Dosa Digressions That are Here to Stay
If you are an Indian, chances are that you love Dosa! Its a dish that is a staple of South Indian cuisine. But irrespective of whether one hails from the Southern part or elsewhere in India, I have never heard anyone say that they don't like the Dosa.
To a lot of people, Dosa implies breakfast. These ardent Dosa fans have probably eaten only a Dosa breakfast since they can remember and probably will continue to do so till they die! Many, like me break their fast over Dosa two to three times a week while others make it their dinner. Some like it as a snack to be had along with a hot beverage like tea or coffee, to yet others its an anytime food. For the mall trotting crowd, Dosa is junk-food, while its a quick selling favorite fast-food at the thousands of road side eateries.
To me Dosa is comfort food. I love to have it in a wide range of variations. The most popular version of the dosa recipe calls for white rice and urad. It could be had plain or with stuffing. Restaurants offer hundreds of varieties by changing the filling inside the crepe. But almost all of them use the same grain - white rice.
Off late, I experimented this popular Indian crepe with different grains to bring a different dimension to the crepe-varieties. I am glad I did it because I have come to like some of them more. And the nutrition that these grains provide certainly trumps over our traditional dosa hands-down!
While the urad is a constant, white rice can be substituted with other grains like the healthier rice versions such as Brown or Red rice, millets like Ragi and Fox-tail millet, Moong bean, Jowar(sorghum) and even Quinoa which is not even a grain! Its apparently a kind of grass!
We don't realize it often, but our diets suffer the bane of repetition because we supply the same set of nutrition to our body over and over, coming from just one or two types of grain for most of all our meals. Replacing the white rice for other grains in dosa is a great way to incorporate them in our diet. They offer a wide variety of nutritious benefits without having to give-up on taste. Its easy, involves exactly the same effort as making a regular dosa(sometimes even less) and the only thing different we do is to pick up a different pack of grain at the supermarket aisle other than your usual white rice! And that's all there is to it!
I successfully tried making crepes with all these grains in the past few months and loved them, which is why I decided to write down their recipes(which by the way is no different than the traditional one). Simply substitute the rice with any one of these grains!
I had a lot of left over Ragi powder from what mom sent me. It was originally intended for Appu, as most kids in our family are fed with a porridge made of Ragi on a daily basis, probably because of its health benefits one of which among others, is calcium which toddlers require in plenty. Ragi is an excellent source of calcium. No other cereal comes anywhere near Ragi, when it comes to calcium content. Anyway I guess Appu got bored of it after a while because he started putting up a fight every time I try to feed him Ragi porridge. So here I was, left with a 'ton' of Ragi, wondering what to do with it. The quickest way to spend it while it was still fresh was to make Dosa. It was an instant hit with us and the kids! Also since its Ragi powder, it saves me the extra time and effort to soak and grind Ragi.
Alternately, Ragi Dosa can also be made from soaking and grinding whole Ragi.
Ingredients
Ragi Powder - 3 cups
Hulled whole Urad - 1cup + a little less than 1/4th of a cup.
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
salt
oil
Method of preparation
Soak the urad and fenugreek seeds for 3 to 4 hours
Grind the urad and fenugreek seeds together in to a very fine batter.
Put the ragi powder in to this batter and mix very well.
Leave the mixed batter overnight to ferment.
Heat a dosa pan and smear with oil.
Add salt to the batter and once again stir-mix the batter it with a ladle.
Take a ladle full of batter and spread on the hot pan in circular motions.
When the corners start lifting up, flip it over to the other side.
Serve hot with sambar or chutney of your choice.
Hulled whole Urad - 1cup + a little less than 1/4th of a cup.
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
salt
oil
Method of Preparation
Wash and soak foxtail millet and urad dal (urad dal + fenugreek seeds) separately for 5-6 hours.
Grind both separately to a smooth batter. Then mix both the batter well.
Leave the mixed batter overnight to ferment.
Heat a dosa pan and smear with oil.
Add salt to the batter and once again stir-mix the batter with a ladle.
Take a ladle full of batter and spread on the hot pan in circular motions.
When the corners start lifting up, flip it over to the other side.
Serve hot with sambar or chutney of your choice.
This dosa was very soft and delicious.
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
salt
oil
Method of Preparation
Wash and soak quinoa and urad dal (urad dal + fenugreek seeds) separately for 5-6 hours.
Grind both separately to a smooth batter. Then mix both the batter well.
Leave it to ferment overnight.
Heat a dosa pan and smear with oil.
Add salt to the batter and once again stir-mix the batter it with a ladle.
Take a ladle full of batter and spread on the hot pan in circular motions.
When the corners start lifting up, flip it over to the other side.
Serve hot with sambar or chutney of your choice.
This dosa by the way is my personal favorite :)
Ingredients
Method of preparation
Add salt to the batter and once again stir-mix the batter it with a ladle.
Take a ladle full of batter and spread on the hot pan in circular motions.
