Sri Lankan-Style Dosa (Those, Thosai)
Discover how to make Sri Lankan-style dosa locally known as Those or Thosai. Those, just like dosa, are savory pancakes made from a fermented batter of rice and split black gram.
Servings: 10 to 12 those
Ingredients
For Making the Batter
- 150 g long grain white rice
- 150 g split black gram, urad dal
- Water, as needed
For Activating Yeast
- 50 ml warm water
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon yeast
For Tempering
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- ½ onion, thinly chopped
- 1 green chili, thinly chopped
- Few curry leaves, thinly chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- Salt & pepper, to taste
Freshly Chopped Ingredients & Spices
- ½ onion, thinly chopped
- 1 green chili, thinly chopped
- Few curry leaves, thinly chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- Salt & pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Wash and soak rice and split black gram in water for 6 hours or overnight.
- Drain the water and then grind the rice using a powerful grinder until you have a smooth thick paste adding water as needed.
- Now drain the water and grind the lentils along with ground rice.
- Place about 50ml of warm water in a small bowl and add yeast and sugar and stir well. Keep it aside for about 10 minutes until frothy. If you use instant yeast, skip this step.
- Place the batter in a large bowl and add yeast and mix well. Cover and then let it rise for about 8 hours or preferably overnight.
- The batter should spread easily over the pan. If the batter is too thick, adjust the thickness by adding water as required.
- When you are ready to cook, add fresh or tempered ingredients to the batter, if desired. You can also make those just plain.
- Tempering-Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium. Pop mustard seeds in oil and then add chopped onions, green chilies, and curry leaves and then cook while stirring for about one minute. Add chili powder, cumin, pepper, and salt and stir well. Remove the pan from heat and let it cool.
- In this recipe, I added freshly chopped onion, green chilies, and curry leave along with chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper without tempering. Add water as needed to adjust the thickness of the batter.
- Heat a non-stick or cast iron pan over medium-high heat and grease with oil. Pour a ladleful of batter into the center and then quickly spread it into a circle to spread the batter evenly.
- Spread the batter quickly on the pan, otherwise, it will be difficult to spread. You will need some practice to do this if you are a beginner.
- Cook for about 1 minute until you see bubbles on the surface of those, and then cover and cook for another minute or so until it's cooked.
- Open the lid and drizzle little oil around the edges. You can make drizzled oil spread all around the Dosa by swirling the pan. Cook until those turn golden on the edges. Adding oil is optional.
- Flip and cook for about 30 seconds. Flip it back and then remove to a serving plate. Repeat with the rest of the batter.
Notes
You can add either freshly chopped ingredients or tempered ingredients, it is your choice. In this recipe, I added freshly chopped ingredients along with seasoning & spices.