1½ cups idli rice you can also use just Sona Masoori rice or half idli rice and half Sona Masoori rice
½ cup urad dal
2 tablespoons chana dal
¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
2 tablespoons thick poha
1 teaspoon sea salt
For Grinding
1½ cups water divided
For Cooking
4 tablespoons ghee or oil
½ onion optional, for applying oil
Instructions
Rinse Urad Dal and Chana dal 2 to 3 times and drain out all the water. Soak dal in 2 cups of water for 6 to 8 hours or overnight.
Rinse the rice 2 to 3 times and drain out all the water. Add fenugreek seeds and poha. Soak rice in 2½ cups of water for 6 to 8 hours or overnight.
Drain out all of the water from the lentils and add it to the blender jar along with half of the water for grinding. Blend the dal to a smooth batter. Take out the batter in a large bowl or the instant pot insert.
Drain out all of the water from the rice and add it to the blender along with the remaining water for grinding. Blend to a sligthly coarse consistency. Add it to the pot with dal batter.
Add salt and mix well. Place the Pot insert inside the Instant Pot and select the yogurt mode (normal or ferment) for 8 hours.Note: You may need to ferment the batter for upto 12 hours, especially during winter months. Once the batter is fermented it will be light and airy and would have almost doubled in volume.
To make the dosa, mix the batter well. Add more water if needed so the batter is of good pourable consistency. I usually add about ½ a cup of water at this point.Note: This recipe makes 4 cups of batter.
Preheat a cast iron pan/tawa on medium heat.To check if it’s hot enough, sprinkle a few drops of water onto the surface; they should sizzle and evaporate quickly.Next, use half an onion to spread oil over the pan: pierce the onion’s rounded side with a fork and use its flat side as a tool for oil application. This will prevent the dosa from sticking to the pan. Alternatively, you can use a silicone brush for this task.
Lower the heat.Pour about one-fourth cup of batter into the center of the pan using a ladle and spread it using the back of the ladle carefully moving outward clockwise.Note: If you like thick dosas use more batter or do not spread as thin. Also if you have a bigger pan you may want to use more batter.
Drizzle over some oil or ghee on top and sides of the dosa and cook on medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes or until the bottom starts to turn golden brown.Carefully run a flat spatula under the rim starting from the side and going in the middle. Fold the Dosa and serve.
Repeat with the remaining batter. Between each dosa use a couple of wet paper towels to wipe the pan, allowing it to cool down. This gives you enough time to thinly spread the batter for your next dosa.If the pan is too hot, the batter may stick to the back of the spoon as you spread it, making it difficult to spread it thin and even. Rub the onion on the pan before spreading the batter.Once you are done spreading the batter, increase the heat to medium and cook the dosa until the bottom turns golden.
This recipe will make 16 thin dosas or 8 thicker dosas. Thin dosas are only cooked on one side. If you are making thicker dosas you may want to flip the dosa and cook the top side for a minute or so.
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