Masala Dosa: Recipe, Meaning, Nutrition

Masala Dosa is one of the most popular South Indian breakfasts, served with coconut chutney (dip) and sambar.

Dosa is a crepe, prepared with fermented rice and lentils batter and Masala is spicy seasoned potatoes stuffed in Dosa. Masala Dosa can be served as morning breakfast or as evening snack with spicy coconut chutney and hot sambar.

I generally make it in brunch with homemade batter, chutney and sambar.

What is Masala Dosa?

Masala Dosa is the most famous snack in South India, these tasty crispy stuffed pancakes or crepes are famous in North India as well.

Generally, it has been seen that among all the South Indian dishes,. Masala Dosa is most loved by North Indians.

It is believed that Masala Dosa originated in Tuluva Mangalorean cuisine from Karnataka (Source: WIKI). In Udupi, Dosas were made crisp and served.

One of the local restaurants started to make Dosa with potato stuffing as a variation and also to lower the consumption of coconut chutney, as coconut-based foods were considered costly those days.

Gradually, these stuffed Dosa became popular all across India.

Masala: Masala is made with boiled potatoes, onions, curry leaves, green chilies, ginger, green coriander, some Indian spices, and salt.

Roasted peanuts, cashew nuts, and veggies like green peas, green beans, chopped cauliflower, grated carrots, paneer (cottage cheese), and cheese can also be added to Masala to make it more healthy and tasty.

Dosa: Dosa is a crispy crepe or crispy thin pancake made with fermented rice and urad dal (black gram) batter. Dosa is also known as dosha (in Malayalam), Dosai (in Tamil), and Dose (in Kannada).

Firstly, fermentation is the key factor for the crisp and porous texture of Dosa. Also, the fermentation should happen within 8-12 hours after the batter is prepared.

Fermentation much depends on the weather where you stay, if you stay in a cold place, you can put the batter in preheated oven or near the gas stove to help in the fermentation process.

Secondly, if you mix dosa batter with your hand, then the warmth of your hand will help in the fermentation process.

I always mix the dosa batter with my hand, and my Dosas come out perfect every time, so I recommend you to use your hand to mix the Dosa batter.

There are so many varieties of Dosa like Mysore Masala Dosa, Saada or Khali (plain) Dosa, Paper Dosa, Rava (semolina) Dosa, Set Dosa, Neer (water) Dosa, Benne (butter) Dosa, and many more. In Bengaluru (Karnataka), many stalls serve 99 varieties of dosa, which includes fusions like noodle dosa, pav bhaji dosa, cheese dosa, paneer dosa and much more. However, Masala Dosa is the most popular version among these.

Here in this post, I have shared step-by-step methods and a lot of tips & tricks to make a perfect and crisp Masala Dosa.

So let’s begin with the recipe without any further delay.

How to make Masala Dosa recipe

Ingredients:

For Dosa Batter:

• Rice (sona masuri)- 3 cup
• Urad dal (black gram)- 1 cup
• Chana dal (split bengal gram)- 3 tablespoon
• Flattened rice (poha/avalakki)- 1 cup
• Fenugreek seeds (methi dana)- 1/2 teaspoon
• Water- for soaking

For Aloo Masala:

• Potato- 4 (boiled & mashed)
• Onion- 1 (sliced)
• Asafoetida- a pinch
• Mustard seeds- 1 teaspoon
• Urad dal (split black gram)- 1/2 teaspoon
• Chana dal (split bengal gram)- 1/2 teaspoon
• Curry leaves- 10-12
• Dry red chili- 1
• Green chilies- 2 (finely chopped)
• Ginger- 1 teaspoon (grated)
• Turmeric powder- 1/3 teaspoon
• Green coriander- 2 tablespoon
• Lemon juice- 2 teaspoon
• Salt- as per taste
• Oil- 1-1.5 tablespoon
• Water- 2 tablespoon

Preparation of Masala Dosa Batter:

Soaking:

• First in a bowl add 3 cups of sona masuri rice and 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds, rinse well.
• Add enough water and soak it for 3-4 hours.
• In another bowl add 1 cup of urad dal (husked split black gram) and 3 tablespoon of chana dal (husked split bengal gram).
• Rinse well and soak it for 2-3 hours.

Grinding:

• In a grinding jar add soaked dal (lentils).
• Add little water (I recommend you to use leftover water in which we soaked dal in grinding) grind well.
• Grind it well until you get smooth, light and fluffy batter. Dal should be ground well, so that batter ferments well.
• Transfer urad dal batter in a large bowl and keep aside
• In the same grinding jar add soaked rice and rinsed poha (1 cup).
• Add little water (I recommend you to use leftover water in which we soaked dal in grinding) grind well.
• Grind it well until you get a fine paste.
• Transfer this batter in the same bowl containing urad dal batter.

