Paper Dosa is a thin, crisp South Indian dosa made from a fermented batter of rice and urad dal. It’s spread very thin on a hot tawa and cooked till golden and crunchy. Tasty Paper Dosa served with coconut chutney and potato masala is a foodie's delight. This recipe gives you light, crispy, papery dosa similar to the one we get in restaurants.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 540 minutes
  • Cook time: 20 minutes
  • Total time: 560 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Breakfast, Snacks
  • Cuisine: South Indian

Ingredients

  • 1.5 cups or (325 grams) regular rice
  • ½ cup or (125 grams) urad dal
  • ¼ cup or (20 grams) thick poha ((flattened rice))
  • 1 tablespoon chana dal ((husked and split bengal gram))
  • ¼ teaspoon methi seeds ((fenugreek seeds))
  • 1 cup water (– for soaking rice)
  • 1 cup water (– for soaking urad dal)
  • ¼ cup water (– for grinding urad dal)
  • ½ cup water (– for grinding rice)
  • 3 tablespoons fine rava (– (sooji or cream of wheat))
  • 1 teaspoon rock salt ((edible and food grade) or sea salt or regular salt – add as required)
  • oil (– as required for cooking dosa)

Method

Soaking lentils and rice

  1. Firstly take the regular rice.
  2. Rinse a couple of times and then soak in 1 cup water.
  3. Next take the urad dal, chana dal and methi seeds in another bowl.
  4. Rinse a couple of times and then soak in 1 cup water for 4 to 5 hours.
  5. Take thick poha in a small bowl.
  6. Rinse poha once or twice with water.
  7. Add the rinsed poha in the rice bowl. Mix. Then cover and soak for 4 to 5 hours.

Making & Fermenting Batter

  1. After 4 to 5 hours, add the lentils along with the soaked water in the grinder jar. Also add ¼ cup of fresh water.
  2. Grind the urad dal, chana dal and methi seeds till you get a batter which is light and fluffy. The urad dal has to be ground really well, so that the batter ferments well.
  3. Transfer the batter to a large bowl or pan.
  4. Strain the rice well and drain the water. Then in the same grinder, add the soaked rice and ½ cup fresh water. You can grind rice in one batch or in two batches. This will depend on the size of the grinder jar. I ground in one batch and added ½ cup water for grinding.
  5. Grind rice to a fine grainy consistency like that of idli rava.
  6. Now pour the rice and poha batter in the same pan or bowl containing the urad dal batter.
  7. Add 3 tablespoons rava and 1 teaspoon rock salt or sea salt or regular salt. Adjust salt according to taste.
  8. Mix the salt with the batter. Also mix both the batters thoroughly.
  9. Cover and keep aside to ferment for 8 to 9 hours. You can keep for less or more time and this will depend on the temperature conditions in your city.

Making Paper Dosa

  1. After the batter is well fermented, before making the paper dosa, lightly stir the batter. You will also see many tiny air pockets in the batter.
  2. Next heat a thick bottomed cast iron tawa (griddle/skillet) or a nonstick pan. The pan should be medium hot.
  3. You can keep the heat to a low or medium while making dosas. If using an iron pan, then spread ¼ to ½ tsp oil/ghee all over the pan. Use a heat-safe brush or spoon or paper towel or a cotton napkin or onion halve to spread the oil/ghee. Do not spread oil/ghee on a non-stick pan.
  4. Do keep the heat to a low or medium-low, so that you are easily able to spread the batter. If the pan base is very thick, then keep the heat to medium. Pour a ladle of the batter in the center.
  5. First pour the batter using a ladle and then with the back of a ladle gently begin to spread the batter in round circles. Note that if the pan is very hot, you won't be able to spread the batter in a round circle.
  6. Using the back of a ladle spread the batter to a neat, round shaped thin dosa.
  7. On a low to medium heat, begin to cook the dosa.
  8. You will see the top side getting cooked and the batter firming up.
  9. Next with a spoon drizzle and spread some oil on the dosa. You can add less or more oil as per your requirements.
  10. Keep cooking till you see the base becoming golden. The more the base becomes golden, the paper dosa becomes more crisp.
  11. Now with a spatula fold the crisp paper dosa.
  12. Serve with coconut chutney and sambar. Same way make paper dosas with the remaining batter.
  13. Leftover batter can be refrigerated and stays good for 2 to 3 days.

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.