This Brown Rice Dosa is a great way to make an already healthy south Indian food even healthier. I "parboil" the brown rice, which helps reduce soaking time. A vegan, gluten-free, soy-free and nut-free recipe.
Here's a recipe for the ultimate Brown Rice Dosa.
Most South Indian cooks have a pot full of dosa batter sitting in their refrigerators which they can pull out at any time to make a quick and nutritious breakfast, lunch, snack or dinner. Dosas cook pretty quickly on the skillet so in no time at all one can have a pile of hot, steaming crepes ready to eat.
Making a dosa batter itself is not difficult, although it does require some soaking time to let the rice and lentils soften so once they are ground up into the batter they can cook quickly on the skillet. If you want to ferment the batter, you will need to add in another overnight wait.
I like making quick dosas such as my moong dosa or coriander adai because they require even less soaking time than a regular dosa. But when I get the craving for a traditional dosa, I have a foolproof batter that's ready in about 4 hours. Not bad.
This time, I wanted to make my foolproof batter healthier by using brown rice instead of white, which I usually use. I have used brown rice in dosa batters before but I find it usually requires more soaking time. While wondering this past weekend, late in the afternoon, how I could get my dosa batter ready for dinner, I had a brainwave. Parboiled rice.Now before some of you seasoned cooks out there scream, hey, that's what Indian cooks usually use for dosa, hear me out. I am not talking about the parboiled rice you can buy off the shelf. Instead, I thought I'd parboil my brown rice for a few minutes and then soak it with the lentils, reducing the total soaking time. Get it?
So that's what I did, and I couldn't be more pleased with the results. I needed just five hours of soaking time and the dosas themselves were perfect-- I spread them thin and they were crispy around the edges and delicious with the nutty flavor of brown rice.
Here's the recipe for my easy Brown Rice Dosa. Enjoy it with a fresh coconut chutney for a delicious meal.
More Indian vegan tiffin recipes
Brown Rice Dosa Recipe
Brown Rice Dosa
Equipment
- Cast iron griddle or nonstick griddle
Ingredients
For the chutney:
- ½ cup cilantro (stems and leaves, chopped)
- ½ cup coconut milk
- A few drops of lemon juice
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Cover the brown rice with water in a microwave-safe bowl and nuke it for five minutes.
- Allow the rice to sit in the hot water for another half an hour.
- Now add the rice to the remaining ingredients, along with the water. Add more water to cover the lentils and rice. Allow them to soak for at least 5 hours and more if you have the time. Drain.
- Blend the rice-dal mixture, in several batches, adding enough water to make a smooth batter that's runny enough to spread into a crepe, but thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. At this point, you can leave the batter to ferment overnight, which helps beneficial probiotic bacteria in the batter grow. You can also make the dosas rightaway.
- To make dosas, heat a cast-iron or non-stick griddle. The griddle should be hot enough that when you sprinkle a few drops of water on it, they sizzle and evaporate.
- Using a ladle with a rounded bottom, pour some batter into the center of the griddle and, in a quick but smooth motion, spread outward in circles. Don't be afraid if you make holes: just add a small drop of batter to patch it. If your dosa does not spread smoothly, it's possible your ladle is hot. Turn off or lower the heat, and try again.
- Pour a few drops of oil around the dosa's edges to help it crisp up. Once the underside is golden brown, loosen the dosa gently from the skillet and flip over. If your griddle was hot enough to begin with, this step will be very, very easy.
- Cook the other side for a few seconds, giving more time if your dosa is thicker. Serve hot with some sambar or chutney or both.
- To make the chutney, just give all the ingredients a whir in the blender until the cilantro is completely broken down. Check salt and serve with the dosas.
Nutrition
Sangeetha
Great recipe! You are a god sent. I was looking for something like this for a while. Thank you Vaishali ?
Vaishali
So great to hear, Sangeetha! We make these almost every weekend. 🙂
Nina
This was a winner. Turned out crispy.... surprise surprise! I was skeptical of the taste of brown rice but it was not too far off the mark. I did not have Rice flakes so I used white rice instead. Thank you for making dosa a healthier option.