Masala Dosa (sourdough crepe wrapped round potato curry)-South Indian Tiffin/Snack
Masala dosa is a South Indian snack/tiffin made with fermented rice and dal (lentil) batter. If you want to eat dosas on a Sunday morning then you need to start the preparation process for the dosa batter on Saturday morning.
Soak 1 cup urad dal(black gram lentil), 2 cups rice 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. Next day mix the batter well adding salt. The batter(which is similar to pancake batter consistency) is ready for making dosas.
Potato Curry Recipe
Prep & Cooking: 30 mts
Cuisine: South Indian
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3 big potatos, peeled and cooked
½ cup of boiled green peas (fresh or frozen)(optional)
1 carrot boiled and cubed(optional)
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
3 green chillis slit lengthwise
2 big onions finely sliced
¼ tsp turmeric pwd
salt
2 tbsp oil
1/4 cup water
For tempering/tadka/taalimpu:
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds(jeera)
1 tsp urad dal (black gram)
1 tsp chana dal(Bengal gram)
10 curry leaves
1 Mash potatoes roughly into lumps with hand.
2 Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a cooking vessel. Add the mustard seeds and let them splutter. Lower heat, add cumin seeds, urad dal, channa dal, curry leaves and fry till light brown, approx 10-15 seconds. The tempering should not burn.
3 Add curry leaves, chopped green chillis and minced ginger. Mix and immediately add the sliced onions.
4 Fry till transparent, add turmeric and salt. Now add the mashed potato lumps, boiled peas and carrots. Mix, sprinkle 3 tbsp of water and let it cook with lid on medium heat for 3 minutes. Turn off heat and adjust salt.
Heat a griddle(you can use a non-stick pan). Grease the griddle with peanut oil or any other oil. Pour one ladle full of batter over the griddle.
Spread the batter from the bottom of the ladle evenly making circles. Drizzle oil or butter around the edges of dosa and let it cook on medium heat. The dosa should turn light brown. The dosa generally takes 4-5 minutes to cook on medium heat. Take care not to burn it.
Spread some butter over the dosa and then spread potato curry filling in the center of the dosa and fold it towards the center such that it covers the potato curry.
Similarly fold the other side also such that it covers the potato curry.
Your dosa is ready to eat. Dosas can also be served with any chutney, poodi or sambar. Here is the link to my personal collection of chutneys and poodis
It is best to eat the dosa the moment its off the griddle..hot. I have tried to take some amateur pictures of the dosa batter spreading on the griddle….but hey, it tastes good and thats what matters:):)
By sailu • Nov 19th, 2005 • Category: All Recipes, Breakfast Recipes, Dals & Legumes, Savories, Snacks & Tiffins, South Indian Recipes, Vegetables, Vegetarian Recipes
Step by step photos are great, Sailu.
Masala Dosa with all trappings looks mouth watering.
First time commenting here, Great concept you have here. Looking forward to reading and trying out your healthy recipes. May I ask, where are you publishing this blog from, in Andhra?
Thanks Indira!Glad you stopped by..Mahanandi is such an inspiration and reflects the true spirit of Andhra..Great Blog!
I am publishing this blog from Vizag..the sea coast with lovely beaches..:):) will post some good pics of vizag beach sometime..
Will try your recipes too and post the pics as well..:)
I am a nove Indian recipe chef and tried making dosas for the first time yesterday but had a bit of trouble.
Using recipes for a basic (unfilled) dosa I saw all over the net, I mixxed batter Thursday night, let it sit overnight, refrigerated Friday and tried to cook it Friday night.
The dough stuck to the greased and non-stick pan. Not just stuck - adhered and gripped with claws of iron. Turning it - not even close to burned - was impossible. We could only sort of chip it off with a spatula into a big half-cooked, half moist lump.
Any ideas what I did wrong?
- Patrick O’Donnell
Cleveland Heights, OH
PS - Cool site. Love the pictures.
Hi Patrick,
Thanks for dropping by.
Its always best to pre-heat the griddle first.Bring it to high heat and then to simmer,now sprinkle very very little water and it sizzles up.If the water droplets dont dance and take time to evaporate,it means the griddle or non-stick is not hot enough.At the same time you must ensure it shouldnt be too hot.
Once the water evaporates spray some oil and rub a sliced onion all over spreading the oil in a circular motion.
