The Ultimate Dosa Recipe

  1. Rinse the rice. Soak in plenty of water.
  2. Rinse the dals and fenugreek seeds. Soak both together, in plenty of water.
  3. After at least eight hours and up to overnight, drain the dal/seed combo and reserve the soaking water.
  4. Add two tablespoons of the soaking water to the dal/seed combo, place in a good-quality durable blender and blend.
  5. As you blend, add more water, a little at a time, to help the blending process. Stop the blender periodically and scrape down the sides to make sure it blends evenly. You'll probably need to add about 1/2 cup of water. But don't add too much- you want it to be like pancake batter.
  6. Keep blending until the batter is pureed completely, foamy and grit-free. From what I read, pureeing the dal-seed mixture well is crucial to a good batter. I blended for about 3 minutes total.
  7. Now empty the blender (but don't rinse it - leave some of the dal batter in there) and place the dal-seed batter into the large glass/ceramic bowl.
  8. Add the drained rice with a bit of the soaking water to the blender container. Blend, adding some water as you go. It took me about 2-3 minutes. Note that the rice won't (and shouldn't) blend completely - it'll be mostly blended but you should still see some "grits" in there. (This, apparently, helps a dosa become crisp).
  9. Now add the blended rice batter to the dal-seed batter sitting in that large bowl. Add salt. Mix the two batters with your hands very well, about 2-3 minutes. You want them to be totally mixed into one another.
  10. Cover the bowl and place in an oven with the oven light on. The light keeps the temperature warm enough for fermentation.
  11. After 12-24 hours, take a look. Your batter should have risen, and should be thick and cheesy in texture (with bubbles). If it is, success! If it isn't, wait a bit longer. And pray to the Grandmother Cooking Gods. Do a little Dosa rain dance.
  12. Now prepare the pan: heat an empty cast iron pan on med-high heat. Rub some coconut oil (or other oil) on the pan and sprinkle some water on it. When it sizzles, you know the pan's hot enough.
  13. Take out however much batter you need and thin it with water, so it's a pourable consistency. (Store the rest of the batter in the fridge.) Spread one ladle of dosa on the pan and spread in concentric circles with the back of the ladle. Be calm. Go slowly and try to stay even. Make it as thin as you want. And try to keep it in a circle, but no-one's judging. (You could always take a page from my dad's book and just say you are an expert "triangle dosa" maker. Ahem, dad.)
  14. Add a teaspoon of coconut oil around the edges of the dosa, and watch the dosa turn golden brown. When it's golden, flip it over with the spatula. Wait a little, then flip it onto a plate.
  15. Piece off a crispy edge of dosa. Dunk in some chutney and/or sambar (maybe will have a recipe forthcoming). Pop in mouth. Close eyes, and wait.
  16. Enter the doorsteps of heaven. And thank me (and my mom, and the South Indian Grandmother Cooking Gods) later.

longgrain, black lentils, yellow peas, seeds, coconut oil, water

Taken from food52.com/recipes/20411-the-ultimate-dosa-recipe (may not work)

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