dosai : rice crepes

There are quite a few variations of dosai and i hope to be posting a few of them over the next few weeks... this is one of my favorite 'tiffin'/snack items.

This recipe here involves soaking, grinding and fermenting rice and urad dal - which is the traditional recipe i learnt from my mom. Some other recipes using other methods and ingredients like semolina are quicker - like rava dosai, maida dosai etc. and i hope to be sharing them here soon.

Ingredients
for dosai:
1 cup urad dal (de-husked, i.e., black skin removed)
4 cups parboiled rice (sometimes sold as 'puzhungal arisi' in indian stores)*
water as needed
salt to taste
oil for greasing the pan

*i've tried basmati rice, and jasmine rice instead and they do turn out alright for home-made dosai, but, i prefer puzhungal arisi whenever it is available

Preparation

1. soak urad dal and rice separately for about 4 hours; i've tried soaking for 6-8 hrs or even overnight, and didn't find a significant difference in how the dosai turned out eventually; however it might make a difference in helping the grinding process - when soaked longer, many standard blenders handle grinding better than otherwise
2. drain the water, grind urad dal in wet grinder (or heavy-duty blender) and let it get soft and fluffy (usually i let it run for about 30-35 mins in the wet grinder); set aside in a large-ish bowl
   
3. then drain and grind the rice as well, and add it to the bowl with the ground urad dal; use very little water for grinding, preferably leave the batter thick and sort of sticky
   
4. cover the bowl and leave it in a warm place for several hours or overnight till it ferments well - you can smell the sourness (sort of like sourdough smell) and notice the rise in the dough/batter; i've found that fermentation makes a difference in taste and texture of dosai
   
5. when ready to make the dosai, stir the batter thoroughly, scoop a few ladles out onto a separate bowl, add a little water at a time to get to a pouring consistency, add some salt to taste - experiment with this 'diluted' batter's consistency till you find the best one that helps spread the batter evenly and without struggle;
   
6. heat a non-stick pan or griddle, pour about half a cup of dosai batter and spread it around to form a nice round shape; when underside seems done (the sides usually start lifting from the pan), flip the dosai and cook the other side
7. i've found the need to grease the non-stick pan between dosais to help them come off the pan without much struggle; also, i save the thick fermented dough/batter as-is in the fridge for later use; i find this more convenient than diluting the whole batch of fermented dough/batter and saving it for later
   
8. serve warm dosai with mint chutney, or coconut thogayal and sambar