Classic Masala Dosa
- Total Time
- 1 hour, plus 12 to 14 hours’ soaking and fermenting
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:8 to 10 servings
- 2cups short-grain rice
- ½cup urad dal (split husked black lentils)
- 1teaspoon fenugreek seeds
- ½teaspoon salt
- Vegetable oil, for frying
- 3tablespoons ghee or vegetable oil
- 1teaspoon mustard seeds
- ½teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2small dried hot red peppers
- 1medium onion, diced
- ½teaspoon salt
- ½teaspoon turmeric
- Pinch of asafetida
- 1tablespoon grated ginger
- 6 to 8curry leaves
- 4garlic cloves, minced
- 2small green chiles, finely chopped
- 1½pounds yellow-fleshed potatoes, such as Yukon Gold, boiled, peeled and cubed
- ½cup roughly chopped cilantro, leaves and tender stems
For the Dosa Batter
For the Potato Filling
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)
489 calories; 28 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 20 grams monounsaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 53 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 7 grams protein; 242 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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- Step 1
Make the dosa batter: Put rice in a bowl, rinse well and cover with 4 cups cold water. Put urad dal and fenugreek seeds in a small bowl, rinse well and add cold water to cover. Leave both to soak for 4 to 6 hours.
- Step 2
Drain rice and dal-fenugreek mixture in separate colanders. Put rice in a food processor, blender or wet-dry grinder. Add 1 cup cold water and grind to a smooth paste. It will take about 10 minutes, and it may be necessary to work in batches. Repeat the process with the dal-fenugreek mixture.
- Step 3
Combine the two pastes in a medium mixing bowl. Whisk together, adding enough water to obtain a medium-thick batter. You should have about 6 cups. Cover bowl with a kitchen towel and set in a warm place. Let ferment until the surface is bubbly, about 8 hours. Stir in the salt. Use the batter straight away or refrigerate for later use. (Batter will keep for up to a week, refrigerated. Thin with water if necessary before proceeding.)
- Step 4
Make the potato filling: Put ghee in a wide skillet over medium heat. When oil is wavy, add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Wait for seeds to pop, about 1 minute, then add red peppers and onion. Cook, stirring until onions have softened, about 5 minutes. Season lightly with salt. Add turmeric, asafetida, ginger, curry leaves, garlic and green chile. Stir to coat and let sizzle for 1 minute.
- Step 5
Add potatoes and ½ cup water. Cook, stirring well to combine, until liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Mash potatoes a bit with the back of a wooden spoon. Season well with salt, add cilantro, then set aside at room temperature. (Potato filling may be prepared up to a day in advance.)
- Step 6
To make dosas, set a griddle or cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Brush with about 1 teaspoon vegetable oil. Ladle ¼ cup batter in the center of griddle. Using bottom of ladle, quickly spread batter outward in a circular motion to a diameter of about 7 inches. Drizzle ½ teaspoon oil over the top. Leave dosa batter to brown gradually until outer edges begin to look dry, about 2 minutes, cooking on one side only. With a spatula, carefully loosen dosa from griddle. Bottom should be crisp and beautifully browned. Spoon ½ cup potato filling onto top of dosa, centering it as a strip in the middle of the round dosa. Flatten the potato mixture slightly. Using the spatula, fold the sides of the dosa around the filling to make a cylindrical shape. Serve immediately. Continue making dosas one at a time.
Tip
- If you desire, you can make batter with 3 cups rice flour, 1 cup urad dal flour, ½ teaspoon ground fenugreek and 4½ cups cold water. Ferment for 8 hours, until bubbly, add ½ teaspoon salt and proceed with recipe.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Nita
Excellent recipe. For more advanced users (don't try this on your first attempt at dosa), you can really mess with the dosa batter ratios. The author has 4:1 rice to lentils ratio. Add the potato filling and you have a carb-heavy meal. At home, I do 2.5:1 rice:lentils. For the filling, google "kerala egg curry" as a substitute. It's a delicious alternative to potatoes. I've also been meaning to try a sweet potato alternative as well, maybe with some tofu mixed in!
Carol Brockmon
Or buy ready-made, refrigerated, fermented dosa batter.
A variation: Substitute any combination of roasted cauliflower, celery root and parsnips for potato, following the rest of the recipe exactly.
Debbie
The dosa batter can also be frozen in smaller lots.
Katalin
Great recipe! I just started a batter again tonight. It’s been awhile, but I’ve made this at least a dozen times now. My house is cold at night so I bring batter into my bedroom where it’s above 70F and I get much better fermentation. I have soaked rice and dal over night because I fell asleep and still turned out perfect. Very forgiving!
Dave
I think I recall that there should be lemon juice added to the potato filling.
Carrie
I made the batter with a 1:1 ratio of urad dal (with fenugreek seeds) and brown long grain rice. Soaked for the 4 hours and then blended separately in the vitamix and mixed as described. I left mine to ferment until it doubled in size-took about 18 hours. It was delicious!
