The Perfect Dosa Recipe

Serves about 8 1 cup sona masuri rice (or similar medium grained rice) 1 cup idli rice (parboiled rice) cup whole urad dal (skinned black gram) teaspoon methi seeds (fenugreek seeds) Salt 1 teaspoon Special equipemt: a wet grinder. This is a heavy duty grinder that is perfect for dosa and idli batter. You could use a blender instead, but the results wont be the same. Place the rice in a large bowl. Place the dal and fenugreek seeds in another large bowl. Wash the rice with room temperature water. Drain out the water, and fill the bowl with more water, so that the water is about 2 inches above the rice. Do the same with the dal and fenugreek wash, rinse, and fill with water. Let rice and dal soak for about 6 hours. The dal should now be swollen, and the rice will be easy to break with your fingers. Pour about 2 tablespoons of the dal soaking liquid into a wet grinder. Turn the grinder on. Then, using your hands, scoop the soaked dal, allowing excess water to drain back into the bowl. Add dal to the grinder, hand fulls at a time. Grind till the dal is fluffy and silky smooth about 15 minutes (grinding time will vary depending on the grinder and quantity of dal). You should have fluffy clouds of ground dal think liquid marshmallows. Sprinkle a little soaking water into the grinder as and when needed, to move the batter along. Turn off grinder, and scoop the ground dal using your hands and put it into a large (4 quart) bowl. Now grind the rice (no need to wash the grinder). Add 1 cup of the rice soaking liquid into the grinder and turn it on. Add the rice to the grinder. The rice should be ground to a smooth, but ever so slightly gritty batter about 20 minutes (will vary depending on the grinder and rice). Sprinkle water in the grinder as and when needed. Using your hands, scoop the rice batter into the bowl with the dal. Add salt, and stir gently using your hands. You should now have approximately 2 quarts of batter. Cover the bowl loosely, either with a large tea towel, or a lid. The lid should not be air tight. If you live in a warm climate leave the batter over night in a warm place (about 8 hours) to ferment. Ideal dosa idli batter fermentation temperature is around 90f or 32c. If you live in a cold climate, turn on the pilot light of your oven. (do not turn on your oven!). Place the batter bowl on the lowest rack, farthest away from the light. The light will give the batter enough warmth to ferment. Leave the bowl in the oven for about 10 hours for dosa

batter to ferment. Sometimes, the batter may take up to 18 hours to ferment in colder climates. The fermented batter should be frothy, and almost doubled in volume. For this recipe, you should land up with at least 3 quarts of fermented batter. If the fermented batter is too thick, add a little water. For dosas, the batter must be of pouring consistency, but not runny. Heat a 9 inch nonstick skillet on high heat. Sprinkle a few drops of water on the skillet. The water should sizzle and evaporate away on the count of 4. This means the pan is hot enough to make dosas.