Picnics are especially fun with this yummy dish. Dosa is made with urad dal and chana dal that need to be soaked for few hours. Once its cooked and prepared it can be added to yummy masala.
- 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)
Soaking & Grinding-
- Wash and soak the urad dal, methi and chana dal in enough water for 4 hours.
- Wash and rinse the rice thoroughly for two to three times. Soak the rice in plenty of water for 6 hours.
- After five 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, three 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 three 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.
Fenugreek seeds will help with fermentation. Use cold water and few ice cubes will grinding the batter in a blender to avoid over heating. Combination of idli rice and sona masoori gives best crispy dosa. But if you don’t have idli rice, sona masoori also works. Dosa is slightly less crispy than using the combination.
Cuisinart Griddler
Dosa’s super cool for picnics!
