Recipe for spongy white set dosa recipe. Made with rice and atukulu / poha. Makes for an excellent breakfast. With step by step pictures.
The thing I like about set dosa is that its really so soft and so good for dunking in chutney or kurma / sagu. Its common in restaurants here in Bangalore and the name set dosa kind of intrigued me. At first, I just thought it was a set of uthappam served with kurma. But everytime I ate it, I dint know how they could get the dosa so soft and spongy. Later on, I learnt that the batter itself is completely different. The softness of the batter comes from the atukulu or poha (Aval). Also the addition of yogurt makes the batter so soft and so delicious. Its usually served with vegetable sagu / kurma. This is a very famous dish from the udipi region of karnataka. Here is my way of doing it.
We will need a cup of idly rice (I used salem car rice). Use idly rice only. Raw rice does not work very well for this recipe. Idly rice is easily available in grocery shops these days. We will need quarter cup of unpolished whole white urad dal, half a cup of poha (aval/atukulu) and half a teaspoon of fenugreek seeds. To know in detail about the ingredients that we usually use for making idli dosa batter, Check out my post on how to make soft idlis.
Wash all the ingredients together 2-3 times in running water to get rid of dust and dirt. Soak the ingredients in a bowl with lots of water for 2 hours. Drain the water and set aside.
Grind the ingredients to a smooth paste. While grinding add half a cup of yogurt and a cup of water. The batter needs to be ground to a really fine smooth paste. If the mixie wont budge, grind the batter in 2-3 batches.
Once the batter is ready, cover the batter bowl with a lid and let it to ferment in a warm draft free place for 12 hours. If the place where you live is cold, leave it inside the oven with the pilot light on. After the fermentation, Set Dosa batter should have increased in volume and should look foamy. Mix in the salt. The batter is ready. We are ready to do dosas.
Heat a dosa griddle/pan until medium hot. Apply few drops of oil on the griddle. Ladle the batter and pour it onto the griddle. Do not spread the batter like you do normal dosa. Spread it ever so lightly if necessary. Lots of holes will start forming on the top of the dosa. Cover the griddle with a lid and let it cook for 40 seconds on low medium flame. This dosa is usually cooked only on one side.
Note: If you feel the dosa is sticky, flip the dosa and cook for 20 seconds.
The dosas are ready when the top is completely cooked and the bubbles have settled.
Remove the dosa from the griddle and repeat with the rest of the batter. Serve the dosa hot with vegetable sagu / kurma or a spicy kaara chutney.
- Measurements used - 1 cup = 250ml
- 1 cup idly rice
- ¼ cup unpolished whole white urad dal
- ½ cup poha (aval / atukulu)
- ½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
- ½ cup curd
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Oil for griddle while making dosa
- Wash all the ingredients together 2-3 times in running water to get rid of dust and dirt. Soak the ingredients in a bowl with lots of water for 2 hours. Drain the water and set aside.
- Grind the ingredients to a smooth paste. While grinding add half a cup of yogurt and a cup of water. The batter needs to be ground to a really fine smooth paste. If the mixie wont budge, grind the batter in 2-3 batches.
- Once the batter is ready, cover the batter bowl with a lid and let it to ferment in a warm draft free place for 12 hours. If the place where you live is cold, leave it inside the oven with the pilot light on. After the fermentation, Set Dosa batter should have increased in volume and should look foamy. Mix in the salt. The batter is ready.
- Heat a dosa griddle/pan until medium hot. Apply few drops of oil on the griddle. Ladle the batter and pour it onto the griddle. Cover the griddle with a lid and let it cook for 40 seconds on low medium flame.
- Remove the dosa from the griddle and repeat with the rest of the batter. Serve the dosa hot with vegetable sagu / kurma or a spicy kaara chutney.
Hiee mam..batter didn’t ferment even after 12 hrs…followed same recipe..
Did you try making dosas? Some times, it wont double or rise if the climate is very cold.
Hi Suguna, for some reason my batter just did not rise. I used the normal mixie for grinding and followed the recipe as mentioned. I wonder where I went wrong. So I used the batter for making vegetable paniyaram’s instead and it turned out quite good. We had that with the carrot chutney which was yum.
Is the weather cold now where you live? If so leave the batter in the oven with its pilot light on. The warmth from the light will keep the place favourable for fermentation.
I live in Mumbai where its quite warm at the moment. The Idli batter and crispy dosa batter, both of your recipes, rose beautifully last week in this weather. I mixed the set dosa batter with my hand nicely prior to keeping it to ferment. Wondering if this was the reason for the batter not rising. Anyway, I’m glad that it did’nt go to waste as we made paniyarams which my husband enjoyed.
Thats good Sharon. I am really glad that you were able to make Paniyaram. I am not able to think as to why the batter behaved that way!
Hi Suguna,
Thank you for the recipe.
I am assuming that when it says wash and soak the ingredients , the curd is not part of the soaking and is used only in the grinding stage.
Also I live in Mumbai and it’s monsoon season now. So super humod. Any alterations you would recommend?
Hi Anita. Yes. Curd is used only while grinding. During humid season, the fermentation will happen quick. Have an eye on the time.
Madam ,
We r from Andhra Pradesh West godavari.
In our city there’s lot of Humidity and hot. In these conditions after grinding put yhe batter for 7 hours outside. BUT THE BATTER BECOMES VERY VERY VERY SOUR. AGAIN WE TRY WITHOUT CURD THEN ALSO REPEAT THE SAME .
Hi Aditi, If the place where you live is hot and humid, you need to ferment only for a lesser time. 4 hours may be??
Hi Suguna ,
How long should we wait for it to ferment? We live in the US. Thank you, will try and let you know how it turned out.
It depends on the weather. If its too cold, ferment inside the oven with the pilot light on.
Awesome recipe!!!
Tried it first time came out well ..
Absolutely divine
Thank you so much. Happy Cooking!
Hi
I made this dosa it was great but I felt the top layer is sticky if I accidentally touched the dosa on top it sticks
If you feel its sticky, you can flip it and cook for 20 seconds.
Hi suguna , i am Tina from Bombay, i came across your foda batter post by chance n lmade it n lovedddd it . Set dosa is one of my favourites n i am unable to make it right . I tried your recipe, I ground the batter in a stone grinder n left it to fermant , its quite sour n not enough holes when the cook it . Pls help
try to ferment for lesser time as its summer and the place where you live is humid.