Rava dosa recipe – Learn to make perfectly crisp and thin Instant rava dosas each time. Rava dosa is a South Indian breakfast made with semolina, cumin, ginger, coriander leaves and green chilies. These aromatic crisp toasted thin crepes are immensely popular in the South Indian Tiffin centers. Rava dosa is usually served with coconut chutney, kara chutney, sagu or vegetable kurma.
If you are new to South Indian cuisine read on to know …
Table of contents
What is rava dosa?
Rava is the South Indian name for semolina. Dosa is a thin Indian crepe. So rava dosa is a thin & crispy crepes made with semolina. To flavor up the crepes, various spices & herbs like ginger, green chilies and cumin are used.
How is it made?
Rava dosa is an Instant dish where a thin batter is made with all the ingredients. Then it is poured over a hot griddle. A generous amount of oil or ghee is drizzled to cook them. The resulting crepes are thin, aromatic and delicious.
Traditionally dosas are made by soaking & blending rice and lentils to a batter. This is then fermented overnight & used. Making traditional dosas need a bit of planning, soaking and fermenting.
These instant rava dosas are a great replacement to the traditional version since these can be made instantly without having to soak, blend & ferment the batter.
In Karnataka Tiffin centers, different kinds of rava dosas are made. Plain, rava masala, onion rava masala, dry fruits rava dosa are some of those. Rava masala dosa is one of the most popular and is made by stuffing potato masala similar to the masala dosa.
More Breakfast Recipes
Bhatura recipe
upma recipe
Sabudana khichdi
poha recipe
Step-by-step photos
Making batter
1. Add ½ cup fine rava (semolina) to a large mixing bowl. I have used non roasted rava.
2. To the same bowl, add
½ cup rice flour
¼ cup all-purpose flour (maida)
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
¼ to ½ teaspoon crushed black pepper
3. Next add
2 to 3 tablespoons onions (very fine chopped)
1 green chili chopped (skip for kids)
6 curry leaves finely chopped
2 tablespoons coriander leaves (finely chopped)
1 teaspoon grated ginger
4. Add 1 tbsp curd (optional). This gives a golden color to your rava dosas but can be skipped. Pour 2½ cups water to make a runny batter.
5. Mix everything well and make a lump-free batter. It has to be very runny and watery. Taste it and add more salt if needed. Cover and rest this for 20 mins.
How to make rava dosa
6. Heat a non-stick or cast iron pan on a medium high heat. When the pan turns hot, drizzle few drops of oil & grease it well with a sliced onion or a kitchen tissue or cloth. Wipe off the excess oil.
Adjust the consistency: After resting batter does turn slightly thicker, so at this stage recheck the consistency of the batter by stirring it. If needed add more water and mix. It has to be more like watery. I added about 2 to 3 tbsps more at this stage.
7. Stir the batter very well every time before you pour it to make a rava dosa. Ensure the pan is very hot and then pour the batter beginning from the edges across the pan. Next fill up the gaps in between. Do not pour the batter in one place. If your batter is very very thin you will get paper thin dosas with large holes. Once done with pouring the batter, reduce the flame to low.
8. This was another time I made moderately thin rava dosas and not very very thin. This is how I make most of the times. Turn down the flame to low. Pour 1 tsp ghee or oil around the edges & on top.
9. Let the rava dosa toast well on a low flame until the edges leave the pan. When done, the edges of the rava dosa will come off the pan easily. This is the time you know it is done. The batter will cook through well and shrink a bit.
10. When you see all the batter is cooked fully, then fold and remove the rava dosa to a serving plate. Troubleshooting: Not all dosas need to be cooked on the other side. If your’s is browning at the bottom and still moist on top, then flip it and cook for 30 to 60 seconds. Lastly flip it back and toast until crisp. I did not toast mine on the other side.
Before you make the next rava dosa, ensure the pan is hot enough. Then stir the batter well and then pour. The batter may thicken after a while. Just add more water and stir it as and when needed.