JB
I will confess that I buy prepared refrigerated dosa batter from my local Indian grocery store. But I do follow the recipe here for the potato filling. So flavorful and delicious! Fresh spices are key. I always have to make extra as we fight over the leftovers the next day.
Jane
I tried making two batches-- one with the 1/2 cup water added to the potatoes, and one without it. I much preferred the taste of the potatoes that did not have the water added in with them, although I did have to put a little bit more effort into mixing the spices/onions into the potatoes in the pan.
DD
I mixed short-grain brown with arborio and sushi rice for the recipe. Shorter grains, I read, have a stickier quality, which makes it the most suitable type for wafer-thin dosas. It was delicious!
Komal
This has become my go to recipe and has never failed me. Follow the instructions to the T and you'll have amazing Dosa's!
Jasmine
I made the potato filling this weekend and the recipe is great - I'd recommend a little more salt, turmeric, mustard seeds, and onions to create a really great masala filling. I purchased fermented batter at a local South Asian store and the dosa's turned out beautifully. Now I need a great sambar recipe. Hope this helps!
Carrie
I used brown (long grain) rice in mine, worked fine. I did make a 50/50 mix of the dal to rice (by accident). Mine took 24 hours to ferment. I was careful not to let the batter get hot when I ground the soaked mixture in the vitamix. It was delicious--try again!!
CBB
Wonderful recipe. The potato filling is savory, hot and delicious - followed recipe exactly, which is unusual for me! I did use refrigerated fermented dosa batter (Subzi Mandi - SM) as the smallest size idli rice was 10 pounds. I bought a 12" iron tawa (SM) and the dosas with filling were exceptional! As good if not better than the equivalent in an Indian restaurant! I also made the dosa with Kerala egg curry as another suggested, which was yummy as well!
LaSydCS
This was an awesome dosa filling. Recommend using a fresh batter to save time. Also, dosas take forever to cook so opt for having two pans going at once or the cook won’t get to eat until the end.
EW
I can't find urad dal in any of my nearby (NYC!) grocery stores, and would rather not make a subway trip just to get it. Can I substitute other dals? Everywhere has split red lentils. Thanks!
condiment queen
Makes a lot of dosas! I will add more spices and fresh chilis to the filling next time. Cucumber and yogurt raita made a fine accompaniment.
Pamela
Just wondering: why is the rice and dal soaked and ground separately?”
Larissa
I actually sometimrs also do a paneer for the filling. Lots of ways to go.
Philly Victor
I'm going to echo one of the other commenters, who found the one step confusing: "Repeat the process with the dal-fenugreek mixture." So add a cup of water to the dal-fenugreek mixture? Also, I'm not sure where this ten minute figure comes from. I used a Ninja blender for the rice with two blades and it seemed good after 3 minutes. I then did it for 7 more minutes and it was the same.
Baljit S
Awesome
Alexis
If you have a grain mill, I wonder if you can pre-grind the lentils and rice, then ferment overnight instead of grinding them after soaking?
Sucheta
You can for the rice, but the urad needs to be ground to a beautiful velvety texture, and that has to be done soaked. The powdered dal just doesn’t give you the rise or the texture this needs.
Katelyn
Two q’s abt the dosas: First, is the fenugreek seed for flavor or something else? I don’t have any sadly. Second, do you add a cup of water to the rice then blend, and *another* cup of water to the dal & blend? It is unclear how much water to use. Thanks!
David
Solid recipe - I echo the comment to add a little lemon/acid to the potatoes at finish. WORD OF CAUTION - Years ago, back when lived in NYC, I would make this in the fall and winter putting the batter on top the radiator to speed fermentation. One time, hungover, I was hoping to make dosas for breakfast - reaching for the batter I knocked it over and spilled it all over the radiator! For the next year + my apartment smelled of fermented dal!
Anthony
Yeast or no yeast?
Sucheta
Not needed, unless you’re in Boston or Halifax in the dead of winter.
Janet
Made exactly as written and found the filling to be bland. Added some mild curry powder from the Indian market and some defrosted frozen peas. Yum.
jpsgirl96
Used Arya Dosa batter, bought in the refrigerated section of our preferred Indian market, which worked very well. Filling is excellent, and the cooking technique was quite successful. I’m not sure I would ever have the fortitude to tackle the batter from scratch.
Susan
I have not yet made this as I cannot find Kosher urad dal. Does anyone know a source for kosher urad dal or what can be substituted for them? Thank you
kkrrbb
it's a dried bean - i thought beans, rices, etc that haven't been prepared in any way don't need kosher certification, but maybe i'm wrong? If you're in NYC, you can get them at Dual Specialty in the East Village, or Kalustyan's in Murray Hill.
Sucheta
You don’t need kosher urad dal, you need peeled dal- white, not black, preferably unbroken, but broken is fine too.
Cara
Absolutely delicious!! I need to work on my Dosa cooking technique, but yummy still yummy!!!
LaSydCS
This was an awesome dosa filling. Recommend using a fresh batter to save time. Also, dosas take forever to cook so opt for having two pans going at once or the cook won’t get to eat until the end.
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