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Dosa Recipe & Dosa Batter Recipe

Dosa is a traditional South Indian dish made from a fermented rice and urad dal (black gram) batter, spread thin and crisp on a hot griddle, creating a golden, savory crepe typically served with coconut chutney and sambar for a flavorful and wholesome meal. This is a Plain Dosa or Sada Dosa recipe which is a popular as well as a healthy breakfast or snack.

Prep Time
9 hrs
Cook Time
mins
Total Time
9 hrs 30 mins
Servings: 16 Dosa
Calories: 74 kcal
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

  • ½ cup idli rice or parboiled rice or regular rice - 100 grams
  • ½ cup regular rice - 100 grams
  • ¼ cup urad dal - 50 grams (husked whole or split black gram)
  • ⅛ teaspoon fenugreek seeds or 2 pinches (methi seeds or methi dana)
  • 2 tablespoons thick poha (flattened rice)
  • 1.5 cups water - for soaking both rice and lentils
  • ¾ cup water - for grinding, do add water as required
  • ½ teaspoon rock salt - edible and food grade or non-iodized salt or sea salt crystals or Himalayan pink salt
  • oil as required

Instructions

Soaking Lentils and Rice
    Cup of Yum
  1. In a bowl take the idli rice or parboiled rice along with the regular white rice.Instead of adding regular rice, you can also make the dosa with a total of 1 cup idli rice as I have shown in the video. The video has the recipe ingredients doubled in proportion.
  2. To the same bowl, add urad dal and fenugreek seeds.
  3. Rinse the rice, lentils and methi seeds together a couple of times and keep aside.
  4. In a separate bowl, take the flattened rice.
  5. Rinse it once or twice in water and then add rinsed flattened rice to the bowl containing the rinsed rice+lentils+methi seeds.
  6. Pour 1.5 cups water. Mix. Cover with a lid and soak everything for 5 to 6 hours.
Making dosa batter
  1. Drain all the water and add the soaked ingredients in a wet grinder jar.
  2. Add ⅔ to ¾ cup water and grind till you get a fine grainy consistency of rice in the batter. A smooth consistency of batter is also fine. 
  3. If the mixer gets heated up, then stop and wait for some minutes. When the mixer cools down, grind again. Depending on the jar capacity, you can grind everything once or in two batches. I ground in two batches and added overall ¾ cup water.
  4. Now take the batter in a large bowl or pan.
  5. Add ½ tsp rock salt. Mix very well. Cover and allow to ferment for 8 to 9 hours or more. Time of fermentation will vary depending on the temperature conditions.
  6. A proper fermentation will double or triple up the volume of the batter and you will see tiny air pockets in the batter with a light sour aroma.
  7. Now lightly stir the batter, before you begin to make dosa.
Making Dosa
  1. Heat a cast iron pan. When the pan becomes hot, spread ¼ to ½ teaspoon oil all over the pan. Do keep the heat on low to low-medium heat, so that you are easily able to spread the batter. If the pan base is very thick, then keep the flame to medium.
  2. Do not spread oil if you are using a non stick pan, as you won't be able to spread the batter.
  3. Now take a ladle full of the batter. Pour the dosa batter and gently spread the batter starting from the center and moving outwards.
  4. Cover it with a lid and cook the dosa on a low to medium heat. Do regulate the flame as per the pan size and thickness.
  5. When you see the batter on the top has cooked well and the bottom has become crisp and golden, then sprinkle ¼ to ½ teaspoon oil on the edges and center.
  6. With the spoon spread the oil on the dosa.
  7. Cook till the base is nicely golden and crisp. The base will leave the pan and the sides will also get separated when it gets cooked.
  8. Fold and serve sada dosa hot. Make all dosai this way.
  9. Serve these crisp plain dosa with sambar or potato masala or coconut chutney.

Notes

  • Scaling: You can easily halve, double or triple this sada dosa recipe. If doubling or tripling the dosa recipe, then soak urad dal + methi seeds in a separate bowl. Grind urad dal and methi seeds separately. Grind rice separately. Then mix both the batters in a large bowl or pan. Grind soaked rice in two to three batches.
  • Rice: Instead of adding regular rice, you can also make the dosa with total of 1 cup idli rice as I have shown in the video. The video has the recipe ingredients doubled in proportion.
  • Temperature: Do take into account the temperature of the city in which you live, as temperature is one of the important factors for proper fermentation.
  • Urad Dal:  Make sure that the urad dal you use is fresh and within its expiry date.
  • Salt: Use non-iodized salt. I use rock salt. You can even use pink salt.
  • Keep the batter bowl in a warm place – e.g near a heater or in a warm place in your kitchen.
  • You can also preheat your oven at a low temperature (80 to 90 degrees Celsius) for about 10 minutes. Then switch off the oven and keep the batter bowl inside – I use this method when it becomes very cold outside.
  • Alternatively, if your oven has lights, then keep the lights on and place the batter inside.
  • Addition a bit of sugar does help in fermenting the batter – I use this method at times in the winters here.
  • Skip adding salt to the batter as salt retards the fermentation process. Sometimes I add both salt and sugar together. I always use rock salt in the idli batter.
  • Keep the batter for a longer time to ferment, like 14 to 24 hours.
  • Do remember that even if you do not see the batter doubled or tripled, you should see tiny bubbles in the batter. You should also get the typical faint sour fermented aroma from the batter.
  • Adding ¼ to ½ tsp of instant yeast (dissolved in 2 to 3 tsp water) 30 to 45 minutes before you make the dosa also helps. But do this method when the batter has not fermented well. The downside of this method is that you have to use all the batter at once. If you refrigerate than the batter gets too yeasty.
  • You can also add ¼ to ½ baking soda and then ferment the batter in cold seasons.
  • Double the proportion of the dosa batter recipe if making in a wet grinder. So for ½ cup of urad dal, add 1.5 cups water. For 2 cups of rice, add 2.5 cups water. Add the water in parts when grinding urad dal and fenugreek seeds, so that the batter becomes nicely fluffy and increases in volume.
  • After you have ground the urad dal and fenugreek seeds, you don’t need to remove it. Just let the batter remain in the wet grinder. Add the rice and continue to grind.
  • Then remove the batter in a large bowl. Mix salt. Cover the bowl and let the batter ferment. 

Nutrition Information

Calories 74kcal (4%) Carbohydrates 12g (4%) Protein 2g (4%) Fat 2g (3%) Saturated Fat 1g (5%) Sodium 75mg (3%) Potassium 13mg (0%) Fiber 1g (4%) Sugar 1g (2%) Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) 1mg Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) 1mg Vitamin B3 (Niacin) 1mg Vitamin B6 1mg Vitamin C 1mg (1%) Vitamin E 1mg Vitamin K 1µg Calcium 6mg (1%) Vitamin B9 (Folate) 1µg Iron 1mg (6%) Magnesium 3mg Phosphorus 15mg Zinc 1mg

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 16Dosa

Amount Per Serving

Calories 74

% Daily Value*

Calories 74kcal 4%
Carbohydrates 12g 4%
Protein 2g 4%
Fat 2g 3%
Saturated Fat 1g 5%
Sodium 75mg 3%
Potassium 13mg 0%
Fiber 1g 4%
Sugar 1g 2%
Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) 1mg
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) 1mg
Vitamin B3 (Niacin) 1mg
Vitamin B6 1mg
Vitamin C 1mg 1%
Vitamin E 1mg
Vitamin K 1µg
Calcium 6mg 1%
Vitamin B9 (Folate) 1µg
Iron 1mg 6%
Magnesium 3mg 1%
Phosphorus 15mg
Zinc 1mg

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.