Dosa is a traditional South Indian breakfast consisting of crispy crepes cooked from fermented rice and lentil batter. Dosa, also known as dosai (in Tamil), is a well-known and popular South Indian breakfast snack and something that is enjoyed in India and around the world. Its batter can also be used to make a variety of other foods, including idlis, paniyaram, and uttapam. Read on to learn the easy dosa recipe step by step.
Ingredients3/4 cup parboiled rice
3/4 cup rice
1/2 cup whole urad dal (without skin)
1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1/2 tablespoon chana dal
Water, as needed
Salt to taste
Oil
Method- Take all you need to make the dosa batter. The primary ingredients are rice, urad dal, and fenugreek seeds. For Dosa, chana dal is used to create a golden colour.
- Regular and parboiled rice should be rinsed in water three to four times each, then soaked in two cups of water for four to five hours. Place both varieties of rice in a medium bowl and add water to cover the grains by 3/4 of the way up the bowl. The water will become cloudy as you touch the rice between your fingertips to rinse it. Drain the water, then proceed three or four more times.
- Combine chana dal and urad dal in water, add fenugreek seeds and let it sit for 4-5 hours.
- Put the urad dal water in a small bowl and set it aside (it will be used in the next step while grinding the dal). Fill the medium jar of a mixer grinder or blender with the mixture of drained urad dal, chana dal, and fenugreek seeds.
- Use the water set aside in the previous step to grind the remaining 1/2 cup of dry urad dal, adding water as needed to create a smooth, airy batter. The batter needs to be light and airy, not overly thick. Place it in a big container.
- Rice should be drained of water before being added to the mixer grinder jar. You can grind the rice in many batches depending on the jar size.
- As necessary, add water as you grind to produce a smooth texture. Avoid adding too much water at once; instead, add 1-2 teaspoons (or about 1/2 cup) at a time. When grinding, rice uses less water than urad dal. Rice batter won’t be as smooth as urad dal batter and will be a little grainy. Transfer it to the same bowl that contains the urad dal batter.
- With a spoon, thoroughly combine the two batters and add salt. The final batter shouldn’t be very thick or thin. For fermentation, cover it with a plate and leave it at room temperature for 8–10 hours or overnight. Keep the batter warm (or inside the oven with the light on) during cold weather to allow for fermentation.
- When you stir the batter with a spoon during fermentation, the volume of the batter would increase and little bubbles would show up on the surface. A spoon is used to stir the batter. If it appears to be too thick, add a few teaspoons of water and thoroughly combine until it is of pouring consistency (a little watery than idli batter).
- Iron or non-stick tawa (griddle or skillet) should be heated over a medium flame. Add a few water drops to the surface. The tava is hot enough to cook if water drops sparkles and disappears within a few seconds. Spread a half-teaspoon of oil evenly across the griddle using a spatula or a dry, clean cloth. Take a ladle full of batter, pour it over the tawa’s surface, stir it in a spiral motion while spinning the ladle, and form it into a circle with a diameter of about 7-8 inches.
- Apply 1 teaspoon of oil (or ghee or butter for crispy dosa) over the edges of the dosa, or use a brush to apply oil/ghee/butter evenly. Cook for about two minutes, or until the edges begin to rise and the bottom surface turns light brown.
- Cook for a minute after flipping it. You do not need to cook the other side of a thin dosa (as in the picture). Place it on a platter. Before preparing the next dosa (to avoid the dosa sticking to the pan), wipe the tawa with a clean, damp towel. Then, repeat steps 10 and 11 with the remaining batter. The basic dosa is ready, hot, and crispy.