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Finally a Dosa recipe. Dosas are the flat bread equivalent side with South Indian meals and also a great snack with different types of crepes, with fillings, styles and so on.
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I make Dosa and Idli every few weeks. The traditional dosa used urad dal and rice and cooks up to a golden white crepe. My Dosas usually have a couple of lentils and beans. They dont look super white and are not very thin crepes. And I like them that way, not too crisp, full of lentils/beans and all the different proteins and nutrition from each of the lentils and much more filling. You can adapt this recipe to use only urad dal and rice for the traditional version. Find the traditional recipe and Step by Step pictures in my book.
Here is a Video from a very happy chef to help with the steps. It shows the consistency of the basic batter, how to shape the crepe, and different varieties of dosa.
To read more about how the fermentation works, see this Batter explained article on India Curry.
I did not have a powerful wet grinder to do justice to the batter for years, and used my regular blender. That worked fine when you blended the daal and rice separately but the batter was usually a bit more grainy. Some multi lentil Idli and Dosa versions posted earlier.
Now since I got the Blendtec, its a breeze to blend the batter.
Usually skinless white Urad daal (black gram), medium grain rice (sona masuri) and parboiled rice are used to get the best Dosas.
I use either whole with skin daal or split with skin black gram, hence the slight darker tone to the dosas in the pictures. For Variations, add ginger and green or red chili to the batter when you blend, add greens and a tomato, add a 1/4 cup more of soaked beans and lentils like black eyed peas, mung beans, pink, green, yellow lentils.
Dosa - Lentil and rice savory Crepes. Vegan Glutenfree
Dosas are the flat bread equivalent side with South Indian meals and also a great snack with different types of crepes, with fillings, styles and so on.
Ingredients
- 1 cup medium or long grain rice, I use basmati
- 1/4 cup brown rice
- ½ cup whole urad dal, black gram, skinned or whole. the whole unskinned one will give a slightly darker appearance to the crepe or split urad dal
- ½ teaspoon methi seeds, fenugreek seeds
- 2 Tablespoons toor daal, Pigeon pea or chana daal(bengal gram) - optional
- 1/4 cup thick Poha, Rice flakes- for crisp crepes, optional
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Batter:
- Rinse the rice well and soak overnight in a large bowl.
- Rinse the urad daal(black gram) and other dals if using and soak along with the fenugreek seeds(methi), overnight. Urad dal and fenugreek attract wild yeast for the fermentation.
- Drain the soaking liquid of the daal/lentils and reserve the soaking liquid.
- If using Poha(rice flakes), wash and add them to the soaking rice to soak for a few minutes.
- Grind the daal and fenugreek seeds in your blender/wet grinder using some of the soaking liquid into a smooth fluffy paste.
- Drain the rice, reserve the soaking liquid. Grind the rice with a little of the soaking water. The rice will make a gritty batter.
- If you can, use your hands to to mix the daal and rice batters together in one large bowl. Or use a large spoon. Add salt, and mix in.
- You can use this batter directly to make the crepes(adjust water content if the batter is too thick). The crepes will have a less fermented flavor.
- Let it ferment for another 6-8 hours in a warm place(85-90 deg F), covered with a towel or lightly with a lid. You can leave it in the oven with the light on to help with the warmth.
- The fermented batter should be frothy, and almost double in volume.
- Note: If you do not have urad dal or fenugreek, you can make the batter with any other lentils and add 1/2 tsp active yeast after blending. Let it sit for 3 to 4 hours to ferment and then use.
Making Crepes
- Heat a 10+ inch nonstick skillet on high heat. Once hot, sprinkle a few drops of water on the skillet. The water should sizzle and evaporate within 2 seconds .
- Cut a small wedge from an onion or a potato. Stick a fork into the onion. Add a drop of oil to the hot pan, and spread the oil around, using the onion. you can also use a thick paper towel to spread the oil.
- Pour a ladle full ( a 1/4 cup) of batter onto the hot skillet. Swirl the ladle in concentric circles, to spread out the batter.
- Drizzle a few drops of oil on the edges.
- Cook the crepe over medium-high heat till the bottom side of the dosa becomes lightly brown and starts to come away at the edges.