When the corners start lifting up, flip it over to the other side.
Serve hot with upma, sambar or chutney of your choice.
This was what I made on a regular basis, before I started experimenting dosas with other cereals. If one uses brown rice, the dosa looks pretty much the same as one made with white rice, but tastes better! The red rice variation looks red like Ragi Dosa. I haven't made white rice dosa for more than two years. Every single variation mentioned here is much healthier than white rice dosa and so we have dropped it.
Ingredients
Red/Brown rice - 4 cups
Hulled whole Urad - 1cup + 1/4th of a cup.
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
salt
oil
Method of Preparation
Wash and soak red/brown and urad dal (urad dal + fenugreek seeds) separately for 5-6 hours.
Grind both separately to a smooth batter. Then mix both the batter well.
Leave it to ferment overnight.
Heat a dosa pan and smear with oil.
Add salt to the batter and once again stir-mix the batter it with a ladle.
Take a ladle full of batter and spread on the hot pan in circular motions.
When the corners start lifting up, flip it over to the other side.
Serve hot with sambar or chutney of your choice.
Thus this national favorite can be made in to healthy dish by substituting the white rice with whole grains that offer not just extra fiber but a plenty of other nutrients as well without giving up on taste.
My latest experiment of dosa was with Jowar. No big surprises here. Jowar is quite suited to make dosas and renders the same flexibility as rice. One can make it soft or crispy as they please. One point to note was that while grinding, the jowar, the batter doesn't necessarily become a smooth one. It may have fine grains and that's ok. It doesn't affect the dosa's consistency or taste. Infact I thought the dosas looked very similar to regular dosa.
Hulled whole Urad - 1cup
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
salt
oil
Method of Preparation
Wash and soak Jowar(sorghum) and urad dal (urad dal + fenugreek seeds) separately for 5-6 hours.
Grind both separately. Then mix both the batters well.
Leave the mixed batter overnight to ferment.
Then follow the same steps for making the dosa.
There is one more type of dosa left for me to try. Oats Dosa. Hopefully soon. :)
To a lot of people, Dosa implies breakfast. These ardent Dosa fans have probably eaten only a Dosa breakfast since they can remember and probably will continue to do so till they die! Many, like me break their fast over Dosa two to three times a week while others make it their dinner. Some like it as a snack to be had along with a hot beverage like tea or coffee, to yet others its an anytime food. For the mall trotting crowd, Dosa is junk-food, while its a quick selling favorite fast-food at the thousands of road side eateries.
To me Dosa is comfort food. I love to have it in a wide range of variations. The most popular version of the dosa recipe calls for white rice and urad. It could be had plain or with stuffing. Restaurants offer hundreds of varieties by changing the filling inside the crepe. But almost all of them use the same grain - white rice.
Off late, I experimented this popular Indian crepe with different grains to bring a different dimension to the crepe-varieties. I am glad I did it because I have come to like some of them more. And the nutrition that these grains provide certainly trumps over our traditional dosa hands-down!
While the urad is a constant, white rice can be substituted with other grains like the healthier rice versions such as Brown or Red rice, millets like Ragi and Fox-tail millet, Moong bean, Jowar(sorghum) and even Quinoa which is not even a grain! Its apparently a kind of grass!
We don't realize it often, but our diets suffer the bane of repetition because we supply the same set of nutrition to our body over and over, coming from just one or two types of grain for most of all our meals. Replacing the white rice for other grains in dosa is a great way to incorporate them in our diet. They offer a wide variety of nutritious benefits without having to give-up on taste. Its easy, involves exactly the same effort as making a regular dosa(sometimes even less) and the only thing different we do is to pick up a different pack of grain at the supermarket aisle other than your usual white rice! And that's all there is to it!
I successfully tried making crepes with all these grains in the past few months and loved them, which is why I decided to write down their recipes(which by the way is no different than the traditional one). Simply substitute the rice with any one of these grains!
Ragi Dosa
 |
| Ragi Dosa |
Alternately, Ragi Dosa can also be made from soaking and grinding whole Ragi.
Ingredients
Ragi Powder - 3 cups
Hulled whole Urad - 1cup + a little less than 1/4th of a cup.
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
salt
oil
 |
| The Batter |
Method of preparation
Soak the urad and fenugreek seeds for 3 to 4 hours
Grind the urad and fenugreek seeds together in to a very fine batter.
Put the ragi powder in to this batter and mix very well.
Leave the mixed batter overnight to ferment.
 |
| Flipped over |
Add salt to the batter and once again stir-mix the batter it with a ladle.
Take a ladle full of batter and spread on the hot pan in circular motions.
When the corners start lifting up, flip it over to the other side.
Serve hot with sambar or chutney of your choice.
 |
| Batter spread with a ladle |
Foxtail millet Dosa
A great substitute for rice dishes, this grain offers a healthier choice for any dish that calls for rice.
 |
| Fox-tail millet dosa |
Ingredients
Foxtail Millet -3 cups Hulled whole Urad - 1cup + a little less than 1/4th of a cup.