Must Read: How to make Poha (2 ways)

Fermentation:

• Mix both the urad batter dal and the rice batter very well, use your hand to mix batter, as warmth of your hand helps in fermentation process.
• Cover it and keep aside for 8-10 hours to ferment. Fermentation depends on the weather, where you stay, if you stay in cold place it will take more time to ferment, so you can keep it near the gas stove or in preheated oven to helps the fermentation process, however, in hot places it ferment quickly.
• A well fermented Dosa batter will doubles in size.
• Once the Dosa batter is fermented, mix it gently. (without disturbing the air pockets of Dosa batter). You can store this Dosa batter in refrigerator for 2-3 days.
• Transfer 3-4 cups of Dosa batter in a bowl or as much as required and add salt according to your taste.
• Mix well until the salt dissolves, Masala Dosa batter is ready, keep aside.

MUST-READ: Litti Chokha: Recipe, Meaning, Tips, Calories

Preparation of Aloo Masala:

• First, heat a pan add oil, add mustard seeds, let them splutter.
• Add asafoetida, urad dal (split husked black gram), chana dal (husked split bengal gram), curry leaves, dry red chili
• Add chopped green chilies, grated ginger, saute well.
• Now add sliced onion, fry them until they become soft and translucent.
• Add turmeric powder and salt, stir well.
• Now add boiled & mashed potatoes, 2 tablespoon water, mix everything well. and cook it for 2-3 minutes.
• Switch off the flame, add chopped green coriander and lemon juice, 1 teaspoon dry mango powder can also be added instead of lemon juice. Mix well.
• Aloo masala for Masala Dosa is ready, keep aside.

Final cooking method of Indian Masala Dosa

Masala Dosa Preparation:

• Now mix dosa batter a little before start to make Masala Dosa. At this stage, you can add splash of water and mix, if you feel batter is thick.
• Heat a flat non-stick pan or tawa.
• Pour a ladleful of Dosa batter on medium hot pan.
• Spread it as thin as possible in circular motion, Flame should be low while spreading the dosa.
• Sprinkle 1-2 teaspoon oil on centre and on its edges ok it on medium flame.
• Cover it and cook it until golden brown colour and crisp.
• Now add some prepared aloo masala on Dosa, spread a little.
• Finally, Masala Dosa Recipe is ready, now roll it and serve.

Serving:

• Serve this delicious crispy Masala Dosa with coconut chutney and hot sambar.
• It can also be served with peanuts chutney, onion tomato chutney or with your favorite dip or sauce.
• Aloo Masala can be served separately instead of stuffing.
• Masala Dosa can be served in breakfast, lunch or dinner accordind to your choice.

Tips:

• Here in this recipe I have used sona masuri rice to make masala dosa, however, idli rice, kolam or parmal rice or any Indian variety of short grained rice can also be used to make Masala Dosa Recipe.
• Adding flattened rice and chana dal help to make the Masala Dosa crisp and also give it a nice golden colour.
• Adding fenugreek seeds gives a nice flavor to the Masala Dosa and also helps in digestion.
• Using leftover water of soaked dal in grinding helps in fermentation process.
• Dosa batter should be fermented well else Masala Dosa will not be turn crisp.
• Mixing Dosa batter with your hand also helps in fermentation.
• In winters keep Dosa batter near gas stove or in preheated oven, it also helps in fermentation.
• If the Masala Dosa batter is too runny then add some rice flour in the batter and mix well.
• Dosa batter can be stored in refrigerator for 2-3 days.
• Roasted peanuts, roasted cashew, green peas or grated carrot can also be added to aloo masala, to make it more tasty and nutritious.
• If you are using iron tawa or pan, smear some oil on pan, and rub it well across the pan with a cut onion, but do not smear oil on non-stick pan else you will not be able to spread Masala Dosa evenly.
• The pan should not be too hot else dosa batter will stick to the pan and will not be spread evenly.
• If the pan becomes too hot then sprinkle some water on the pan and wipe it with a napkin. Then continue making Masala Dosa.

Nutrition profile medium size masala dosa (Estimated values)

Nutrition	Estimated Values
Protein	4.5g
Fat	8.7g
Carb	31g
Fiber	2.6g
Total Calories	221 cal

Step 1: Making Masala Dosa batter