- You can flip and cook the other side for a few minutes for crispier crepe.
- Serve hot with coconut chutney, Sambhar(pigeon pea and veggies stew), Potato and onion subzi! or fill them up with anything you like and make it your own fusion filled crepe
Notes
Nutritional values are based on one serving
Nutrition
Calories: 314kcal, Carbohydrates: 63g, Protein: 12g, Sodium: 441mg, Potassium: 157mg, Fiber: 8g, Vitamin C: 1.1mg, Calcium: 36mg, Iron: 3mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did you make this recipe? Rate and comment below!
These Dosa’s are heading to Ricki’s wellness weekend., Ellas’ potluck, Amee’s Fit abd Fab Friday, Allergy Friendly lunchbox., Hearth Soul blog hop, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Allergy Free Wednesdays, Glutenfree WEdnesdays.
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Our VSPCA fundraiser Auction is now also on Facebook!
You can bid for the items on the Facebook Album here or anonymously on the Fundraiser page. Feel free to share any pictures, album or posts from the blog and facebook! Thank you for the continued support and love! Have a great weekend all.
This was tasty but really didn’t resemble the taste and texture of dosa I’ve had from the restaurant 🤷
Felt labor intensive and overall, I was disappointed
Dosas are an intricate dish to master and yes labor intensive. Took me many tried and many years 🙂 . It would be hard to troubleshoot what exactly was different. Most restaurants use just white rice and a mix of white and white parboiled rice. They also use more rice, have huge machine grinders for the perfect texture and add a ton of oil. You can switch the brown basmati witb white and try. Here is a post by one of the bloggers I know for the authentic basic dosa witb lots of tips. https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/dosa-recipe-dosa-batter/
There is nothing boring about vegan food. Love this recipe! It is absolutely delicious! I made the crepes with the brown and white rice, black gram and salt. I didn’t use any of the optional ingredients. I served it over a cauliflower, green pea and potato curry, so good. I plan on making your sourdough bread recipe tomorrow. Thank you so much.
Exactly – especially with the black gram
I was gifted a bag labeled “lentil flour” – it appears fine ground. If I try to use it to make dosas or crepes, what do you suggest fora recipe?
If I don’t have whole fenugreek seeds will ground fenugreek work as a replacement?
Yes.
Do you leave the soaking rice/urad dal uncovered while they are soaking ? Seems you would to get the yeast…..
Love all your recipes! Thanks
the fermentation happens because of the yeast. Urad dal attracts wild yeast and the mixture ferments
Hello Richa~! I have a couple of questions for you. Do the rice and urad dal soak overnight in the refrigerator or on the countertop? Also, I have a question about why we use the soaking water for the grinding. My nutritionist friend went on about how it contains all of the phytates in the soaking water, which we don’t want in excess. Can you explain the reason for using the soaking water? For the fermentation process?
Thank you!!! 🙂
on the countertop. you can use the soaking water or use fresh water. It works either ways. Generally, the soaking water is used as the urad dal starts fermenting after a few hours of soaking, so the bacteria are already there in the water. But the dal itself is also fermenting so the batter will ferment either ways.
I discard the soaking water for all the whole beans and lentils, but not necessarily for split lentils.
Hi Richa,
I really love Dosa!
I was wondering wether I can make the butter out of whole rice and red lentils. Can you you give some pointers? If it is possible to make the butter like this, I can use the butter and make idly.
Thank you for sharing with us your knowledge and expirience.
You need urad dal (black matpe beams or black gram ) to make the batter as those beans help it to ferment. If you use lentils and rice, you can add a 1 tsp yeast to the battter and let it ferment and use. For idli, make a thicker batter with less water
Thank you for all the tasty recipes! You’ve become my go-to for creative, healthy and delicious recipes. I’ve finally decided to invest in a high power blender. Does your blentec do dry flours (ie garbanzo flour) also? I want a blender that will do recipes like this one, along with vegan cheeses and dry flours. Any advice? Thanks again
Hi Leah,
Thanks! Yes, Blendtec can make flour as well. I sometimes make my own flour with wheat or spelt berries. I think vitamix would work too (the other high powered blender). Just be sure to let the motor cool between cycles when making flours as the flours will need a couple of cycles to get the right consistency.