Easy to digest yellow mung/rice fermented dosa recipe. This versatile batter goes easily both ways - savory or sweet; and is perfect for crepes, pancakes, and wraps.
Soak rice and dals at least for 8 hours or overnight.
Soaking
Place rice in a fine-mesh sieve and rinse thoughtfully under running water. Transfer the rice into a glass or ceramic bowl and add 3 -4 cups of filtered water. Cover with a cotton towel and set aside.
Combine yellow mung dal, urad dal, chana dal, and fenugreek. Place dals in a fine-mesh sieve and rinse thoughtfully under running water. Transfer the dal mixture into a glass or ceramic bowl, add 4 cups of filtered water. Cover with a cotton towel and set aside.
Prep
Strain the rice over a bowl through a mesh sieve to save the rice water. Set soaked rice aside.
Strain the dal mixture through a mesh sieve and discard the soaking water. Set soaked dal aside in a separate bowl.
Peel and chop ginger into pieces
Dosa batter Making
Wash your hands 🤗
Transfer rice into a blender, add 1 cup of rice soaking water. Start blending on slow and gradually increase blender speed to high. Blend until the rice mixture is smooth* and the consistency of thick pancake batter (about 3 min). If needed (to keep the blender going), you can add more rice soaking water 2 tbsp at a time**. Keep batter as thick as possible.Transfer the rice batter into a large ceramic or glass bowl.
Transfer half of the dal mixture and ginger into a blender (no need to wash the blender).Add 3/4 cup of rice soaking water. Starting blending on low-speed, gradually increasing the speed to high. Stop and scrape the sides if needed. Blend until smooth (about 3-4 min). If needed (to keep the blender going), you can add more rice soaking water 2 tbsp at a time**Transfer dal batter mixture into the bowl with rice batter mixture.Repeat the process for the other half of the dal mixture.
Transfer dal batter mixture into the bowl with rice batter mixture.
With clean hands, thoroughly combine the mixtures into a batter***.
Cover your dosa batter with a cotton dish towel and leave it on a counter for 12 hours or overnight. Your batter should rise, become light and frothy with a pleasant, slightly sour smell. (it should nearly double in volume)
In a small cup or bowl, dissolve 2 tsp of Himalayan salt with 1/4 cup of filtered water. Pour the mixture over the batter and whisk it in.
Mix the batter and transfer it into 2 or 3 glass or ceramic containers; Make some dosas right away, the rest of the batter, keep it in a fridge and use it as needed.
Dosa Making
Remove dosa batter from the fridge and set it on a counter to warm up a bit**** (I found 10-20 min is sufficient)Whisk the batter until smooth. It should be the consistency of pancake batter. If it is too thick, you can add a little bit of water. (check the video to see the consistency)
Heat griddle pan over medium-high heat. Add a few drops of oil to the griddle pan. Grip the paper towel with tongs and rub around the pan.You can sprinkle a few drops of water. The pan is ready if the drops sizzle. When the pan is hot enough, bring the heat down to medium/low.
Ladle the batter (per 10.5" pan - 3/4 cup for pancakes; 1/2 cup for crepe or wrap) onto the center of the pan. Immediately spread it evenly from the center outwards in the circular motion (see the video).note: If the batter got stuck to the pan, it could be because your pan is too hot—cool down the pan by reducing the heat.
When small holes form on the top of the dosa, add a little bit of ghee (or coconut oil) to the dosa's surface and the edge. When the bottom turns golden, and the top is set (about 2 min), flip the dosa using a spatula and cook on the other side for about 2 more min. (until golden and cooked through). note: If you're making a thin crepe-like dosa, there is no need to cook it on both sides. Instead, after the top sets (about 2-3min), you can remove the dosa from the pan.
Serve your dosa right away. Then, repeat the process paying attention to the heat.
Variations
After splitting the batter into to containers, these variations should be applied to 1 container.
I. Mix 2 tsp of BSSM (Basic Savory Sattvic Spice mix) with 2 tbsp of filtered water. Whisk into a quart of batter.
II. Mix 2 tsp of Digestive spice mix with 2 tbsp of filtered water. Whisk into a quart of batter.
III. Whisk 1 tbsp of Herbs de Provence into a quart of batter.
Notes
*When you rub a bit of batter between your fingers, it feels smooth. That's the way I do it. However, some made a rice batter mixture that wasn't completely smooth but slightly gritty and reported excellent results. **We want our batter to be as thick as possible. The thicker the batter, the better it will rise.***Traditionally dosa batter is mixed with the hands for 2 to 3 minutes to jump-start the fermentation process. Give it some sweet thoughts and loving energy. It will increase fermentation. I find it to be true. I made dosa batter both ways (by mixing it with a spatula or spoon and by mixing it with my hands). The batter mixed by hands rises much better and smells divine.Fermentation Temperature. Usually, I leave my Dosa batter overnight on my kitchen counter to ferment. For me, it works out great. For fermentation, Dosa batter should be left in a warm place, that's important. I was taught that the ideal temperature for fermentation is 90F. So you can keep it in the oven with the viewing light on. The light should produce enough heat to keep it cozy. Try and see what works for you.****Ideally, the dosa batter should be at room temperature.