Dosa Recipe How To Make Perfect Dosa At Home

You might also like these south Indian recipes for brown rice dosa, adai and rava dosa. If you love south Indian snacks or “tiffin”, you likely love dosa, that crispy rice and lentil crepe that arrives at your restaurant table spilling over the sides of a plate. It is usually served with bowls of sambar and coconut chutney. Dosas are the original Indian health food–they are packed with plant protein and gut-friendly bacteria. They are gentle on the stomach and are traditionally vegan as well as gluten-free, soy-free and nut-free, so you can feed them to just about anyone. I have many versions of dosa (called “dosai” in south India and pronounced with a soft “d”) on the blog, including instant masala dosa, quinoa dosa and sorghum or jowar dosa. But sharing an authentic dosa recipe with you – the kind that all of these other versions spun off from, has been on my to-do list for a while now.

An authentic homemade dosa recipe

This dosa recipe has been in the family of my Tamil husband, Desi, for generations, and it comes to me via my sis-in-law and amazing cook Padmavathy Raghavan, or Paddu. It is so good that I, despite my love for tinkering with recipes, have never veered from it. Here are some very good reasons you might want to try it:

Healthy: Dosas are not just probiotic. They are also loaded with protein and heart-healthy fiber. They are gentle on the tummy and extremely allergy-friendly because they are soy-free, nut-free and gluten-free. Made with pantry ingredients: Dosas need only five pantry ingredients, including rice and black gram lentils or urad dal. Versatile: You can eat dosa at any meal - it makes a delicious and healthy breakfast, lunch or dinner. And it tends to be very kid-friendly. Simple recipe: There’s a learning curve with dosa, like there is with any recipe that’s worth making, but you aren’t going to learn if you don’t start. Remember, practice makes perfect! Watch the video below and pay close attention to the consistency of the batter, the fermentation and how to actually shape the dosa on the hot griddle. You will be flipping dosas in no time at all.

Equipment for making dosa

Large bowl for soaking the ingredients and fermenting the batter. Make sure that the bowl can hold at least twice the size of the ingredients as the batter could rise when it ferments. High-powered blender. In India you can buy a special mixer grinder to grind dosa and idli batter, but a good blender works just as well. Large, flat griddle. A 10-inch griddle is perfectly fine and you will get wonderful dosas. This is also a good size to start with if you are new to dosa making. A large cast iron skillet or non-stick skillet will also do. I use a 14-inch cast iron pizza pan because I can make larger dosas on it, and you can graduate to it, if you like, once you get the hang of it. Ladle with rounded bottom, like a soup ladle. This helps shape the dosas perfectly. Spatula to remove the dosas from the griddle.

How to make dosa

Soak ingredients

Allow the rice and dal and other ingredients to soak for at least 8 hours or overnight. I usually soak them in the morning, blend up the dosa batter in the evening, and leave it to ferment overnight so I can make fresh dosas next morning. Some traditionalists soak the rice and dal separately, grind them separately, and then mix them. To me that just adds unnecessary steps and I prefer to just soak everything together and pay closer attention when I blend so I get the texture right. Rice takes just a little longer to blend than the dal, which is perfect because you want the dal to blend smoothly while the rice remains very slightly gritty. That helps the dosas turn out crispy. Always drain out the water you soaked the rice and dal in and add fresh, preferably filtered water when you blend the batter.

Blend the batter

When you blend the mixture begin with less water and add more if needed. Keep in mind that you can always add more water to the batter if it’s too thick but you can’t take water out of it. For this recipe I needed just under a cup and a half of water. Blend in two batches. My blender can handle all the ingredients at one time but I prefer to blend half the ingredients at a time. This helps me control the water better–for instance, if I added too much water the first time I can add less water to the second batch and make sure my batter is the right consistency. Also if you don’t have a high powered blender a big load could end up overwhelming it. Blend in short bursts – 30 seconds at first and then short bursts of 10 seconds, checking to see if you have reached the right consistency. Again, a high-powered blender works best for this. You will get better at this eventually and the process will become easier, but for crispy dosas you want to make sure that the batter, while smooth overall, should also have a very, very slightly gritty feel when you rub it between your thumb and forefinger. This will result in very crispy dosas.

Ferment the batter

Cook the dosa

Now comes the funnest part–actually making your dosas. Stir salt into the batter, if you are using it, at this time. Then heat a well-seasoned cast iron griddle or a non-stick griddle over high heat. Don’t oil it at this time as you will not be able to spread the dosa batter easily on an oiled griddle. Once the griddle is hot enough that water sprinkled on it sizzles and then evaporates completely in five seconds or so you are ready to add the batter to the griddle. Pour the batter on the center of the griddle and, working quickly, move out in circles in a spiraling motion, spreading the batter with the bottom of the ladle (watch the video below to see exactly how to do this). This will take some time and practice to perfect, but you will get better with time. Use a light touch while ensuring your ladle is constantly in contact with the batter. Even if you don’t do it exactly right, proceed with the next steps - dosas that are not perfectly shaped are still delicious. Sprinkle a few drops of oil around the dosa edges. This will help the dosa become crispy. When I want to cut out oil I spritz a bit of cooking spray around the edges. If you do this be careful to turn the gas heat to low so you don’t spray directly on the flame. Once the dosa edges look lacy and golden, and the top has dried out, loosen it gently from the griddle with a flat spatula. Fold the dosa in half and remove to a plate. You don’t need to cook the other side, but if you like you can flip the dosa and cook it for a few seconds. After the first one or two dosas the griddle could overheat so reduce the temperature to medium or medium high heat and continue making dosas. If the griddle is too hot you can also cool it by sprinkling a few drops of water on it. Always eat dosas hot, right after you make them, for the best texture and flavor.

Watch how to make dosa

Serve

Serve the dosa with sambar, a south Indian style vegetable dal, and/or coconut chutney. Add a potato stuffing to the dosa, like this potato masala or Bombay Potatoes. Place the stuffing in the center and fold the dosa over it to serve.. You can also serve dosa with karuveppilai podi mixed in a bit of oil, like in the photos here. This is a powder mix made with curry leaves and spices. You can make it ahead and it goes beautifully with both idli and dosa.