Rava dosa is best served hot with a chutney. Serve them directly from the pan. They tend to turn softer when they cool down.
Here are some sides you may want to try
Coconut chutney
Veg kurma
Tomato chutney
Potato masala
Tiffin sambar
A well-made rava dosa will have a crisp, thin and porous texture. Here are some tips that may be helpful.
Pro tips
1. Use fine rava: Make sure you use only fine semolina also known as Bombay rava. Do not try this with other kinds of rava like whole wheat rava or bansi rava. The larger grains & bran in these kinds will prevent the dosas from roasting well and may break them.
2. Consistency of batter has to be thin and of pourable. The consistency of the batter determines the texture of the rava dosa. Runny batter creates a porous texture here. You can make them anywhere from paper thin to moderately thin by adjusting the consistency of batter.
3. Using the right kind of pan is crucial here. I make these dosas on a non-stick as well on a cast iron pan. If using a cast iron or an iron pan then it has to well-seasoned with oil. You can also use sliced onion to rub the pan before making every dosa. Do not try making these on a griddle that you use for toasting roti or naan.
4. Flame & temperature: The pan has to be hot enough while you pour the batter. But cook on a low heat to get them crisp. Do not toast them on a high heat. The dosa will brown without turning crisp.
5. Roasting : Remove the rava dosa when the edges begin to leave the pan. Do not forcibly pull it out from the pan. A well-cooked rava dosa leaves the edges from the pan on its own which is an indication that it is done.
6. Pour the batter & not spread: To make traditional dosas, the batter is spread on the tawa. But here it has to be poured over the hot pan. Pour it all over the pan instead of spreading.
Seasoning tawa
1. The key to make good rava dosas is a good tawa / griddle. If using a non-stick pan, then it can just be used straight away as it needs no seasoning. However many people use cast iron griddles to make their dosas. So sharing these tips for beginners:
2. Heat your cast iron pan first. When it becomes very hot, reduce the flame to low and pour ¼ to ½ teaspoon oil. Spread the oil gently with a kitchen tissue or a cloth. Be careful as the pan is hot. Continue to heat on a medium flame until it begins to smoke. Turn off and cool down. Your pan is ready to make rava dosa.
3. If your pan is new, then repeat this process 3 to 4 times until a thin glossy coating is visible on the pan. Every time you heat the pan with oil, a layer of fats will burn off on the pan and this creates a patina over it. So your pan will be absolutely non-sticky
Tricks
If you have a large family then these points may be helpful.
1. Making a lot of these dosas isn’t easy as they take double the amount of time to cook than a regular dosa. So it is good to make them on 2 different pans (on 2 burners) at one time.
2. Rava dosas are very light and are not filling if you eat them with a chutney. So it is good to pair them with a simple potato masala.
3. Lastly If you make them very very thin or paper thin, then you may need to make a lot of them as they are not filling at all. Next I make them moderately thin and not paper thin. Plan accordingly when you make the batter.
Troubleshooting
1. Dosa sticks to the pan: Grease the pan well. If needed rub it with a slice of onion before you pour the batter to make the dosa. Repeat this for every dosa.
2. Rava dosa is thick: If the batter is not thin enough then you will get thicker and dense dosas. Add more water if it is thick.
3. Dosa breaks if the batter is excessively runny. Add a few tsps of flour and rava proportionately.
Related Recipes
Recipe
Rava dosa recipe
Rava dosa
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
- ½ cup rava (fine semolina or suji)
- ½ cup rice flour
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour (maida or ½ cup oats flour or whole wheat pastry flour) (refer notes)
- 2 to 3 tablespoons onion very fine chopped (optional)
- 1 green chilli chopped finely
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon crushed black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
- 6 curry leaves chopped very finely
- 2 tablespoons coriander leaves chopped very finely
- 2½ cups water (you may need more)
- 1 tablespoon curd (plain yogurt) (optional)
- 2 to 3 tablespoons oil or ghee
Instructions
Preparation
- Add rava, rice flour, all-purpose flour, salt, ginger, green chilies, coriander leaves, curry leaves to a bowl.
