Basic Plain Dosa

Dosa is a thin, savoury pancake usually served with chutney and/or sambar in most of the south Indian houses. Dosas are hugely popular in rest of the country too. There are lot of additions to this basic dosa to make them even more delicious like masala dosa, onion dosa, mysore dosa, egg dosa.... 

The procedure of making dosa starts almost like making idly. This is my mom's fool-proof recipe for making a perfect dosa and I follow the same. The recipe starts with soaking rice and lentil. The soaked rice-lentils are then ground to a fine paste and fermented overnight. Warm temperature is always recommended for proper fermentation. The batter which is not well fermented results in hard idlis and dosas. 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup skinned ural dal (black lentils)

1 1/2 cup idli rice/parboiled rice/regular rice

1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds(methi)

1 tbsp chana dal (split bengal gram)

2 tbsp poha (flattened rice)

salt to taste

oil as required

water as required

Method

• Rinse and soak rice and dal-methi separately.
• Grind dal along with methi to a smooth & pluffy consistency by adding enough water.
• Grind the rice with poha into a smooth paste by adding enough water.
• Combine both the batters well in a large enough bowl and let it ferment overnight.
• The next morning the batter is ready for making thin, crispy dosas.
• Combine salt, mix well and adjust the consistency by adding enough water. 
• Heat a non stick tawa or iron griddle (grease with little oil if using griddle, not required for nonstick tawa)
• Add batter with a laddle and spread in a circular motion from the centre towars the sides of the tawa.
• Drizzle little oil around the edges and few sprinkles on the top.
• If the tawa  is greased well, dosa will start to leave the edges. Use spatula to fold dosa.
• Dosa is now ready to serve with your favorite chutney.

Note: I prefer my dosa to be crispy, so I spread it very thin. If you like soft, pluffy dosas, try spreading the batter little thick and do not forget to flip them and cook on the other side too.