The basic restaurant style south Indian plain dosa recipe is simple and easy to follow. It can be little time taking as it requires soaking the lentils and the rice. Both the lentils needs to be soaked before grinding. The soaked rice is also grounded and mixed with the lentils batter. Then it is kept overnight to ferment properly. For the Dosa to be crispy and crunchy, the proper fermentation of the batter is important.
Plain Dosa
- Author: Karishma Shah
- Recipe Category: South Indian Dish
- Cuisine: Indian
Description: The basic restaurant style south Indian plain dosa recipe is simple and easy to follow. This simple Sada dosa recipe prepares Dosa in pan. Try it today!
Let’s learn to make Plain Dosa step by step.
Ingredients for Plain Dosa Recipe:
- Regular Rice – 2 cups (short grains)
- Husked Black Lentils (Urad Dal) – ½ cup (split)
- Bengal Gram (Chana Dal) – 1 tsp. (split)
- Fenugreek Seeds – 1 tsp.
- Salt – as per taste
- Oil – As required
- Water :
- For Soaking Husked Black Lentils – 1 cup
- For Soaking Rice – 2 cups
- For Grinding Husked Black Lentils – ½ cup
- For Grinding Rice -1 cups
Note: You can use Idli Rice as well. You also add ¼ cup of flattened rice for softness. Use saffola oil when cooking.
Steps for Plain Dosa Recipe:
The preparation of the Dosa Recipe is divided into two main processes, the first is to form the batter and let it ferment. The second is preparing the crispy dosa on the pan. Follow the steps and make the dosa.
Soaking Rice and Lentils:
- Take two bowls.
- In the first bowl keep 2 cups rice.
- In another bowl add ½ Black Lentils.
- Also, add 1 tbsp. of Bengal Gram in the bowl of lentils.
- Also, mix 1 tsp. of Fenugreek in the same bowl.
- Rinse the ingredients in these bowls properly.
- Wash more than once with cold and fresh water.
Soak Rice:
- In the bowl of washed rice, pour 2 cups of water.
- Stir and mix the rice evenly with water.
- Cover the bowl of rice and soak it overnight.
Soak Lentils:
- In the bowl of washed lentils, pour 1 cup of water.
- Also, add the washed fenugreek in this bowl.
- Stir and mix them evenly with water.
- Cover the bowl of dal and fenugreek.
- Keep them to soak overnight.
Note: You must cover them with water more than half of their quantity. Soak the ingredients for minimum 6 hours. If you are using the flattened rice, then wash it a couple of water and soak with rice.
Grinding Rice and Lentils:
Drain Excess Water:
- Take two colanders or strainers.
- Separately drain the water from rice.
- Discard the excess water and keep rice aside.
- Strain the mixture of Lentils-Fenugreek.
- Keep the water stock for grinding the lentils.
Grinding Rice:
- In a food processor or the grinder, add soaked rice.
- Also, pour in 1 cup of fresh water in the grinder.
- Process the rice for approximately 10 minutes.
- Grind the rice till you get the smooth paste.
- The consistency of the rice can be grainy as well.
- Grind the rice in different batches depending on the size of the grinder.
- Once done with rice, transfer from grinder to bowl.
- Clean the grinder for another mixture.
Grinding Lentils:
- Take the cleaned grinder and the soaked lentils in it.
- Also, add the ½ cup strained water from lentils the mixer.
- Grind the mixture of both the lentils, Chana Dal and Urad Dal.
- Also, add the fenugreek seeds and grind them along with lentils.
- Grind till you get smooth, light and fluffy batter.
- You must properly grind the black lentils for better fermentation.
- Once grinded, remove the batter in the different bowl.
Note: You must add water in between the grinding process for the smoothness. The water required for grinding rice will depend on the quality of the rice.
Preparing the Plain Dosa Batter:
- Now, take one large mixing bowl.
- Mix the rice batter with the lentils batter.
- Properly fold these two paste formed in a bowl.
- Whisk these batters well with each other.
- The batter prepared should be thick.
- You may add a pinch of salt to balance the taste of the batter.
- Mix in the salt evenly with the batter.
- Cover the bowl of the batter and keep it aside.
- Let it ferment till the surface shows bubbles.
- It would take around 8 to 9 hours for the batter to ferment.
Note: Keep adding water to make batter thinner. To achieve the correct texture, ferment the batter for more than 8 hours – preferably overnight. It will give the vital sourness required for the flavor. The time for the fermentation will vary depending on the place you live in.
Making the Plain Dosa:
- Take the Dosa batter and check if it is fermented or not.
- Then, gently stir the batter once with the light hands.
- While you stir, there would be some bubbles over the batter.
- Take a non-stick tava or pan and heat it over the low flame.
- When the pan is hot, apply little oil over the surface of the pan.
- Spread the oil evenly over the entire pan.
- Take a scoop of batter and ladle in the center of the pan.
- Keep the flame low while you spread the batter.
- Spread the batter evenly over the entire pan.
- Start from the center and cover the whole pan.
- Drip little oil drops over the corners and the center of the batter.
- The edges of the Dosa should be well-cooked and must be crispy.
- Cook the Dosa over the medium flame.
- Eventually, the batter would change color to brown.
- When once side is cooked, this the time to flip side of Dosa.
- Let the Dosa cook from inner side as well.
- Again turn the Dosa, and the fold it in half.
And the crispy plain Dosa is ready to serve!
Note: If you are using a non-stick pan, then do not apply oil. But if you are using iron pan or griddle, then you must apply oil before you begin to make Dosa.