- Next add cumin, crushed pepper, onions and yogurt.
- Pour 2½ cups water and begin to make the batter. Add more water and bring it to a runny consistency.
- Taste the batter and add more salt if needed. Rest the batter for 20 mins.
How to make rava dosa
- Heat dosa pan on a medium high heat. If using cast iron pan, then drizzle few drops of oil over the pan and spread it well with a sliced onion or kitchen tissue or cloth. Wipe off the excess oil & let it heat.
- While the pan heats, stir the batter well. Ensure it is very runny and is pourable. At this stage you can add more water to bring to the desired consistency.
- When the pan is hot enough, stir the batter very well and begin to pour it from the edges across the pan in a circular motion.
- Then fill up the gaps if any by pouring more batter.
- Reduce the flame to low. Pour 1 tsp oil across the edges and a little over the rava dosa.
- When it is done cooking, it will begin to peel off the edges on its own. Do not pull the dosas forcibly.
- If you make very very thin (paper thin dosas) then you don't need to cook on the other side.
- When the rava dosa base becomes crisp & golden, remove it to a serving plate.
- Optionally If the rava dosa has browned at the bottom but still moist on top, then you can also flip and toast the dosa on the other side. And back again.
To make next rava dosa
- Ensure the pan is hot again.
- Stir the batter well before pouring the batter every time. If needed add more water to bring it to consistency.
- It is best served hot as it turns soft when it cools down. Serve with any chutney.
NUTRITION (estimation only)
Notes
- I have tried this recipe with maida, oats flour & whole wheat pastry flour. To make oat flour add oats to a blender and make a slightly coarse powder and use it. I have also made this a few times with whole wheat pastry flour used in baking.
- Yogurt (curd) helps the suji dosas to get a golden color and also enhance the aroma. Adding more may make them soft.
- Ensure onions and chilies are very fine chopped otherwise they don’t cook well.
- After resting the batter, rava will absorb some amount of water. So you may need to adjust the consistency by adding more water.
- If you are a beginner, you need to practice a bit to make them perfect. This is not a beginners’ recipe.
Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.
For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.
© Swasthi’s Recipes
Padmini Srivastava says
Perfect instructions. Thank you 🙏🏻
swasthi says
Thank you & Welcome!
🙂
Anna says
God bless..
swasthi says
Thank you
Aji says
Excellent recipe and directions. I love your website. I was searching for something different to make for my partner and I. Thank you for sharing this!
swasthi says
Welcome Aji
Thank you so much!
Rachel says
My Bangalorean husband loves your recipes and often requests me to make food from Swasthis. Made these rava dosas last night. They turned out extremely crispy and delicious. One of them tore as it was my first try. He made the aloo masala and ginger chutney. We had a good dinner. Thank you all for the awesome recipes.
swasthi says
Hi Rachel
So happy to hear that. You are most welcome.
Thanks much for leaving a comment.
🙂
Rajesh says
Very useful tips and good presentation to learn for beginner like me thanks a tons .
swasthi says
Welcome!
Tej says
Hi Swasthi,
Cooking became a real challenge for me when my baby turned about 10 months old and was a very fussy eater. I had to constantly innovate to get something into her tummy. I am a Punjabi and am an ok cook as far as punjabi food goes but I knew nothing beyond that. That is when I started looking for various new items such as idlis, dosas, Dhoklas etc and came across your website and I won’t be exaggerating if I say that it changed my life for good. My daughter loves whatever new I am cooking based on your recipes and I wanted to thank you for that. Now coming to rava dosa, I followed your recipe to the T and then added very finely chopped capsicum, puréed peas and grated carrot to it to make it more nitritious for my daughter to have and it turned out to be so so yum! She gobbled up quite a few dosas 😃 thank you very much
swasthi says
Hi Tej,
Glad to know you! Firstly I am sorry for the late reply. So happy to know the recipes have been helpful. Love your version of rava dosa. It’s totally amazing and healthy. Thank you so much for this note!
