• Rinse together urad dal, chana dal and methi seeds thrice, draining out the water after each rinse. Soak in 3 cups water for 5 to 6 hours.
• Rinse rice thrice and soak in 3 cups water for 5 to 6 hours. (If you have a high speed blender you may rinse and soak them together, read faqs)

Make Dosa Batter

• Rinse and soak poha in ¼ cup water for 30 mins, before blending the batter.
• Drain water from dal & transfer to a blender jar. Also add soaked poha and ¾ to 1 cup water (start with lesser). Grind to a smooth & bubbly batter. Transfer this to a large bowl or an instant pot steel insert.
• Drain water from rice & add it to the jar. Pour ½ cup water and blend to a smooth or slightly coarse batter.
• Transfer to the dal batter bowl and mix well. (Check video to see the final consistency). During winters you may add sea salt & mix at this stage to help with fermentation.

Fermenting Dosa Batter

• Cover the bowl loosely and ferment the batter in a warm place overnight, up to 12 hours until it rises, turns light & bubbly.
• During colder season, ferment the batter in oven at 100 F/ 40 C for 3 hours & leave it overnight there with the oven light ON. Alternately, place the bowl in the IP or the 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 2 weeks.
• The fermented batter usually becomes thick, pour little water to thin down only needed & bring it to a spreadable consistency. (Check video or photos in the post)

How to make Dosa

• Heat a dosa 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 medium, stir the batter with a ladle and take a ladle (¼ cup) of dosa batter & pour in the center of the hot 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.