Dosa - Lentil and rice savory Crepes. Vegan Glutenfree

Finally a Dosa recipe. Dosas are the flat bread equivalent side with South Indian meals and also a great snack with different types of crepes, with fillings, styles and so on. I make Dosa and Idli every few weeks. My Dosas usually have a bunch of lentils and beans and not made the authentic way:). They dont look super white and are not very thin crepes. And I like them that way, not too crisp, full of lentils/beans and all the different proteins and nutrition from each of the lentils and much more filling.

Here is a Video from a very happy chef.:) It shows the consistency of the basic batter, how to shape the crepe, and different varieties of dosa too.

To read more about how the fermentation works, see this Batter explained article on India Curry.

I did not have a powerful wet grinder to do justice to the batter for years, and used my regular blender. That worked fine when you blended the daal and rice separately but the batter was usually a bit more grainy. Some multi lentil Idli and Dosa versions posted earlier.

Now since I got the Blendtec, things are much simpler. I dont even blend the lentil and rice separately, the blendtec does the job for me. If you have any of the powerful blenders like Vitamix and Blendtec, you can just put things in and make the batter. This one is the simple version with less lentils and whatever rice I have on hand at home.

For an authentic plain Dosa, check out VeggieBelly's informative Dosa post with tips and a great FAQ. Usually skinless Urad daal, medium grain rice (sona masuri) and parboiled rice are used to get the best Dosas.

I use either whole with skin daal or split with skin black gram, hence the slight darker tone to the dosas in the pictures. For Variations, add ginger and green or red chili to the batter when you blend, add greens and a tomato, add a 1/4 cup more of soaked beans and lentils like black eyed peas, mung beans, pink, green, yellow lentils. :)

The winner of Brendan Brazier's book Thrive Foods giveaway is comment 12- Sadhna at Sensible Vegetarian! Congratulations!

Ingredients:

1 cup medium or long grain rice(I use basmati)

1/4 cup brown rice

½ cup whole urad dal (black gram, skinned or whole. the whole unskinned one will give a slightly darker appearance to the crepe)

½ teaspoon methi seeds (fenugreek seeds)

2 Tablespoons toor daal(Pigeon pea) or chana daal(bengal gram) - optional

1/4 cup thick Poha(Rice flakes- for crisp crepes, optional)

Salt 3/4 teaspoon

Method: Batter:

Rinse Rice(all together) wel and soak overnight in a large bowl.

Rinse the urad daal(black gram) and soak along with the fenugreek seeds(methi), overnight. the daal and methi attract wild yeast for fermentation.

Do not drain the soaking liquid of the daal.

If using Poha(rice flakes), wash and add them to the soaking rice to soak while you are grinding the daal.

Grind the daal and fenugreek seeds in your blender/wet grinder using some of the soaking liquid into a smooth paste. As Sala puts it " You should have fluffy clouds of ground dal"

Grind the rice with a little of the soaking water. The rice will make a gritty batter.

Add everything and blend together if you have a powerful blender. (I also add an inch of ginger and 1 dry red chili most days to the mix)

If you can, use your hands to to mix the daal and rice together in one large bowl. Add salt, and mix.

You can use this batter directly to make the crepes(adjust water content if the batter is too thick). The crepes will have a less fermented taste.

Let it ferment for another 6-8 hours in a warm place(85-90 deg F), covered with a towel or lightly with a lid. You can leave it in the oven with the light on to help with the warmth.

The fermented batter should be frothy, and almost double in volume.
Note: If you do not have urad dal or fenugreek, you can make the batter with any other lentils and add 1/2 tsp yeast after blending. Let it sit for 3 to 4 hours to ferment and then use. 

Method: Making Crepes

Heat a 10+ inch nonstick skillet on high heat. Once hot, sprinkle a few drops of water on the skillet. The water should sizzle and evaporate within a few seconds. .

Cut a small wedge from an onion or a potato. Stick a fork into the onion See the pictures on VeggieBelly. Add a drop of oil to the hot pan, and spread the oil around, using the onion.

Pour a ladle full ( a 1/4 cup) of batter onto the hot skillet. Swirl the ladle in concentric circles, to spread out the batter.

Drizzle a few drops of oil on the edges and some over the crepe.

Cook on medium-high heat till the bottom side of the dosa becomes lightly brown and starts to come away at the edges.

You can flip and cook the other side for a few minutes for crispier crepe.

Serve hot with coconut chutney, Sambhar(pigeon pea and veggies stew), Potato and onion subzi! or fill them up with anything you like and make it your own fusion filled crepe!

These Dosa's are heading to Ricki's wellness weekend., Ellas' potluck, Amee's Fit abd Fab Friday, Allergy Friendly lunchbox., Hearth Soul blog hop, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Allergy Free Wednesdays, Glutenfree WEdnesdays.

Apart from the amazing work VSPCA does for animals, they also provide care and food to the poorest people around. Their program Vegan Meals for the Poor, A wholesome and nutritious vegan meal is hygienically packed in palm leaves and taken by autorickshaw to the poorest of the poor in their respective places. Most of these people are also disabled, homeless, which requires someone to go to them.

Every one of them has a trusted association with a street dog. They give the first morsel of food to the dog. The people and the dogs, traumatized, abandoned and lonely, find support in each other, to live through the daily hardships. The beauty of compassion and companionship between all species.

Our VSPCA fundraiser Auction is now also on Facebook!

You can bid for the items on the Facebook Album here or anonymously on the Fundraiser page. Feel free to share any pictures, album or posts from the blog and facebook! Thank you for the continued support and love! Have a great weekend all.