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. If you love a delicious south Indian dosa, this recipe takes the healthfulness up a notch.
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 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 South 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.
Maya Varadan
Hey Vaishali,
I have been sneaking around your blog for some months,never left you a comment.Healthy recipe.Will defly try them.I have plethora of thoughts to write here about ur blog,I would put it simple 'Awesome Work".DH and me are vegetarian's by birth and we always had this concern how can we instill that habit in our daughter who is just a toddler now,but in this country(USA) with free options available in schools,everywhere it is difficult to cultivate that habit.By reading thru your blog it motivates me to go 'vegan',again just not our religion and culture that influence us being vegetarians,majorly the thought another living is being killed to feed us make us to not even eat eggs.
Anyway Hats Off.Keep up the good work.
Vaishali
Maya, welcome and thanks! You are very sweet- and compassionate.
Renu
Just bought brown rice yesterday, I will try your recipe ...looks healthy !
Vaishali
Betty, Thanks. You can find a recipe for a quick naan here: .
Divya, It is slightly different in that the taste is nuttier-- I thought it tasted much better than the white dosa version.
A and N, RV, Usha: Thanks!
Evolvingtastes, yes, it doesn't need any fermentation. Desi doesn't like the taste of fermented dosas anyway, so I almost never let the batter ferment. But if you like, you can certainly allow the dough to stand longer to get the fermentation going.
Shreya, Thanks.
Sunshinemom, I have never tried idlis with brown rice. I don't make idlis as often as I ought to. I was just thinking of making them more often, though, so if I do try them with brown rice I'll surely exchange notes.
Cham: Thanks!
Sharmila, the parboiling is not hard work at all-- it just takes five minutes in the microwave. 🙂
Kmouse, Miri, Priya: Thanks!
Priya
Using brown rice for making out dosas seems an excellent and healthy idea Vaishali..crispy dosas looks prefect..
Miri
What a fantastic idea!
kmouse
Those look wonderful!!!!
Sharmila
I just use whatever rice I have at home which is usually white rice. But I do dump in lots of legumes and lentils. This version of yours sounds great Vaishali! Parboiling the rice first ... wow... you do work hard! 🙂
Cham
Par boiling the rice before grinding is great idea. Dosas look perfect!
Sunshinemom
Your dosas look lovely, brown and crisp! I use brown rice sometimes too. I found that the dosas are good but I wasn't happy with my idlis when I used brown rice as they were not as soft as the ones with polished rice. If you have tried it please let me know your experience.
Shreya
Hi Vaishali, awesome idea, and use of brown rice is so much healthier! Thanks a ton, will definitely be trying this..
evolvingtastes
Wow!! No fermentation needed?
Usha
I use brown rice regularly for my dosas but never thought to par boil them before soaking that is such a cool idea and the dosas have turned out perfect !
RV
They look perfect as the regular rice dosas... I have bookmarked it.. 🙂
A_and_N
OMG! that is a great idea. I buy white rice ONLY for dosas now. The last time I tried with brown rice, it was this coarse mixture and my mixi gave up 🙁
Great idea, Vaishali. Will try soon.
Divya Vikram
This is something I have always wanted to try. thanks for the recipe Vaishali. Does it differ much in taste?
Dairy Free Betty
Mmmmm... Can I please come to your house for dinner... Those look soooooooooo good... YUM!! Every one of your recipes make my mouth water!!
Do you have a good recipe for dairy free nan bread, the soft stuff that I can use when I make curry!! My email is barefoot_pinktoes@hotmail.com
Come check out my blog!!
Thank you!!!!!!!