Crispy and delicious brown rice dosas are thin crepes from South Indian Cuisine. A batter is made with soaked lentils, brown rice and poha (beaten rice) and later fermented. The batter is then spread to thin crepes on a griddle to make the perfect dosas.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 360 minutes
  • Cook time: 20 minutes
  • Total time: 920 minutes
  • Yield: 12 · 12 dosas
  • Category: Breakfast
  • Cuisine: South Indian

Ingredients

  • ½ cup skinned urad dal ((split or whole skinned black lentils))
  • ¼ cup chana dal ((bengal gram))
  • 2 cups raw short/thin brown rice ((not parboiled or boiled rice))
  • ¼ cup poha ((red or white))
  • ⅓ teaspoon salt ((adjust to taste))
  • 3 tablespoons oil (or ghee)
  • ¾ to 1 cup water (to blend dal + more to soak poha)
  • ½ cup water (to blend rice)

Method

Prepare the Batter

  1. Add rice to a bowl and rinse well at least thrice. Pour fresh water and soak for no longer than 6 hours.
  2. To another bowl, add chana dal and urad dal. Rinse well at least thrice and soak for no longer than 6 hours. Rinse and soak poha in enough water to cover, for no longer than 30 mins before grinding.
  3. When you are ready to grind the batter, drain the water from rice and dal. Rinse them well again.
  4. Add the chana dal, urad dal and poha along with the poha soaked water to a grinder, Pour water and grind to a smooth and bubbly batter. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
  5. Grind brown rice with water to a smooth or slightly coarse batter. Transfer it to the mixing bowl.
  6. Mix both the batter well and cover with a lid. Ferment overnight or as required until the batter rises and turns slightly bubbly. Check pics in the post & read pro tips section. Do not over ferment to the extent the batter turns sour and rises a lot.

How to Make Brown Rice Dosa

  1. Take the required amount of batter to a bowl. You can stir the remaining batter with a ladle and refrigerate for up to a week.
  2. Add salt as required and mix well. If needed add some water to bring it to a consistency. It must be thick yet of pouring and spreading consistency.
  3. Heat a cast iron tawa and add few tablespoons of oil. Carefully spread it with a kitchen tissue or a cut onion. If you are using a non-stick you don't need to grease it.
  4. When the pan turns hot, regulate the flame to medium and pour a ladle full of batter to the center of the tawa.
  5. Quickly begin to spread evenly starting from the center in a circular motion in one direction (clockwise or anit-clockwise) to make a thin dosa/crepe.
  6. Drizzle a teaspoon of oil all over the dosa. Let the brown rice dosa cook on a medium heat until lightly brown and crisp.
  7. Turn it to the other side and cook just a minute. Turn it again and cook for 30 to 40 seconds to make it extra crisp. Remove to a serving plate.
  8. To make the next one make sure the tawa is hot enough and not smoking hot. If it is smoking hot, your dosas will brown a lot without cooking well.
  9. Serve brown rice dosas with peanut chutney, coconut chutney, carrot chutney or beetroot chunty.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.