How to make dosa from scratch

Dosa, a South Indian pancake, is a nearly perfect food. Vegan, with a lovely balance of protein and starch. They’re fast, inexpensive and every person I’ve ever met likes them.

The real recipe involves getting your hands into the batter and the magical microorganisms of a special part of the world. This is my North American version, the result of 100 batches worth of testing.

Ingredients:

1 cup of organic brown rice

1 cup of good quality basmati rice

1 cup of lentils, probably urad dal, but perhaps masoor dal or try something else

1 tablespoon dried fenugreek (a combination of flavor and microorganism inoculation)

Update: 6 grains (just 6, that’s all you need) of rice inoculated with koji spores.

Add all five ingredients together into a high quality blender.

Add enough hot water to cover by 2 inches.

Stir a bit.

Come back in thirty minutes, you’ll see the water has been absorbed. Add enough to cover by two inches again.

Wait at least an hour, or overnight.

Starting on low, blend. Blend for at least four minutes, and then gradually up the speed so it’s high enough to make a cyclone. If you need to add a bit more water, go for it. But be careful–once you add water, you can’t un-add it.

Blend for another five minutes. It will seem like a long time. That’s okay, we’re making the grains so small that it becomes a batter.

Pour into a metal bowl and put it on top of a heating pad set to medium. Cover with a pot lid and leave for 24 to 36 hours.

Done!

You can store in the fridge for weeks.

To make a dosa, put about 3/4 of a cup of batter in a tea cup and let come to room temperature. If you want extra bubbling action, put a tiny pinch of baking soda and stir to absorb. I’m not sure why this is so impactful, but it is.

Heat a tawa (you can use a non-stick, but I prefer cast iron) until a drop of water sizzles. Pour the batter and spread around, either with a crepe stick or the bottom of a measuring cup (more authentic).

Once it’s very thin, sprinkle some olive oil and salt on it. Turn the heat down and wait. Wait until you can see the edges curl up and the bottom turn brown.

Flip for a moment then serve.

Some people put fillings in as they cook. I do not approve of this.

Here’s a video, slightly different from my take, but you get the idea.

And here’s a photo of me with Thiru at NY Dosa, the greatest dosa craftsperson on the island of Manhattan.