Additional Information:
- Calories: 242 calories
- Total Time: PT30M
- Serves: 8
- Date Published: 2017-02-18
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You must keep the Plain Dosa Batter in the warm temperature for it to ferment quickly. It is very quick and easy to prepare plain dosa at home. Plain Dosa or the Sada Dosa is the quick and instant meal recipe. It is made with fermented batter of lentils and rice. Dosa is the most common food item of the south India cuisine. They are tasty and healthy to eat. This simple Sada dosa recipe prepares Dosa in the pan. This Plain Dosa Recipe is part and parcel of every house in India.
This savory South Indian fried crepe come in various form. The base of different types of Dosa is the Plain or the Sada Dosa. The batter made from the fermented rice and Urad dal required to make Plain Dosa is used as a base for other Dosa. These Plain Dosa’s are light for stomach and low on calories. These yummy to eat plain Dosa’s are tummy filling as well. They can be made without hassle. In this recipe, you can learn to make plain dosa at home. You can also know about the quick method to make plain dosa.
Serving & Garnishing:
Fold the plain dosa and serve hot. These are best served as soon as they are made. You can grate some cheese over the plain dosa to make it Cheese Sada Dosa. Mentioned below are some serving ideas for plain dosa:
- It is best served with tangy flavored spicy Sambar.
- The plain Dosa can be eaten with the mild-flavored coconut chutney.
- You can also pair the plain and crispy Dosa with the sweetened Curd.
- It is traditionally served with hot vegetable stew and any type of chutney.
- Serve the plain dosa alone with spiced Idli Powder mixed with little oil.
- You may sprinkle some home chaat masala over the plain dosa.
- Enjoy your crispy plain dosa with garlic chutney or tomato chutney.
Remarks:
- Before you start making dosa, it’s important to grease the pan.
- Always use good quality and seasoned pan for making Dosa.
- Wipe the pan with a wet cloth if the batter is sticking to it.
- Do not wipe with a wet cloth if you are using a nonstick pan.
- Clean nonstick pan with a dry cloth or wipe it with a slice of onion.
- Heat the pan over the medium flame. Do not burn it from the bottom.
- For the dosa to be crispy, the batter to be blended well.
- The dosa batter has to be thin in consistency.
- If your batter is thick, then add a little water to make it thin.
- For the Plain Paper Dosa, you have to spread the dosa batter thinly.
Quick Tip:
- The steamed rice or the puffed rice can also be used to make the plain dosa batter.
- You can fry Dosa in ghee or butter as well.
- You can make various types of dosa from the plain dosa batter.
How to prepare Plain Dosa quickly?
You can prepare the Plain Dosa with this quick and easy ‘shortcut Sada dosa recipe’. In this recipe, you do not need to soak or grind the lentils. Even without the soaking, you can still make a delicious and crispy plain dosa.
For this method, you would need ingredients such as:
- Dhuli Urad Dal Flour – ½ cup
- Rice Flour – 1 cup
- Jeera Seeds – ¼ tsp.
- Salt – as per taste
For this method of easy Sada dosa recipe, follow the below steps:
- Mix all the ingredients.
- Season with salt.
- Pour the water.
- Get the thick consistency.
- Cover the bowl of the batter.
- Keep in a warm place to ferment.
- After 6 hours, check the Dosa batter.
- Dilute batter a bit but keep it thick.
- Heat the pan over medium heat.
- Ladle the batter and spread in the circular motion.
- Gently grease batter with oil.
- Apply oil on the edges and the middle.
- Cook each side till the crust crackles.
- Let the dosa base become golden.
- Serve the Sada Dosa immediately.
The preparation of plain dosa is quite basic. But the complication is to properly ferment the batter. You need to soak rice and lentils overnight, but you must not over soak them. Also, the batter needs to be kept in humid place. For the regions with a hot climate, it is easy to ferment batter. But, if you live in cold climate, the batter might take longer time. The Plain Dosa batter can be stored and refrigerated. It can also be re-used to make other south Indian dishes like Idli and Uttapam.
While you soak the ingredients, you must wash and rinse them. You can soak rice and lentils together or separately. Whichever way you soak, your Sada Dosa would taste great. The Poha or rice flakes makes the batter soft. The fenugreek seeds add its own flavor to the dosa batter. The key for the perfect crispy plain dosa also lies in the type of the pan you are using. Use the separate pan for making dosa and the seasoned pan. The grinding of the batter is also challenging. Use the strong and sturdy blender.
To make the different Dosa, you need to stuff the filling in the inner portion of the plain Dosa. From this plain dosa batter, you can also make various other dosa recipes like Masala Dosa, Mysore Masala Dosa, Onion Dosa, Tomato Dosa and much more.
With the same plain dosa batter, you can prepare the tasty and delicious Masala Dosa. Make the dosa batter as it is for the plain dosa. Then prepare the mashed potato spicy mixture for the dosa stuffing. Cook the dosa and then stuff it with the potato mixture. It is very easy and simple to make the restaurant style masala dosa at home. Similarly, you can prepare the onion dosa with the addition of chopped onions in the cooked dosa. And the tomato dosa is made when you add the chopped tomatoes in the dosa.
Also, with this same batter, you can prepare the spicy south Indian Mysore Masala Dosa. The taste of this dosa is addictive and the golden texture is quite appealing. The exterior of the cooked Mysore Masala Dosa is crispy whereas the spicy stuffing is soft. Prepare the dosa batter just like you did for plain dosa. Then make the mashed potato stuffing along with the hot red chutney. Ladle the dosa batter on the pan and smear it with butter. Spread the layer of red chilli chutney and add some stuffing. Learn in detail how to make Mysore masala dosa at home.