Loads of love to your little one!
🙂
Manu says
Hi swasthi.. Wanted advice regarding which tawa is best for dosa.. Pure iron or cast iron.. Rt now using non stick but heard dosas on iron tawa taste better and r healthier.
swasthi says
Hi Manu
I have never used a pure iron tawa anytime. But my mom uses it only for the jowar bhakri and rotis. Other than the non-stick I also use a cast iron pan for dosas and it works well.
Manu says
Okay.. Is cast iron easy to maintain and is seasoning frequently required?
swasthi says
No it is not easy to maintain. You can make up to 15 to 18 dosas without rinsing and seasoning. It also depends on how often you use.
Richard says
This was the best recipe for a quick Rava Dosa I have found after a lot of trial and error.
I’m using an electric hob and have a large 32cm non stick Tefal Everest pan and have to the the hob quite high on a setting of 6-7 to get it really crisp.
I also put a little bit of extra oil on it while it was cooking around the edge and in the middle, which seeped underneath to crisp it.
This recipe works wonderfully, just as good as the Onion Rava Masala Dosa I would order at the “Woodland’s”.
Welldone Swasthi, it’s the first recipe to go from a son to his mother.
swasthi says
Hello Richard,
Glad to know your rava dosa turned out good. Yes Tefal pan works so well. I too used the same in the post. Thank you so much for the comment!
Raksha says
Hello Swasthi didi,
I love making new dishes everytime so today also I tried making rava dosa it was very tasty but once I pour the batter on tava after that I couldn’t flip it as a result I wasted around 1 hour for making 8 to 10 dosas. Either I had to cut it into pieces or wipe it out. please tell me why did this happen?
swasthi says
Hi Raksha
Rava dosa is not a beginners recipe. You need some practice to make the batter as well to cook the rava dosas. Please read the post again to know where you went wrong. Also take a look at the step by step pictures.Hope this helps
Raksha says
Ok sure didi will try again tomorrow and let you know how it turns up.
Thank you very much
Akshara says
Very authentic recipe, tried it from your guidance, and was really tasty i tried it with tomato chutney… ❤️
swasthi says
Glad to know!
Thank you!
Kamakshi MANI says
Good
swasthi says
Thank you
Vandana says
Hi Swasthi.
You share amazing receipes. Easy to make. All with available ingredients. I just love them. I have tried many of them. I love all the tips you give which are always helpful. Thank you. 😃
Going to try Rawa Dosa for first time. 👍
swasthi says
Hi Vandana
You are welcome! Glad to know. Thank you!
Manu says
Hi.. I tried this recipe with oats flour.. Taste was good but dosas were not crispy but soft.. I put 2 sp. Curd.. Could that be the cause?
swasthi says
H Manu,
I have mentioned in notes more yogurt can make them soft. No problem add a bit more of rice flour and semolina now. Mix with some water. it should work well.
Amy says
Came out really well for first time trial!
Thank you so much
swasthi says
Welcome Amy
Glad they turned out good. Thank you
Deepa says
Well described. No one can go wrong with such a detailed instructions. Thank you so much. Rava dosa is something which is liked by all but ordered only in a restaurant but definitely going to make this instant rava dosa once a week.
swasthi says
Hi Deepa
You are welcome! Thank you. Yes do try it.
🙂
Gitika says
Thank you for sharing the recipes. I made rava dosa 3 days in a row. They turned out so well. I was looking for a thalipeeth recipe. Can you guide me to the post?
swasthi says
Hi Gitika,
You are welcome! Glad they came out good. Thank you! I haven’t posted it yet. Hope to do it soon.
Preeti says
Thank’s for sharing
Sudha says
I never knew rava dosa can be made without maida. Love love your ideas & healthy twist. I made them today and they turned out very good. Your ginger chutney was also awesome. Thank you for the recipes. Please share gojju avalakki.
swasthi says
Hi Sudha,
So glad to see your comment after a very long time. You are most welcome! I have the recipe of temple gojju avalakki. I can share it. Thanks for trying.