An even healthier alternative to a traditional south Indian dosa, this bean and oats dosa uses lima beans and oats. The dosas are crispy and delicious. Serve with coconut chutney.
Making dosas healthier or tastier is a bit like trying to gild a lily. Dosas are traditionally made with rice and lentils which are both terrifically healthy foods packed with fiber and protein, and you can just make a traditional dosa recipe healthier by making it with brown rice, as I usually do.
But sometimes the health nut in you just wants to push the limits.
Last week I soaked a cup of tiny white baby lima beans in water, planning to cook them into a curry some time during the week. But one day passed, then two, and I hadn't come up with the inspiration I needed to use them up.
Meanwhile, I'd started to crave dosas and as I drove home from work the other evening and made a mental note to soak rice and lentils overnight, I remembered those beans. Why not, I thought?
But I'd still have to soak the rice, and even soaked in my parboiled style the rice needs at least two hours' time. But oats, of course, need no soaking time, and I love their fresh, clean taste in just about anything. So why not dosas?
Bean and Oats Dosas it was for dinner, and delicious they were. I made them prettier and tastier by adding a handful of chopped coriander leaves, some curry leaves, and some green chillies, all of which gave them that lovely emerald hue. We polished them off my favorite way: with some coconut chutney(although Desi prefers sambar with his dosa. Well, sometimes I get to do things my way.)
Here's the recipe. Hope everyone's having a great weekend!
More dosa recipes
Ingredients
- 1 cup baby lima beans (cover with about 3 inches with water and soak at least overnight)
- 1 cup rolled oats
- Β½ cup cilantro (chopped)
- 2 jalapeno peppers (chopped, use less for less heat)
- 10-12 curry leaves
- Β½- inch knob ginger (chopped)
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Put all the ingredients in a blender or a dosa grinder and blend with enough water till you have a runny and smooth batter. The batter should be runnier than a pancake batter, but thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Heat a cast-iron or non-stick griddle.
- Using a rounded ladle, pour about ΒΌ cup of the dosa batter in the center of the griddle. Quickly, using the rounded bottom of the ladle, start spreading the batter outward from the center in a spiralling design, until you have a dosa about 6-7 inches in diameter.
- You can pour a few drops of oil around the dosa's edge to make it crispier, or just spray with some non-stick cooking spray.
- When the underside is golden-brown, flip over and cook another minute or two.
- Serve hot with chutney.
Anonymous
When the proportion of beans and dals increases it ceases to be a dosai and becomes an adai. Then the batter becomes a little thick and coarse. Ada is a little thicker and coarser and needs to be cooked longer on lower heat. Healthy too. In indian conditions I prefer to use barley as it is as good as oats; is a local grain and in most parts of India about half the price. It is necessary to popularize adai which is a superior food to dosai with more fibre and protein. It is also easier to add vegetable to it too! We have been experimenting with various grains, beans and dals(with and without skin) for over 14 years, to help reverse heart disease, diabetes and hypertension; quite successfully too!
Carol Perryman
We made these the other night with some bindi masala - they are low enough in calories that it felt very indulgent to have 3! Our batter was too thick, so next time we'll add more water. Otherwise, these have great, earthy flavor and are a perfect counter to the spicy masala. We also found that they heat up well the next day. Thanks, Vaishy!
Exam Result 2011
wow fantastic this post for food. It looks so delicious. interesting details shared in the post and i just try make this food. thanks for nice posting
Manasi
Lima beans and oats! Who'd've thunk!
love it and they are so super thin and look super crisp too. We love crisp dosas at home, must try. Any other type of beans ? Black eyed or garbanzo?
Fifi
Hi Vaishali,
Yes, I meant fresh boiled edamame. I did make the batter with the edamame, oats, green chillies, ginger and curry leaves. You are right in that the edamame had a lot of water content so I had to make the batter quite thin. In the end it was like a thin pancake not the thicker American pancake and it did take a while to cook because even though I was spreading (or rather twirling via a the pan) very thin, the batter was very soft and it required a longer cooking time so it was more pancake and less dosa/adai like but nevertheless nutritious and delicious. I ate it with some cilantro/mint chutney - yum.
Thanks for the recipe idea.
Zengirl @ Heart and Mind
Vaishali,
I one made dosa out of Black eyed Pea and since then I am trying out new thing and after reading here, I am going to try making dosa with Oats too! Thanks for giving creative ideas in vegan eating!
Preeti
Vaishali
Hi Becky, thanks for the feedback. You probably needed more water in there, so the batter can be spread thin. You want a batter that's far runnier than a pancake batter and once the batter is on the griddle (which should be hot enough that water you sprinkle on it sizzles rightaway and quickly evaporates) you have to work really fast to spread it before it starts to dry on the griddle. On the other hand, if the griddle is too hot, the dosa won't be easy to spread because it will start cooking before you can manipulate it.
Swati Sapna
Lima beans and oats in dosa??! You had me at the very title of the post π very intriguing, and looks like it was very satisfying too π
Am already racking my brains on what to substitute the lima beans with... green moong maybe? Though that might make it a Cheela instead of a Dosa!