Then pour the dosa batter and spread it.Once you spread it,pour some oil(1 tsp) along the edge of the dosa and in the center).Let it cook on medium heat .
If you follow this procedure,I dont think you should have a problem.
Another thing,sometimes old griddles give this problem and it could mean the time has come to buy a new one..:)
Hope this helps.
The photos look soooo good. I can feel the crispy masala dosai melting in my mouth. Love it!
My husband and I were in Florida this past week and stayed with his parents. His mom made dosas with coconut chutney for breakfast one morning. Not being Indian myself, I’d never had these but loved them, especially since I’m allergic to wheat. I was so glad to see your easy looking instructions. Maybe I’ll try these for my husband sometime!
Thanks for dropping by,Jenni. I hope the dosa post helps you make some nice dosas for your husband…:)
Hi Sailu
What kind of rice should be used for dosas ? Somehow, mine do not come out as crisp as the traditional ones. Does methi seeds/rice flour help to make it crispier ?
Thanks
Susma
Susma, I use the regular rice. Yes, methi seeds helps in make the dosa crisp.
Adding a little rice flour does help in making dosas crisp, though I havent
used rice flour in my dosa batter. I add a fistful of washed poha(flattened rice)
at the time of grinding the dosa batter.
hi! sailu
I have a question for you, i do prepare dosas and it comes out crispy too, the only problem of mine is that its altogether extremely white,i don´t understand this phenomenon, no matter how much ever i try i haven´t been successful in getting brown colour.
can u help?
i have got recently married and my husband loves dosas we use basmathi rice for dosas is it ok?
am settled in spain so have no one to assist me either and no other rice is avlb here
.
Thank you so much for all the reciepes.. I recently tried ragi dosa… but had a problem ..it stuck so hard that i had tough time cleaning.. had to even throw the non stick away.. do help me with this please. And no matter what i do i cant get the coconut chutney right. really dont know where i am going wrong.. thanks again.
I really don’t know what went wrong with ragi dosa, it should never have got stuck to the plate. Anyway, next time, on high flame, heat the plate by brushing some oil with an onion slice and reduce heat, sprinkle some water - you find a burst of bubbles. Add the batter to prepare dosa and cook on medium heat for two to three minutes before flipping the other side. Try this method next time. I hope you are getting the consistency of batter right.
With regard to chutney, I think its trial and error and you can perfect it in time. I learnt that way. Practice makes perfect, Hema..:).
Hi Sailu,
I have been trying some or the other recipe from your site, since my cousin mentioned about it. I have enjoyed each of these recipes. Thanks for sharing these wonderful recipes. I was looking for trying dosa as i got Ultra stone grinder from India recently. Your dosa looks perfect and hoping I get the same texture.
M impressed sailu…
If it is all about reaching THOSE Hearts thru the stomach..then u have aleady achieved it…If not the real treat..surely it was visual treat.Continue this beautiful job of spreading the taste…!
Pictures of the dosas look beautiful. The picture of batter being spread on the griddle looks professional and great.
I just had one question, do you ever flip the dosa and roast the other side also?
Also a tip, if you are not concerned about fat much, adding a spoon of ghee to the dosa while on the griddle makes it taste so yummy
I usually don’t flip the dosa and roast the other side. Yes, I agree with you on the use of ghee adding a lot of flavor to the dosa. I usually drizzle some butter/ghee when I prepare for my 4 year.:)
My dear Sailu, your recipes are wonderful especially your dosa recipes and ravva uppma. Please give us more delicious recipes in varieties.
Hai Sailu,
My name is also Sailu.
I have a doubt please clarify.
Can I use this for 3 or 4 days?
The dosa batter when refrigerated after fermentation, can be used for 3 to 4 days, Sailu.
Dear Sailu
Congratulations for creating such an informative and highly practical website on Indian recipes. I tried some of your receipes and they all came out near perfect!
Searched for ‘Rava Dosa’ recipe on your site but could not find any… Can you please include this next time? I tried many ways based on the formula found on the internet..still I never could make a satisfactory rava dosa! There are too many variations and proportions. Not sure which one is good. I want Andhra Rava Dosa recipe!
Thanks
Hi Sailu,
Your recipes are fantastic. My husband and I love andhra cuisine and I’ve tried out quite a few of your recipes and they’ve come out really well. As Rom said, even I need the recipe of Rava Dosa. Can you help?
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