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
salt
oil
Method of Preparation
Wash and soak foxtail millet and urad dal (urad dal + fenugreek seeds) separately for 5-6 hours.
Grind both separately to a smooth batter. Then mix both the batter well.
Leave the mixed batter overnight to ferment.
Heat a dosa pan and smear with oil.
Add salt to the batter and once again stir-mix the batter with a ladle.
Take a ladle full of batter and spread on the hot pan in circular motions.
When the corners start lifting up, flip it over to the other side.
Serve hot with sambar or chutney of your choice.
This dosa was very soft and delicious.
Quinoa Dosa(Keen-wah)
Quinoa is one of the healthiest foods. Although it looks like one, it doesn't fall under the cereal category like wheat, oats or barley but falls under the same category as spinach, swiss chard, beets etc.. Nevertheless it can be ground to flour, like cereals.
 |
| Red & White Quinoa mixed |
I was looking to finish the quinoa I had with me for nearly a year. I did try my regulars like pulao and upma, but the quickest way is to make dosa!
 |
| Quinoa Dosa with Sambar |
Ingredients
White or red quinoa or mixed(I have used the mixed) - 3 cups
Hulled whole Urad - 1cup + a little less than 1/4th of a cup. Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
salt
oil
Method of Preparation
Wash and soak quinoa and urad dal (urad dal + fenugreek seeds) separately for 5-6 hours.
Grind both separately to a smooth batter. Then mix both the batter well.
Leave it to ferment overnight.
Heat a dosa pan and smear with oil.
Add salt to the batter and once again stir-mix the batter it with a ladle.
Take a ladle full of batter and spread on the hot pan in circular motions.
When the corners start lifting up, flip it over to the other side.
Serve hot with sambar or chutney of your choice.
This dosa by the way is my personal favorite :)
Pesaruttu(Moong dosa)
 |
| Pesaruttu |
1 cup whole green moong
1/4 cup of raw red rice
A small piece of ginger
A small bunch of coriander leaves (cilantro)
2 cloves of garlic (optional)
2 green chillies
2 tbsp of oil, for drizzling on dosa while cooking
1/4 cup of minced onions for garnish (optional)
Method of preparation
Soak the moong beans and rice overnight in enough water.
Drain and add the moong beans and rice along with the rest of the ingredients mentioned above for the batter.
Add some water and grind into a paste as smooth as possible. The end batter will look curdled which is fine.
Stir and mix well.
This batter need not be fermented.
Heat a dosa pan and smear with oil. Add salt to the batter and once again stir-mix the batter it with a ladle.
Take a ladle full of batter and spread on the hot pan in circular motions.
When the corners start lifting up, flip it over to the other side.
Serve hot with upma, sambar or chutney of your choice.
Red/Brown Rice Dosa
This was what I made on a regular basis, before I started experimenting dosas with other cereals. If one uses brown rice, the dosa looks pretty much the same as one made with white rice, but tastes better! The red rice variation looks red like Ragi Dosa. I haven't made white rice dosa for more than two years. Every single variation mentioned here is much healthier than white rice dosa and so we have dropped it.
Ingredients
Red/Brown rice - 4 cups
Hulled whole Urad - 1cup + 1/4th of a cup.
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
salt
oil
Method of Preparation
Wash and soak red/brown and urad dal (urad dal + fenugreek seeds) separately for 5-6 hours.
Grind both separately to a smooth batter. Then mix both the batter well.
Leave it to ferment overnight.
Heat a dosa pan and smear with oil.
Add salt to the batter and once again stir-mix the batter it with a ladle.
Take a ladle full of batter and spread on the hot pan in circular motions.
When the corners start lifting up, flip it over to the other side.
Serve hot with sambar or chutney of your choice.
Thus this national favorite can be made in to healthy dish by substituting the white rice with whole grains that offer not just extra fiber but a plenty of other nutrients as well without giving up on taste.
Jowar Dosa
 |
| Jowar(Sorghum) |
 |
| Jowar Batter |
 |
| Batter spread |
 |
| Jowar Dosa |
My latest experiment of dosa was with Jowar. No big surprises here. Jowar is quite suited to make dosas and renders the same flexibility as rice. One can make it soft or crispy as they please. One point to note was that while grinding, the jowar, the batter doesn't necessarily become a smooth one. It may have fine grains and that's ok. It doesn't affect the dosa's consistency or taste. Infact I thought the dosas looked very similar to regular dosa.
Ingredients
Jowar(sorghum) - 3 cups Hulled whole Urad - 1cup
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
salt
oil
Method of Preparation
Wash and soak Jowar(sorghum) and urad dal (urad dal + fenugreek seeds) separately for 5-6 hours.
Grind both separately. Then mix both the batters well.
Leave the mixed batter overnight to ferment.
Then follow the same steps for making the dosa.
There is one more type of dosa left for me to try. Oats Dosa. Hopefully soon. :)
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