Dosa, a favorite South Indian breakfast is a savory crepe made with rice and lentils.
Serve these delicious crispy dosa with chutney, potato fry or sambar .
Dosa is probably one of the most loved breakfast dishes from Indian Cuisine. This thin crispy dosa dunked in assorted chutney’s and sambar is true heaven to indulge.
Though Dosai is traditionally enjoyed for breakfast, over the years they are also served for brunch, lunch and dinner.
What are the ingredients of dosa ?
Dosa is made of raw rice, urad dal, chana dal, fenu greek seeds and salt. All these ingredients are soaked for 6 hours and ground to a fine paste. The batter is fermented over night and dosa is made the next day.
What is the ratio of rice to dal?
I use 3:1 ratio, which is 3 cups of rice to 1 cup of urad dal. If feel this proportion gives very good dosa batter.
What kind of rice to use for dosa batter?
Use a combination of sona masoori and idli rice or just use sona masoori rice.
How can I ferment the batter?
The dosa batter can be fermented on the kitchen counter, in the oven or in the instant pot. I prefer both oven and Instant Pot for fermenting, this gives me consistent results with fermentation.
What kind of pan to use?
I highly recommend using cast iron skillet for making dosa.
What is dosa served with?
As much as dosa is loved by all, the sides make them the best breakfast. We can serve the dosa with coconut chutney, tomato chutney, potato fry or sambar.
How long can I store the dosa batter?
Dosa batter can be stored for up to 4 days in the refrigerator. Remove it atleast 15 minutes before making them.
Few more Dosa recipes from the blog –
Some chutney’s which can be served with dosa are coconut chutney, peanut chutney , coconut coriander chutney and peanut tomato chutney.
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Crispy Plain Dosa
Ingredients
- 3 cups rice ( use 1.5 cups idli rice + 1.5 cups sona masoori rice) if you don't have idli rice, use just sona masoori
- 1 cup whole urad dal
- 1 tsp fenugreek seeds (methi seeds)
- 2 tbsp chana dal
- salt to taste (non iodized or rock salt)
Instructions
Soaking & Grinding-
- Wash and soak the urad dal, methi and chana dal in enough water for 5 hours.
- Wash and rinse the rice thoroughly for two to three times. Soak the rice in plenty of water for 5-6 hours.
- After 5 hours, discard the soaked water and grind urad dal, methi, chana dal with enough cold water, to a smooth paste.Transfer it to a bowl. I used a blender to grind my batter.
- Now drain the water from the rice and add it to the blender. If you blender is small do it in two batches.
- Add little water, 3 ice cubes and grind it to a smooth paste. Transfer it to the urad dal mixture.
- Add salt to the batter and using your hands mix the batter for 2-3 minutes. The consistency of the batter should be free flowing, neither thick or nor thin. If the batter is too thin it will not ferment.
Fermenting the dosa batter-
- Depending on where you live, dosa batter may need atleast 8 to 14 hours to ferment.
- If you live in a warm place, it may be easier to ferment the batter in less time.
- In winter and if you live in a cold place, you can ferment the batter either in the oven or in the instant pot.
- To ferment the batter in the oven, turn on the oven light and place the batter and let it ferment overnight. Please note that we are not turning ON the oven, just the light.
- To ferment the dosa batter in the instant pot, transfer the batter to the instant pot. Close the pot with a large plate or a glass lid. Do not use the regular instant pot lid.
- Turn the instant pot on and press the yogurt button and adjust the time to 10 hours. If you live in a much colder place, you can ferment the batter for couple more hours.
- The next day the batter will be fermented, frothy and will double in volume.
Making the dosa-
- Heat a cast iron skillet, apply oil and smother it evenly. Splash some water and wipe it off with a paper towel.
- Mix the batter, if you feel the batter is very thick add little water to adjust the consistency.
- Apply some oil on the pan and wipe it off with a paper towel. Now sprinkle some water on the pan, the hot pan will almost immediately evaporate the water, wipe the pan.
- Stir the fermented batter and pour a ladle of the batter in the center of the skillet.Spread the batter into a thin circle. Drizzle a teaspoon of oil all around the dosa.
- Close the lid for 45 seconds.When you remove the lid you will see that the edges turning golden brown. We just need to cook the dosa on one side.
- Fold the dosa from one side and remove.
- Before proceeding with the next dosa, wipe off the pan to remove any crumbs, spread some oil and wipe it off and make the dosa.
Priya Suresh
So crispy and love that fantastic plate, love to finish those dosas.
Sireesha Puppala
crisvpy home made dosas always the best
Sony P
Love the crispyness…….. Looks perfect !!