About Mane Adige

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"Mane Adige" means "Home Food" in kannada and this blog is all about recipes that I cook. Most of the recipes I post here will be from "Mangalooru" and "Bengalooru " regions of Karnataka,India. Rest of them are the one's which I try out by improvising the recipes got from different sources.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Paper Plain Dosa

This post has been looooooong due!!! I have been postponing it for over a year now. A whole lot of people have been mailing and asking me for the traditional dosa recipe. Well, in the "traditional" method there wasn't much of a difference between dosa and idli batter. The only 2 ingredients used were urad Dal and rice. While dal and rice were added in the proportion 1:2 for idli, 1:3 was the proportion for dosas. Since they are so similar, I remember my grand mom making one common batter for both dosas and idlis.

Back then, dosas weren't made crisp and "paper" like... they were thick and soft. However, things have changed in the last few years. Everyone likes the crisp,thin, golden brown, "hotel-like" dosas these days. Ingredients have changed accordingly, as well!!! My mother used to make one of the best dosas in our neighborhood. One of my friends was over at our place for breakfast one day, and Amma had made dosas for us. The very next day, we get a call from my friend's mother asking for my mother's recipe!! :D That's how good her dosas were. Though my dosas haven't gotten to that level, mine come out pretty well too. Thanx to my mom's recipe.... I barely go wrong!!

Ingredients:

1 cup Urad Dal

3- 3 & 1/4 cups Rice

1/4 cup Chana Dal

2-3 tbsp Methi Seeds

2-3 tbsp Poha, thick

1 tsp Ghee/Butter/Oil for each dosa

Salt as per taste

Method:

  1. Soak the dal, rice, methi seeds and poha with enough water for at least 4-6 hours or overnight.
  2. Grind the soaked ingredients with enough water to a very smooth paste; But keep in mind not to add too much water and make the batter running.
  3. Allow batter to ferment in a warm place for about 8-10 hours; Make sure the container has enough room for the batter to rise.
  4. Add salt to the fermented batter and mix well.
  5. Place a non stick griddle on medium heat; Once hot, pour a ladle full of batter at the center; With the back of the ladle, spread the batter thinly; Start from the center and work outwards, in a fast circular motion; Note: Spread the batter as soon as you pour it on the griddle; The batter will start getting cooked other wise and stick to the ladle, if you try spreading it after a while.
  6. Pour few drops of ghee/oil all over the dosa and also at the edges; Let cook on medium heat until it turns golden brown in color.
  7. Remove from griddle and serve immediately with coconut chutney, sambhar, kurma, saagu or any other side dish of your choice.

Prep Time: About 15-20 mins for grinding and 2-3 mins for cooking each dosa;

Makes: about 10-12 dosas;

Tips:

  • Keeping the batter as thick as possible, would make your dosas very crisp; So, add water according to the crispness you require.
  • Keep in mind not to add ay extra methi; If the quantity of methi is too much, the dosa becomes bitter and it even ends up sticking to the griddle while cooking.
  • If you want the dosa to remain crisp, cook only on one side. Cooking on both sides would make it a little soft.
  • Covering the dosa with a lid while it cooks makes it soft; So avoid doing so, if you want crisp dosas.
  • For the batter to be well fermented, you might want to keep it in a warm place like - inside a MW oven or even the conventional oven, overnight.

26 comments:

Vanamala Hebbar said...

Looks like restaurant dosa. Nice pic. Hey i didn't understand the rice measurement is it 3 & 1/4 or 3 & 3/4.

Happy New Year 2009

Unknown said...

Ramya dosa looks very tempting..will try your receipie

Kalai said...

That's a perfect looking paper dosai! Nice one, Ramya! :)

amna said...

reminds me of my childhood :)

Purnima said...

Ramya, dosa looks super perfect! Needless to say as much as your other dishes are!
HAPPY 2009 to you and yours! :D

lubnakarim06 said...

Excellent click and yummy dosa.

Priya Suresh said...

Awesome crispy dosa..reminds me my mom's crispy dosa!!

Happy new year Ramya!!

Dori said...

Delicious!!! Happy New Year!

Ramya Kiran said...

hey ramya.sakath recipe..but just to let u know i dont get thick poha.is the paper poha ok??wanna try ur recipe ASAP.tk care and happy new year.hope to see lots more recipes in the coming yr!!!

Ramya's Mane Adige said...

@Everyone,

Thanx people!! New Year wishes to you as well!!! :)

@Ramya,

Thank you! :) yes, you can add thin poha as well. the only reason why I mentioned thick was that, thin poha might dissolve in water if you soad for too long. youo might wanna just wash it and keep it damp for a while, instead of soaking it. Happy New year!! :)

Kannada Cuisine said...

The Dose looks yummy!!

Archy said...

Hey, dosa looks so nice an crispy !! Happy new year !!

Sig said...

What a perfect looking dosa...
Have a wonderful 2009 dear Ramya!

Dibs said...

Wish I could have that dosa!! I don't dare try batters at home with my lousy blender! Cant wait to get my Sumeet! Wish you a very Happy New Year!

VIDYA JOSHI said...

Hi Ramya,
A very Happy New Year to you :) Dosas r looking crisp n yum :
u have mentioned methi seeds required is 2-3 tbsp.i wonder should it have been 2-3 tea spoons or really need that much. please clarify my doubt.

Vibaas said...

They look super crisp Ramya. Your kokum rasam looks too tempting too. I've never tasted kokum before, but now i'm tempted to buy it.

Anonymous said...

Hi Ramya,

Visited your blog through Google. I am from Bangalore, hope you dont mind if i add you up in my Blogroll

thanks
Aparna

Uj said...

Love dosas... the golden dosas looks very tempting.. :) I make with different proportion and keep playing with the dal variety! Looks . Bookmarked to try soon

Lakshmi said...

Looks delicious Ramya..Loved it.

Savi-Ruchi said...

Hi Ramya,

I tried this dosa & it turned out very good. Thanks a lot for sharing this. I have also put this in my blog, have a look when you get time :)

Anonymous said...

You said channa dal!? why do u need to add it? have never heard of it in a dosa! Can u please tell me why you need to add channa dal?

Anonymous said...

I try this every time and each time it turns out more amazing...thanks for a perfect Dosa Recipe...

bonda said...

Ramya, thumba thumba santhosha aitu looking at your blog. just by the names of our everyday recipies, which are rare to see in other blogs filled with either north indian or indochina items !!!!!!! thanks, keep it going, add some more and keep rocking. aadre pls try and use kannada names for the items like, dose instead of dosa, vade instead of vada, etc.. hope u dont mind me suggesting this. tada for now.

Ruchi said...

Hi Ramya, Nice to see karnataka food. I have been looking out for masala dosa recipe! Just one clarification .. in hotel masala dosa look like dark brown or similar to orange colour.. as far as i know they use different raw rice to get that colour & aroma. If can pl find out n let me know which raw rice needs to be used to prepare masala dosa

Anonymous said...

The rice you mentioned is Raw or Par boiled rice?

Anonymous said...

in the recipe the quantity of methi seeds used is 2-3 Table spoons, I think it should be 2-3 Teaspoons. Please clarify