Dosas

[Phyllis D'Souza]

I tried making dosas with long grain rice (thai rice). I soaked 1 cup of parboiled rice, 1/2 cup of basamti rice and 1/2 cup of Thai long grain rice (raw) and 1/2 cup of urid dhal (separately). I added 1/2 tsp of soda bi-carbonate. The batter did not rise even after keeping it overnight. When frying them on a cast iron griddle, it was sticking to the pan and would not come out easily. Could you tell me whether I could use the Thai long grain rice or where was my mistake.

[dev]

Try keeping the batter for a longer time for fermentation(for a whole day or so),Since u stay in a cold place...There is no hard & fast rules as to fermentation time...it all depends on the climatic condition...So try keeping it for a longer time...don't know if thai rice can be used...

I use rice flour,rice rawa & urad dhal in the ratio of 240gms:60gms:90gms & dosa comes out very well...soak the rice rawa & rice flour seperately with just enough water to make a thick paste...soak the dhal for 1/2 hr & grind it to a smooth paste...add soaked rice rawa & grind it for a few seconds...Now the batter should be a bit coarse...add it to rice flour,add salt & mix well...I usually leave it for around 15-16 hrs for dosas & for around 10-11 hrs for idlis...this works well as long as I'm in singapore...When in bangalore,India,I used to leave it for a longer time,during rainy season...

[Phyllis D'Souza]

Thank you very much for the tips. But you say rice flour and rice rava. Could you specify what type of rice is this. Is it long grain rice or is it parboiled rice. I need to know as here in Canada you get all sorts of rice. When in India, I had no problem making idlis or dosas. Could you please let me know. Thanks you.

[dev]

Rice rawa is made from parboiled rice...It's also called idli rawa...
& rice flour,i'm not sure coz here we get just one variety of rice flour... The unpolished variety i use is roasted rice flour...

[vizmaya]

Hi,

For dosa recipe visit:

http://www.vizmaya.com/?p=59

vizmaya.

[rsankar]

Hi,

We too live in the cold place. This is what I do for Dhosa and Idly.

I don't know where I get this information.

(Idly and Dhosa)

I use 2 cups of parboiled rice, 1/2 cup of raw rice and 1/2 cup of urad dhal and 1/2 tsp., fenugreek seed

First take a kadai and heat . Put these 2 veriety rice and fry on a medium low heat. Do not fry until pori, just fry. When smoke come out from the rice you have to take out the kadai and wash rice 3 times on cold water. Sock the rice and urad dhal + fenugreek seeds separately for 5..6 hours.

First grind urad dhal until nice smooth paste. Then grind rice. Mix with urad dhal paste. add salt. Mix well. I read from one book, if you mix this batter with wooden spoon, batter will become ferment quickly. (I didn't try yet) Do not use soda bi-carbonate, this is not good for health . Let this leave for about 10...12 hours, and then this batter will get ferment.

If you want to make Dhosa, you can add some water on it, and mix well. take a dhosai kadai and pour this thin batter. Make Dhosa.

If you want to make Idli, Do not mix this ferment and Do not add water. Just take ferment batter and pour this on a oil based idly moulds. cook 15 minutes.

Regards
rsankar.

[sailu]

Phyllis,

This is the way I make masala dosa batter.

Soak 1 cup urad dal(black gram lentil),2 cups rice(you can use the long grain variety) and 1 tsp methi seeds(fenugreek)for 5-6 hours.Grind to a fine paste adding water.Let it sit overnight with lid for fermentation.Keep the batter in the hot oven (switched off) as it will ferment faster in cold weather.
Next day mix the batter well adding salt.
Before spreading the batter to make the dosa..cut an onion horizontally into two pieces and spray some oil on the griddle and rub with the cut onion over the griddle and then pour the batter and spread.The dosa will not stick to the griddle.
Hope this helps,Phyllis.
You can check recipe for Masala Dosa and potato curry along with pictures in my food blog

[sri2005]

i live in cold place too.
This is how i make batter for idli /dosa.

soak 4 cups of parboiled rice for 10 hrs with one handful of fenugreek seeds, 1 cup of urd dhal for 2 hrs.
Grind the urd dhal first and then rice.
Add enough salt,mix them well with hand, and leave it in a warm place in the kitchen (near the stove/oven) for 10-12 hrs.
i usually grind the flour in the morning around 12 noon..leave it till next day morning during winter.its fermented proplery..and the idli turns out very well.

Sri

[rain]

hi phyllis,

i have found fragrant rice like basmati and jasmine rice not very effective for dosa batter,somehow. i use long grain raw rice(the hispanic long grain variety is also good),boiled rice and urid dal in 3:1:2 ratio with good results.this is for dosa only.then comes the fermentation.the space above the fridge or the cooking range has given me best results for fermenting because of the constant temp.there.it works even for setting curd.

there r quite a few effective tips for fermenting in hemant trivedi's website too.u can check out and see what works for u.

regards,

rain

[riceandbeans]

I had tried every possible recipe for dosa using and mixing all sorts of rices and proportions given to me. Unfortunately, I wasn't lucky with any and was never able to get a decent batter to work. Until one day someone asked me why I was using these different kinds of rice and that I should use only iddli rice (doesn't matter what brand). According to the information given, in the old days people used to mix all kinds of rices to find alternatives because idli rice wasn't easily available but with Indian stores all over the place now it wasn't necessary any longer and believe it or not after that I can make dosas with any proportion of iddli rice and urud dal and I even mix the salt right after grinding, not the day after, and it works perfectly fine. Best dosas ever and my mother-in-law is very proud of them.