Instructions

1. Soak the rice. Place 2 cups uncooked rice in a fine-mesh strainer and rinse under cool water. Transfer to a large bowl and add enough filtered water to cover by at least 2 inches. Soak uncovered at room temperature for 6 hours or overnight. Filtered water is important in case there is a high amount of chlorine in your water, which will inhibit fermentation.
2. Soak the urad gota, chana dal, and fenugreek seeds. Place 1/2 cup whole urad gota and 2 tablespoons chana dal in a fine-mesh strainer and rinse under cool water. Transfer to a medium bowl and add 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds. Add enough filtered water to cover by at least 2 inches. Soak uncovered at room temperature for 6 hours or overnight.
3. Drain the urad gota, chana dal, and fenugreek seeds. Drain the soaked whole urad gota, chana dal, and fenugreek seeds through a fine-mesh strainer, reserving the soaking liquid.
4. Blend the urad mixture. Place the urad mixture in a blender (work in batches if needed). (I use a Vitamix which does the job well. In India, the traditional method is to use a wet grinder.) With the motor running, slowly add about 1 cup of the reserved soaking liquid and blend until you get a smooth, light, and fluffy batter. Do not let the batter overheat. To check that it has been blended well, drop a little into a bowl of water. If the batter rises to the top, it has been blended enough. Pour the batter into a large bowl.
5. Drain the rice. Drain the soaked rice through the fine-mesh strainer, reserving the soaking liquid.
6. Blend the rice. Place the soaked rice in the now-empty blender (no need to rinse). With the motor running, slowly add about 1 cup of the reserved soaking liquid. Once blended, add in 1/4 cup cooked rice and continue blending until you have a mostly smooth batter that feels a little grainy when you rub it between two fingers.
7. Mix the blended rice and dal. Pour the rice batter into the urad batter and add 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt. Stir together with your hand — the heat in your hand is good to kick-start the fermentation process, while also adding in more wild yeast. You should have a loose, thick batter that falls through your hands easily but also coats your fingers at the same time.
8. Ferment the batter. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and place in a warm place (80 to 90ºF). (I usually place my batter in the oven with the light on and a large bowl of hot tap water on the rack below it. I change out the water a few times to keep the temperature warm and humid in the oven.) Let ferment 8 to 14 hours.
9. Check that the batter has fermented. When fermented, your batter will have almost doubled and look puffed on the top. It will also have a sour, fermented smell. When scooped with a spoon, it should be a frothy mass of bubbles. Note that in colder climates, the batter may not rise as much, but if it has the frothy, bubbly look and smells fermented, you can start making dosas with it.
10. Cook the dosas:
11. Stir the batter. Stir the batter a couple of times with a ladle. Ideally, you will have a thick, flowing batter with a consistency between crêpe and pancake batter. If too thick, add filtered water a tablespoon at a time to thin it out.
12. Prepare for cooking. Before cooking the dosas, set out a little bowl with ghee or oil, a teaspoon, a spatula, a cup of water, and a few paper towels or a silicone pastry brush by the stove. I use a 1/3 measuring cup and a slightly curved large serving spoon, flat ladle, or the measuring cup to spread my dosa.
13. Heat a skillet with ghee. Heat a large cast iron skillet, griddle, or nonstick pan over medium heat. (If you are a first timer, I suggest that you start with a nonstick pan, as it will be more forgiving than the cast iron which you can work yourself up to.) Add a couple drops of ghee or oil to the pan and lightly smear it all over with a paper towel or silicone pastry brush. If you have a sprayer for oil that will work best here. At this point, you don’t want to put too much ghee or oil, as this will make it difficult to spread the batter evenly. Sprinkle a few drops of water into the pan — if it sizzles, the pan is ready. Reduce the heat to low.
14. Pour in batter. Pour 1/3 cup of the batter into the center of the pan. The batter should sizzle a bit.
15. Spread the batter. Starting in the middle, swirl the batter using the bottom of a slightly curved large serving spoon, flat ladle, or measuring cup in a circular motion outwards until you have spread it out into a round dosa that is about 9 inches in diameter. It is important not to press down too hard with your spreading utensil. Spreading should happen more on the top surface than on the bottom.
16. Add ghee to the edges and top of dosa. Increase the heat to medium. Wait a few seconds for the dosa to sizzle a little in the pan, and then drizzle about 1 teaspoon of ghee or oil around the edges of the dosa and on top.
17. Cook the dosa. Cook until the dosa is dried out on top and you can see some browning and crisp spots appearing on the bottom, 2 to 3 minutes. When it’s ready, the dosa will peel off easily when you slide a flat spatula underneath. If you see the dosa browning but it is still sticking, just lower the heat and wait a few seconds, then probe around the edges with your spatula until you find an area that starts to give. Usually the whole dosa will unstick once you start to pull it up from that spot.
18. Flip the dosa. Flip the dosa over and let cook for a few seconds. Flip it over again.
19. Fold the dosa. If serving as-is, fold the dosa in half in the pan, then transfer it onto a plate for serving.
20. Or fill and fold the dosa. To serve as masala dosa, spread a spoonful or two of potato palya on one half of the dosa. Fold the dosa in half in the pan to cover the filling, then slide it onto a plate for serving.
21. Repeat with the remaining batter. Cool down the pan so you can easily spread your next dosa and prevent it from sticking to the pan by sprinkling in a little water. When the sizzling stops, heat the pan back up for the next dosa. Mix the dosa batter well before cooking the next one.
22. Serve the dosas. Serve the dosas with chutney and sambar, or sprinkle with chutney pudi and serve with plain yogurt.