This Instant Gluten-Free Masala Dosa is the easiest recipe for a dosa novice to follow, and even if you're a seasoned dosa maker, it provides a great, quick alternative for a healthy breakfast or meal when you don't have a pot of fermented batter sitting around. Gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free and vegan recipe.
This is one of our favorite weekend morning breakfasts or quick lunches. Desi loves it because a dosa is comfort food for any south Indian. Jay loves it because it's a crispy crepe encasing a delicious potato and peas stuffing. And I love it because it's all of the above, and one of the easiest and quickest meals in my repertoire.
Do I even need to say it's super healthy?
I already have a quick masala dosa recipe on the blog, based on a recipe by Jamie Oliver. While that's a really tasty dosa too, and certainly quick, it contains whole wheat, and I wanted to try a gluten-free version for sometimes.
The dosa recipe itself couldn't be simpler. All you need are three ingredients: chickpea flour or besan, rice flour (brown rice flour is great), and baking soda. And salt and water. You can go from scratch to dosas in less than 10 minutes.
The stuffing of potatoes and peas is a basic Indian curry recipe that can go into anything from a samosa to a potato vada, and the reason it's used so often is because it's mind blowingly tasty. It's also really easy to make. I boil the potatoes in the microwave which takes around 10 minutes, and after that it takes no more than five minutes to actually cook this curry using some simple spices.
When you have the time, it's always great to make and eat the coconut chutney because of the added probiotic health benefits it offers. But at a pinch, this instant dosa is nothing less than a lifesaver.
More dosa recipes:
Instant Gluten-Free Masala Dosa
Ingredients
For the dosa crepes:
- 1 cup chickpea flour or besan
- 1 cup brown rice or white rice flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- Salt to taste
For the potato curry stuffing:
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil like coconut or peanut
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- 1 small onion, minced
- 2 green chilies like serrano or jalapeno. Deseed for less heat. Minced.
- 1 sprig (about 10 leaves) curry leaves
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 5 medium potatoes, any kind are fine, boiled and then peeled and cubed
- ½ cup frozen green peas
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Salt to taste
Instructions
Make the potato curry stuffing:
- Heat the oil and add cumin seeds. When they start to darken, add the onion, ginger, green chilies and curry leaves. Saute a couple of minutes until the onion softens.
- Add the turmeric and stir well. Add the potatoes and green peas and mix well. Saute for about five minutes, then squeeze in the lemon juice, add salt to taste, and turn off heat. Set aside.
Make the dosas:
- Make the dosas right before serving. Place all ingredients for dosa in a bowl and add approximately 1 ½ cups of water or more if needed to make a batter that's like a crepe batter, ie. slightly runnier than a regular pancake batter.
- Heat a nonstick or cast-iron griddle. When the griddle is screaming hot, use a ladle with a rounded bottom to pour about ⅓ cup of batter on the griddle. Using the bottom of the ladle, spread the batter in a spiral motion, moving outward. Do this quickly before the batter begins to set on the griddle. Spray the sides of the dosa with cooking spray or oil.
- When the bottom turns light gold-brown, flip the dosa over. Cook another 30 seconds and remove to a plate. Place 2-3 tablespoons of the filling in the center of the dosa and fold over before serving with a green chutney*.
Maggie
These dosas were so simple and delicious! Thank you so much for the great recipe. I’m going to add it to my regular rotation. <3
Lori
In your recipe, you did not mention greasing the pan. If I use a cast iron pan (not necessarily griddle) or a steel pan, I assume I need to put oil on it before adding batter, the way one would do to sauté vegetables or to make American pancakes?
Vaishali
No, never grease the pan BEFORE you make a dosa because it will make spreading the dosa out much harder--the oil will make it difficult. The only time you should add oil is after you've got the dosa on the griddle, then drizzle some along the edges.
rebekah
Can these dosas be made ahead of time and frozen with wax paper in-between? I am looking to do batch cooking for the week and thought this might be fun to have on hand.
Maddi Pham
No Rebekah we don't freeze Dosas, you can refrigerate the dough though
Sonia
Hi there, can you substitute the brown rice flour with another flour because I can't have any type of rice.
Vikki Cook
Can you keep the dosa crepes in tupperware or something for a few days after you've made them? It would only be me eating them and I only eat small portions at a time!
Vaishali
Hi Vikki, you can keep the batter in the refrigerator and make a couple of dosas when you want to eat them. I would rather not recommend storing dosas after you make them because the texture will change as they get cold.
Roxair Kenee
Oh my
Gosh I am
So excited to try! I have a rice allergy tho.. what would
You suggest to sub for rice flour 🥰
Megan
Sorry, I'm a purist. No besan in my dosa flour! (Or baking soda). It does look like a decent alternative for people without the old fashioned Iyer cement mixer (or tons of time) in their kitchen!
Vidya
Hi Vaishali
I was not able to spread the dosas like regular Dosa but only pour them like Rava Dosa. Not sure why. They tasted good though.
Krithika
This will make a nice change from rava dosas: which is what I make when I don't have patience to wait for fermentation. Quick question, can I store leftover batter in the fridge? I'm not sure if it has to be used immediately because of the soda.
Vaishali
Yes, this is best used rightaway. Although I have kept it for a few hours in the refrigerator, but the dosas made rightaway taste better.
Gabriel Cobielles
Dear Vaishali,
Woderful!!! for some time I've been waiting for this easy-to-make dosa recipe. Very useful for people like me (I live in Mexico) who don't have access to many indian ingredients like black gram and other special legumes, and much less know how to ferment.
By the way. would you happen to have an easy-to-make idli recipe too?
Congrats and thanks for sharing!
Gabriel
43y/o mexican from Guanajuato
Vaishali
Hi Gabriel, hope you try it! And I do have a quick idli recipe on my blog here: https://holycowvegan.net/rava-idli-recipe/
Gabriel Cobielles
Thank you so much Vaishali! The dosas came out perfectly! Looked just like those in your pictures! For Christmas I'm going to give myself an idli cooker as a gift. I will try to make them with the batter in your instant gluten free dosa recipe. I will set them to ferment 24 hours in advance and see what happens. Wish me luck!
Thank for sharing your idli recipe link, Although they are made of wheat, it may be of some help. I want to try them with rice first because that's the way I tried them when I visited Tamil Nadu a few year back, and I loved them!
Ambika
Wow these look great! As I am unable to digest chickpeas I use either mung or masoor for mine. I also add a little quinoa for a power pop! Give it a try!
Vaishali
Ambika, I love quinoa in dosas too!
Supriya
Looooove this idea! What a time-saver! Can’t wait to try it out. I’m always looking for easy, savory breakfast recipes for the weekend.
Vaishali
Thanks, Supriya, hope you try!
SONIA
Hi there,
I wanted to know if I can replace the brown rice with another flour because I can't have any rice.
Thanks!
Vaishali
Hi Sonia, use an all-purpose gluten-free flour if you want to be gluten-free, otherwise use whole wheat or regular all purpose flour. Same quantity.