Masala dosa
A dosa contains no wheat flour, no yeast and no egg — it is rice and urad lentils ground and left to ferment on their own. The bacteria and wild yeasts on the grains do overnight what a sourdough starter does in bread: produce gas and acid. The result is a crepe as thin as paper and crisp, with a distinctly sour note that cannot be faked by any shortcut.
Your own work in that: 20 min.
- Soaking 360 min
- Grinding 20 min
- Fermenting 720 min
- Filling 25 min
- Cooking 30 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneSoak the rice and lentils separately
Soak the rice in one bowl and the urad dal with the fenugreek in another, each in plenty of cold water, for 6 hours. Separately, because they grind to different textures — the lentils to a fluffy foam, the rice to fine sand.
Ingredients: 300 g rice · 100 g urad dal · 1 tsp fenugreek · 1½ tsp salt · 400 ml water
Grind the lentils until fluffy
Drain the lentils and grind for about 10 minutes, gradually adding about 150 ml of cold water, until the mixture is white, smooth and visibly aerated — its volume will clearly increase. In a blender, pause now and then so the batter does not warm up. Well-aerated lentils help the batter rise.
Ingredients: 300 g rice · 100 g urad dal · 1 tsp fenugreek · 1½ tsp salt · 400 ml water
Grind the rice to fine sand
Drain the rice and grind it separately with the rest of the water (about 250 ml), not completely smooth — a fine, perceptible grittiness like semolina should remain. That is what makes a dosa crisp; rice ground to a paste gives a soft, rubbery crepe.
Ingredients: 300 g rice · 100 g urad dal · 1 tsp fenugreek · 1½ tsp salt · 400 ml water
Combine by hand and leave overnight
In a large bowl (the batter will rise), mix the two batters with the salt using your hand, not a spoon — tradition holds that the warmth and natural microflora of your hand help fermentation get going. Cover loosely and leave somewhere warm (26–30°C) for 12 hours, until doubled and covered in bubbles.
Ingredients: 300 g rice · 100 g urad dal · 1 tsp fenugreek · 1½ tsp salt · 400 ml water
Doubled, bubbling, smelling pleasantly sour.Make the potato filling
Boil the potatoes in water until tender (about 15 minutes), drain and mash coarsely. Meanwhile heat the oil, add the mustard seeds and wait until they pop, then add the curry leaves, chopped chilli, grated ginger and sliced onion. Fry 8 minutes, add the turmeric, potatoes, salt and 3–4 tablespoons of water, stir, and finish with the chopped coriander. It all takes about 25 minutes. Mustard seeds not heated to popping stay bitter.
Ingredients: 700 g potatoes · 2 pcs onions · 1 tsp mustard seeds · 1 tsp turmeric · 2 pcs chillies · 20 g ginger · 15 pcs curry leaves · 3 tbsp oil · 1 tsp salt · ½ bunch coriander
Spread the batter in a spiral from the centre
Stir the batter gently; if it is thicker than double cream, loosen it with a little water. Heat a flat pan over medium-high heat, wipe with oil and wipe dry again. Pour a ladle of batter into the centre and spread it outwards in a spiral with the base of the ladle, in one continuous movement. Thinner means crisper — aim for translucent.
Ingredients: 300 g rice · 100 g urad dal · 1 tsp fenugreek · 1½ tsp salt · 400 ml water
A spiral from centre outwards, in one movement.Cook one side only
Drizzle oil around the edges and cook 2–3 minutes without turning, until the underside is golden and crisp and the edges lift away by themselves. A classic dosa is cooked on one side only — the thin layer cooks through from below, and flipping easily costs it its crispness.
Ingredients: 60 ml oil
Fill and roll
Mound the potato on one half and roll it up with a spatula, or fold it in half. Serve immediately — a dosa softens quickly, so they are cooked one at a time and served straight from the pan. The batter makes about 10; cooking them all takes about 30 minutes.
Ingredients: 700 g potatoes · 2 pcs onions · 1 tsp mustard seeds · 1 tsp turmeric · 2 pcs chillies · 20 g ginger · 15 pcs curry leaves · 3 tbsp oil · 1 tsp salt · ½ bunch coriander
Rolled at once, straight from pan to plate.
Before you start
Fermenting in a cold flat
Below 24°C the batter may need 18–24 hours. Put the bowl in an oven with the light on, or wrap it in a blanket. Not fermenting at all? Check the salt — too much added before fermentation inhibits the bacteria.
Batter for several days
In the fridge fermentation slows and the batter keeps for 4–5 days. It grows sourer daily — after the third day thin it with water and add a pinch of soda to balance the acid.
The pan matters
A heavy cast iron or steel tawa is best. Non-stick works, but the batter slides on it and is hard to spread evenly. Wipe the pan with half an onion on a fork, dipped in oil, before each dosa — a popular trick in Indian kitchens.
