How To Make Masala Dosa

4.50 from 2 votes

Masala Dosa- Crispy rice and lentil crepes stuffed with a mildly spiced potato mixture. A South Indian classic.

Prep Time20

Cook Time15

Total Time35

Course: Breakfast, snacks/starters, street food

Cuisine: South Indian Cuisine

Keyword: dosa, lentil crepe, masala dosa

Author: Anjana Chaturvedi

Wash rice and dal and then soak both rice together and all the lentil and fenugreek seeds in a separate container for about 5-7 hours.
Then reserve some water in which you have soaked urad daal as we will use this while grinding it.
Drain the remaining water and wash the soaked dal and rice with clean tap water.
Now grind the soaked daal with some water and make a smooth and fluffy paste of pouring consistency.
Remove the ground daal paste into a big container.
Now add soaked rice in the mixer jaar, add some water and grind to make a smooth paste.
Add the ground rice paste in the same container.
Add salt and sugar and mix it well.
Cover the container with a loose lid and keep it in a warm and dark place.
The batter will take about 8-12 hours to ferment and in winters it may take some more time.
When it become almost double and you see bubbles on the surface then its ready to use.

Peel the boiled potatoes and mash them into small pieces.
Heat oil in a pan and add the urad daal,chana daal,mustard and cumin seeds.
When cumin start to crackle then add curry leaves asafoetida and chopped green chilies.
Stir fry for few seconds.
Now add chopped tomato and salt and stir.
When tomato become little soft then add turmeric and mashed potatoes.
Add all the spices, 1.5 tbsp of water and saute to mix all.
Add chopped coriander and lemon juice and mix.
Remove in a bowl and keep aside.

Take the fermented batter in a bowl and mix well.
Add some water if the batter is too thick,as it should be of pouring consistency.
Take a non stick or heavy iron griddle /pan.
Apply few drops of oil over the pan and wipe with a moist cloth or paper napkin.
Pour a laddle ful of batter on the medium hot griddle and spread it on the tawa in a thin round circle.
Let it cook for few seconds till it change its colour and become light golden in colour.
Spread a tsp of oil around the dosa and 1 tsp over the dosa.
Flip the dosa and cook from other side for few seconds.(this step is optional)
Flip it again and put about 3-4 tbsp of potato masala in the center and fold it from both the sides.
Serve hot with coconut chutney, sambhar and malaga podi

Tips-

You can also add boiled green peas and broken cashew pieces in potato masala at step-3.
Instead of using oil you can use ghee or butter to roast the dosa, it will enhance the taste.
Use a big container to keep the batter as it will increase twice or thrice in volume after fermentation and may spill over from a small container.
The batter should not be very thick or thin ,it should be of pouring consistency ,the crispiness also depends on the right consistency of the batter.
Normal raw rice – use the rice which you use on daily basis,it need not be basmati rice, any short grain, medium grain or broken rice can be used and if you don’t have par boiled rice then can use normal rice only.
The left over batter can be easily stored in the refrigerator for 3-4 days .
The fermentation time depends on the heat in the climate ,it will ferment sooner in summers but in winters it may take quite some time to ferment .
Chana daal and tuvar daal gives a nice golden colour to the dosa.
Addition of poha makes the dosa crisper but this is optional.
I prefer to use a heavy iron skillet /tawa to make dosa but you can also use hard anodized skillet or a non stick pan to make dosa, all works well , but grease the iron skillet/tawa well before using.
Keep sprinkling few drops of water on the tawa or wipe the griddle with a damp cloth after making each dosa to bring down the temperature else the dosa will stick to the pan and become difficult to spread properly .