Dosa for breakfast, dosa for brunch, lunch, or dinner – I’ve had it all! My brother has eaten dosa for breakfast every.single.day for 19 years until he left home. As much as I love those delectable thin crispy crepes, there’s always a little voice in my head saying “white rice. refined food. not good”. I’m not on a no-carb diet or anything and lately I have been incorporating more whole grains into our diet. That means brown rice instead of white for lunch and multi grain rotis for dinner. I like to call this the complex-carb diet. Brown rice keeps you full longer and is a very good source of fiber.
I got the regular dosa batter recipe from my mother and substituted brown rice instead of white. They turned out beautiful! I couldn’t tell I made the batter with different ingredients, it was that good. For those of you wondering about the color and texture of the batter, check it out – very similar to normal white dosa batter. I have proof. I’m not fooling you, so go and make healthy dosas. NOW.
This is today’s brunch. Brown rice dosas with onion peanut chutney and hot coffee. Who would have thought I’d have Dosas post workout? 
Whole Grain / Brown Rice Dosas
The grains need to be soaked for 8 hours and fermented overnight. This makes enough to store in a 10 cup box. Store it in the fridge for about 10 days. Do not add salt if you're doing that, it will get sour quicker than usual. Add salt just before making them.
Ingredients:
- Brown rice - 2 cups, I used organic short grain
- Urad Dal - 3/4 cup, whole dal not split
- Methi seeds - 1 tsp
- Salt - to add to the batter later, before making
- Water - for washing and soaking / fermenting
Instructions:
- Measure out the brown rice and urad dal into separate bowls. Wash the rice a couple of times and the dal once. Add the methi seeds to the urad dal. Soak separately in water for 8 hours.
- By now, the rice and dal would be a little soft and it's time to grind. In a blender, or food processor (that's what I use), grind the rice first until soft. Transfer to a large bowl. You can add a little bit of water if it gets too thick. Same goes for the urad dal.
- Next, grind the dal. The batter should be smooth. The whole process takes around 15-20 minutes. If the food processor gets warm, stop for a minute or two and then continue. Transfer the batter into the same bowl and with your hand, mix the two very very well. The heat from your hands is supposed to help the wild yeast in the batter (or something like that :D )
- The bowl that you use to ferment the batter has to be big enough to let it rise. Double the batter amount is good.
- Cover the bowl and keep it overnight (or 12 hours). If you live in a place that's not as warm (or hot) as India, leave the bowl in the oven with the light on. By next morning, the batter is all puffed up and pwettyyy!
- Mix it up to deflate, take a few ladle-fuls into another bowl, add a little water for medium-runny(pancake batter) consistency and a pinch of salt and mix.
- Heat a skillet until very hot, add a big spoonful and make a thin crepe using a circular motion. Keep your wrist firm.
- Drizzle 1/2 tsp of oil all around it. Fry for a few minutes. Transfer to a plate.
- Enjoy!
If you’re in a horribly chilly place like Michigan, and the oven preheated to 100 and the light on doesn’t work – try adding a teaspoon of raw sugar into the batter. This helps provide more food and makes the pulichifying process a cake!
Thanks for the tip!