Easy Dosa Recipe

four plain dosa folded and served on a brass platter with coconut chutney in bowl on side.

4.60 from 5 votes

Make the best Dosa Recipe from scratch at home with my easy homemade dosa batter. A step by step guide to help you get crispy South Indian dosas with perfect flavor and texture everytime.

Prep Time6

Cook Time30

Fermentation Time12

Total Time18 30

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: Indian

Diet: Dairy-Free, Gluten Free, Vegan

Servings:

Calories: 119kcal

Author: Farrukh Aziz

Ingredients

2 cups Rice idli rice/basmati rice/sona masuri/ponni
½ cup Urad Dal husked split or whole black gram
2 tablespoons Chana Dal bengal gram
2 teaspoons Fenugreek Seeds methi seeds
1 cup Oats rolled or instant
Water to soak and to grind - as needed
Oil as needed
¾-1 teaspoon Pink Salt or Rock Salt or Sea Salt or to taste

Instructions

Soaking rice and lentils

To begin with, place raw rice, urad dal, chana dal, methi seeds in a large bowl.
Clean and rinse well 2-3 times and then drain the water.
Add enough fresh water, cover with lid and allow it to soak for 5-6 hours.

Making dosa batter

Drain the water from the soaked rice lentil mixture. Place the soaked mixture to a high speed blender jar.
Add rolled or instant oats along with ¾-1 cup of water to the jar. You may need to add more water if required, but, ensure to start with lesser capacity.
(a). You can add salt (non-iodized) at this stage if you are living in a cooler region. I live in a warm region, so I skip the salt at this point and add it after fermentation just before making the dosas.
(b). Secondly, you can either blend everything together at once or even in two batches if required.
(c). Please note that, when blending the mixture in two batches, the jar might get heated up. If so, then, wait for few minutes for the jar to cool down and then proceed with the second batch blending. The secret to avoid heating of batter or jar is to use cold water for grinding.
Blend to a smooth batter, it should be like a paste. Also, the batter should be of pouring consistency and not runny.
Now, transfer the batter to a large mixing bowl. Mix the batter for 2 minutes using a whisk or with your clean hand (preferable as warmth of the hand helps better fermentation).

Fermenting dosa batter

Now, cover the bowl and place it on a counter overnight (10-14 hours) to ferment.
(a). Temperature conditions plays an important role in fermentation process and time. If you live in a warm region (temperature of the environment should be 26-27℃), just leave the batter over the counter to ferment.
(b). In cooler climate, the batter takes longer time to ferment (even up to 24 hours). For colder region, it is preferable to use either oven or instant pot to ferment the dosa batter.
To ferment the batter in the oven: preheat the oven at 140℉ for 10-15 minutes. Now, turn off the oven and place the dosa batter bowl or pot ensuring the oven light is on.
To ferment the batter in instant pot: place the batter in steel insert on the instant pot. Cover the pot with external lid (please do not use IP lid here) and switch on the IP. Press the yogurt button and set the timer to anywhere between 8-10 hours in summer or 14-15 hours in winters.
Once the batter is well fermented, it will rise, increase in volume and will be frothy with air pockets on top. As I live in warm region, at this stage I add salt and give a light stir to the batter, before making the dosas.

Making Dosa

Heat a cast iron skillet or a heavy bottom non-stick flat griddle( dosa tawa) on medium high heat.
(a). If using cast iron skillet, once its hot, grease the pan with little oil using a slice of onion. Sprinkle some water, the skillet with sizzle and water droplets will evaporate.
(b). For non-stick dosa tawa, do not use oil for greasing as it will prevent the batter from spreading evenly.
Now, reduce the heat to medium low and pour a ladleful of dosa batter at the centre of the hot skillet or tawa. Immediately, after pouring the batter, quickly spread the batter in a circular continuous motion (clockwise direction) to form thin dosa. Ideally, once you start, you should stop only when you get a uniform thin crepe for the required size.
Increase the heat to high, drizzle or brush few drops of oil (or ghee or butter)on the top of the dosa at the center and the edges. Cook the dosa until bottom is golden, crips and edges begin to leave the pan.
Though only one side needs to be cooked, you can flip the dosa to cook for few seconds on the other side and then flip it back. Roll out or fold and take it off the pan.
You should be delighted to see your crispy, yummy and healthy crepes. Serve this crispy plain dosa with coconut chutney / onion tomato chutney and sambar.
Be sure to reduce the heat to medium low before making the next dosai. Repeat the process to make all dosa in the same way.

Notes

Dal: Use urad dal that's freshly packed or within the expiry date. Also, do add chana dal to the batter for crispier dosas.

Vessel or pot: Use a large vessel or pot to ferment idli or dosa batter. The vessel should be of double the volume to provide enough room for the batter to rise.

Fermentation: Ensure that the batter is not left out on the counter at room temperature for very long time. Or, it may turn too sour and smell very bad which indicates the batter is over fermented.

Batter: The batter consistency should be like a ribbon when poured. It should not be runny. When rubbed between two fingers, it should be smooth with a very slight grainy texture. If your dosa batter is too thin, consider adding few spoons of rice flour before fermentation to reach required consistency.

Heat: It is important to make sure that cast iron skillet or dosa tawa is heated well before pouring the batter. Sprinkle some water, the skillet with sizzle and water droplets will evaporate. If the pan is too hot, you need to reduce the heat to low to cool it down a bit. Too hot pan prevents the batter from spreading properly.

Nutrition