Dosa recipe - South Indian Lentil crepes made with fermented dosa batter. These are known as dosa or dosai and are a popular breakfast food. These are served with chutney, potato masala and sambar.
For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips.
2tablespoonspoha(flattened rice, or substitute ¼ teaspoon methi seeds)
½teaspoonrock salt (or non iodized salt or crystal salt)
How to make the recipe
Rinse together urad dal, chana dal and methi seeds thrice and soak in enough water for 4 to 6 hours.
Rinse rice thrice and soak in enough water for 4 to 6 hours. (If you have a high speed blender you may rinse and soak them together, read faqs)
How to Make Dosa Batter
Rinse and soak poha in ¼ cup water for 30 mins, before blending the batter.
Drain the water from the dal & transfer to a blender jar along with soaked poha and water. Grind to a smooth & bubbly batter. It should be of thick pouring consistency. Transfer this to a large pot (enough to hold the fermented batter).
Drain the water completely from rice & add it to the jar. Pour water and blend to a smooth or slightly coarse batter. It will be of thick pouring consistency.
Pour this to the batter bowl and mix well. (Check video to see the final consistency)
Fermenting Dosa Batter
Cover the bowl loosely and ferment it in a warm place until the batter rises and turns light & bubbly. It may take anywhere from 6 to 18 hours depending on the temperature.
If you live in a warm region, you can leave the batter bowl on the counter overnight.
To ferment in colder regions, preheat the oven at the lowest setting (120 F/ 50 C) for 7 mins, no longer. Turn off the oven and keep the dosa batter inside with the oven light ON. Alternately, place the batter bowl in your instant pot steel insert, press yogurt settings with a timer set to 8 hours (12 to 14 hours during colder days). Use an external lid and not the IP lid.
Optional Fermentation test: Well fermented dosa batter rises & increases in volume. It looks airy, with plenty of tiny bubbles. To test, drop half a spoon of this into a bowl of water. Well fermented batter floats. If it has not reached this stage, ferment longer.
Stir the dosa batter once. Transfer the required portion to a small bowl and add salt as required. Refrigerate the rest for up to 1 to 2 weeks.
The fermented batter usually becomes thick, pour little water to thin down & bring it to spreadable consistency. (Check video or photos in the post)
How to Make Dosa
Heat a dosa griddle/ tawa on a medium heat. When it is slightly hot, add a few drops of oil and spread it with a kitchen paper or a half cut onion (pierced with a fork/ butter knife on the rounded side to hold).This prevents the dosas from sticking to the pan.
To check if the pan is hot enough, sprinkle a few drops of water over the pan. If it is ready, it should sizzle.
Reduce the heat to low, stir the batter with a ladle and take a ladle (¼ cup) of dosa batter & pour in the center of the hot griddle/ tawa.
Immediately begin to spread it evenly with the base of the ladle - starting from the center, in an outward circular motion in a clockwise direction. (Check photos or video in the post)
Increase the heat to medium high or high and drizzle oil/ghee/ butter across the edges.
Cook until the base turns golden & crisp. Run a thin wooden turner/spatula across the base of the dosa, starting from the edges to the center.
Optional - If you want you may cook on the other side - turn it to the other side and cook for a minute. Turn again and cook the base for 30 seconds to crisp it.
Fold the dosa and remove from pan. Before making the next dosa, reduce the heat to low. You can also rub the cut onion and then pour the batter.
Serve dosa with coconut chutney, potato masala & tiffin sambar.