NEER DOSA RECIPE - NEER DOSA WITH COCONUT CHUTNEY- KARNATAKA BREAKFAST RECIPES (2024)

• Good quality sona masoori Raw rice - 2 cups
• Grated coconut - 1/4 cup
• Water & salt - as needed ( i used nearly 4-5 cups of water)

Side Dish - Coconut chutney

• Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
• Fried gram dal/Hurikadale/Pottukadalai - 1/4 cup
• Green chillies - 5-6 nos
• Curry leaves - few ( optional)
• Garlic cloves - 2nos ( optional)
• Tamarind -a small pinch
• Salt & water - as needed

• Cooking oil – 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Urad dal – 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves - few

• Wash and soak the raw rice in enough water for 4-6 hours or over night. Drain all the water and grind it along with grated coconut and little salt.This dosa batter takes less salt so add it carefully. If you feel salt is less after grinding, you can add it later. But do not add more salt while grinding.First grind the rice & coconut to a coarse paste without adding water and then add 1 cup of water to make a smooth paste.Wipe the sides & the jar while grinding. I used my bigger sized mixie jar to grind the batter.
• Check the batter and grind it again adding required water till u get a very smooth paste without any grits. I used nearly 2 cups of water while grinding. Do not run the mixie for longer time. Give some time gap between successive grinding so that your jar won’t get heated up soon.

• After grinding the batter smoothly,remove the batter in a bowl and wash the jar with 1/2 cup of clean water.Add this to the batter and check for its smoothness by taking the batter between your thumb finger & fore finger.It should be very smooth without any grits or rice particles. Then add more water( around 1.5-2 cups) to make a watery batter. Its consistency should be like low fat milk or buttermilk. So add water accordingly.Check for salt.
• To check the right consistency of batter, dip the back of spoon into the batter. If the batter coats very lightly, it is correct. Else add little more water. U can also check its consistency by making a dosa. If dosa comes out very thick and if the batter doesn’t spread on its own, add more water. So you have to adjust the consistency only by some trial & error. After adding all the water, you may get around 6-7 cups of batter I guess.

• To make dosas, a good conditioned non-stick dosa pan or frying pan with handle is needed. Heat the dosa pan well. Sprinkle few drops of water and if water droplets go off within few seconds, heat is just right. Then dip a cloth or tissue paper in oil and grease the pan well.Proper heating of pan and good greasing is very important. Keep the flame high.
• Season/grease the pan and mix the batter thoroughly well every time before making dosa. Don’t forget !

• Now take 1/2 ladle of batter and pour it from 1/2 feet above the dosa pan. As soon as you pour the dosa batter using your right hand, the batter will spread on its own to some extent. Immediately swirl the dosa pan with your left hand and try to make it round. Fill the holes with little batter if you need.

• Now simmer the flame completely and close the dosa with a lid. Let it cook for 30 seconds. Then remove the lid and again cook in open pan for another 30 seconds. Sides of the dosa may lift slightly. That’s it. No need to flip the dosa and do not brown the dosa. It should be super white in color. Carefully fold the dosa into half and fold again to make a triangle shape. Serve with chutney or sagu !

• For the next dosa, before pouring the batter,keep the flame high, grease the pan with oil, mix the batter thoroughly and then make dosa. Repeat this procedure till the end.

• Do not stack the dosa one above the other when it is hot because they will stick to each other easily. Serve in two plates.
• Grind all the ingredients given under " For coconut chutney" to a smooth paste. Adding garlic & curry leaves gives hotel taste. Use it as per your choice. Do the tempering & enjoy with neer dosa.

• The batter should be ground smooth. So add water accordingly. Choose a bigger sized jar if you are using mixie to grind the batter. U can use little more coconut if you want more flavourful dosa. But I was happy with this quantity. Adding more coconut makes the dosa too soft n it may break.
• The consistency of batter should be very important. If its thick, dosa will crack. It should be thin like low fat milk or buttermilk. Even if it is slightly thick, you won’t get lacy dosas and your dosas wont be soft too.The batter should spread on its own till half of the pan as soon as you pour the batter. So adjust the consistency.
• The temperature of dosa pan is very important. Do the water sprinkling test as I mentioned above before pouring the batter.
• Season/grease the pan and mix the batter thoroughly well every time before making dosa.
• If the pan is not heated properly, dosas will crack and it won’t spread on its own. So keep the flame high when you pour the batter. Pour the batter from 1/2 feet distant from the pan. Rotate/swirl the pan as soon as you pour the batter and make a round dosa. There will be holes on it. U can fill the bigger holes with batter if needed..
• Cook the dosa in low flame with a lid for 30 seconds and without lid for 30 seconds. Do not brown the dosa. It should be white. No need to flip the dosa.
• Do not stack the dosa one above the other when it is hot because they will stick to each other easily.

TO SUM UP

1. Rice should be soaked well for minimum of 4-6 hours to make a smooth batter. It should be ground well with coconut to a very smooth batter without any grits.
2. The consistency of batter is very important. It should be watery like milk.
3. Heat of the dosa pan is also very important here. It should be high but not smoky. Use a non-stick pan. Iron griddle wont be helpful.
4. Season/grease the pan and mix the batter thoroughly well every time before making dosa.
5. Do not cook the dosa in high flame, it should be cooked in very low flame for 1 minute to maintain its white color. This dosa cooks super fast. So remove after a minute without browning them.
6. This dosa tastes great even after it cools down. So you can make it advance before serving. But you should not stack them one above the other when it is hot. They will stick to each other. Hence stack them after they are cooled down completely.