboiled ponni or sona masuri. Any kind of aged rice just works fine for the recipe.
To make it nutritious and flavorful, you can also add 1/4 cup fresh grated coconut or 1 cup coconut milk to blend.

Video

Watch Neer Dosa Video

NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)

Nutrition Facts
Neer Dosa Recipe (Mangalorean Rice Crepes)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 53 Calories from Fat 9
% Daily Value*
Fat 1g2%
Potassium 14mg0%
Carbohydrates 9g3%
Calcium 3mg0%
Iron 0.1mg1%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Tried this recipe?Mention @SwasthisRecipes or tag #swasthisrecipes!

© Swasthi’s Recipes

Neer Dosa Recipe First published in October 2017. Updated and republished in June 2022.

About Swasthi

Iโ€™m Swasthi Shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthi’s Recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthiโ€™s Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills. More about me

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Nice dosa,๐Ÿ˜‹๐Ÿ˜‹

Can i use rice flour instead and if yes how long do I need to soak it

5 stars
After my mom’s demise I had lost hope of ever finding the recipe for neer dosa and then I tried yours…Swasti if I could meet you in person I would’ve given you the warmest hug for you just rekindled the childhood memories spent with my mom ….thanks a ton for sharing these amazing recipies.

5 stars
Your recipe is perfect and your tips very important

5 stars
I love your recipe and your tips for making delicious and tasty .

5 stars
Hey!
Thank you so much for the recipe. I tried and came out really well.

5 stars
Very helpful…

Loved your recipe Swasthi. I enjoy trying out good food recipes – and yours look good.

Hi swasthi I tried out this neer dosa receipe but it didn’t come out as good , may be u need more practise for the same before j introduce it to the adult foodies in my family,,, pls let me know what can u do with the leftover rice batter ,, I hv atleast about a cup of batter left about240 ml ..pls revert to me as I don’t want to just throw it…

Hi swathi
I made neer dosa receipe with kara chutney its really so tasty thanks for post this receipe please post like this different receipes. And thank you

I made in the same method the beer dosa is very Krispy and sticky to the tawa only

5 stars
Hi swasthi,
Nice recipe….may I know which type of rice you have used..? Is it raw rice or parboiled rice..

5 stars
Thanks for the quick reply…I shall try the recipe and let you know the results…:)

I love ur site an ur recipes ? Great explanations. Wonderful pics.

5 stars
Hi Swasthi
I tried these neer dosa for dinner. They turned out awesome with chettinad egg curry. Thank you so much for the easy recipes.

Which is that chutney in picture with neera dosa

5 stars
Hi mam!How r u.i tried this recipe and it is good. Mam can you share egg puf without oven

5 stars
Hey swasti
I made ur neer dosa, cooker cake and many recipes. All came very well. Thank you for the recipes. Can you pls give me a recipe of chocolate cake with egg to make in cooker.