Homemade Dosa Batter

Fermented dosa batter placed in a steel vessel.

4.97 from 32 votes

Making dosa batter at home is easier than you think and it can be very handy for breakfast, lunch box, and even lunch and dinner. This dosa batter recipe includes all the tips, tricks, and troubleshooting you need to get a well-fermented batter every time.

Prep Time30

Fermentation Time10

Total Time10 30

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Indian

Diet: Diabetic, Gluten Free, Hindu, Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings: dosas

Calories: 137kcal

Author: Shilpa Kerur

Equipment

Wet grinder or high-power blender

Ingredients

1 cup urad dal
3 cups rice
2 tablespoon chana dal
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 cup poha

Instructions

Soaking:

In a large bowl, add urad dal, chana dal, and methi (fenugreek seeds).
Wash it thoroughly one to two times. Soak in fresh filtered water making sure the dal is entirely covered in water.
In another bowl, take rice and wash it thoroughly one to two times. Soak in fresh filtered water making sure the rice is entirely covered in water.
Let them soak for at least 5-6 hours.
Two hours before grinding, take poha in a separate bowl and wash it thoroughly. Soak it in fresh filtered water.

Grinding:

Once everything is soaked, we can begin the grinding process.
Drain all the water from dal and rice.
Start with grinding the rice and poha together by adding some water. Depending on the size of your grinder, grind them in small batches. You can either use a wet grinder or a high-powder blender to grind the batter.
Add water in small batches as needed. The dosa batter consistency is similar to pancake batter.
Once the rice is done, pour it into a container. Then add the urad dal for grinding.
Once the urad dal is done, mix the rice and urad dal batter well.
If you are grinding in batches, make sure you give the entire batter a good mix.

Fermentation:

Pour the batter into a thick-bottom vessel making sure there is enough room for it to rise. If the batter is filling more than ¾ of the vessel, divide it into two bowls.

During Summer:

Cover and place in a dark and warm spot for 8-10 hours preferably overnight. The batter will ferment quickly during summer.

During Winter:

Set your oven to keep-warm mode (approximately 120 F / 50 C) for exactly 5 minutes, then turn off the oven.
Once the oven has cooled down a bit, spread a clean cloth on the oven rack. Place the vessel with the batter on the cloth. If you have an oven light, you can keep that on as well.
Let the batter ferment for 10-12 hours or till you get a slightly sour smell from the batter.

Notes

Soak the dal and rice in filtered water for the best results. This is particularly important in cold regions and if you are making dosa for the first time.

Wash the dal and rice thoroughly before soaking them in water. Also, it is important to soak them separately as they have different textures and need different grinding times.

After grinding everything, give it a good mix with your hands. Mixing them with hands is a key step that helps in the fermentation of the batter and cannot be skipped.

Nutrition