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November 3, 2014

NEER DOSA RECIPE - NEER DOSA WITH COCONUT CHUTNEY- KARNATAKA BREAKFAST RECIPES

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neer dosa

Neer dosa recipe / neer dose in Kannada must be familiar to many of you. Literally it means water dosa and is a crepe made out of rice flour & coconut. Its one of the most popular dosa varieties of Karnataka's Udupi & Mangalore regions. It tastes the best with coconut chutney or veg curry. In Tamil nadu, we prepare a similar dosa called rice flour dosa(arisi maavu dosa in Tamil) which needs over night fermentation. But this neer dosa can be done instantly after grinding the batter. It was in my try list for long time but I got tempted to try this out when I watched Vijay Tv’s Samayal Samayal with Chef Venkatesh bhat. When he showed this neer dosa paired with onion tomato chutney, I started drooling like anything. But I followed neer dosa recipe from Veggie belly

This neer dosa is Sendhil’s favourite too. He used to have this dosa with kaju curry in restaurants here when he was new to Bangalore.But I have not tasted this dosa in hotels so far. Recently we went to VV puram’s food street and tasted akki roti, thatte idli, brinjal gravy, kulfi etc from roadside hotels. There I asked in many stalls for neer dosa but it was not there and I came off disappointed. Then Sendhil enquired his colleagues and told me about a small hotel in Malleshwaram which is famous for Neer dosas. I must pay a visit soon.The ones I made yesterday in my kitchen was awesome. It was so lacy and very soft. I tried it for the first time and I was completely satisfied with the result. Sendhil told it tastes the same like hotel ones. What else, this recipe was a grand hit in my house. 

When I asked my kannadiga friends( school moms) here, they told me an Instant neer dosa recipe which they mentioned as “thideer dosa” using rice flour and coconut. They also suggested coconut chutney and vegetable sagu as the best side dish for neer dosa. Neer dosa & chutney is the simple & best combination they added. So I prepared spicy, watery coconut chutney and it was tasting great. But one thing I have to admit is, this dosa won’t be filling even after having 5-6 nos if you are a good eater. So make sagu or any vegetable kurma if you want to have a tummy filling breakfast or dinner. Else make it as brunch or snacks;)

There are certain techniques to be followed to make a perfect neer dosa. Based on my observation and the tips from veggie belly, I have shared some points in my “Note”section. Do read it before making this dosa. U will get it perfect even if you are a first timer . Lets see how to make this karnataka style neer dosa !

Neer-dosa-recipe

Neer dosa recipe


Neer dosa recipe Neer dosa recipe - Karnataka's popular breakfast recipe
Cuisine: Indian
Category: Breakfast
Serves: 15-20 nos
Prep time: 8 Hours
Cook time: 2 Minutes
Total time: 8H2 Minutes


INGREDIENTS


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

METHOD


  • 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.
Neer dosa step1
  • 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.
Neer dosa step2

  • 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 !
Neer dosa step3
  • 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.
Neer dosa step4
  • 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 !
Neer dosa step5
Neer dosa step6
  • 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.

Enjoy !

Points to Note

  • 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.

Enjoy this super soft n lacy neer dosas with coconut chutney,onion tomato chutney OR vegetable sagu. Tastes great with anything and everything ! 
Neer dosa recipe




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35 comments :

Divs said...

very well explained with all the right points.. and notes. looks perfect to me just like the ones i recall eating in a little hotel near bangalore. :)

esther said...

Hi Chitra, Neer dosa is my favourite. My neighbour used to give us every sunday. I havent tried as such. But she used to make the dosa in a dosa tawa( not a non-stick one) that she bought it from her home town, ie.Mangalore. In Mangalore, they sell the tawa especially for neer dosa as told by her. As suggested by u, vil make the dosa in nonstick pan and let u know the feedback..

Chitra said...

Thank u Divs :)

Chitra said...

Thanks Esther. Try n let me know your feedback :)

Kurinji said...

yummy dosai...

Mahi said...

Dosa looks soft n delicious !

Suja Manoj said...

Soft and delicious neer dosa

Unknown said...

wow yet to try this one.will try and let u know

Unknown said...

love neer dosa any time.. u get good neer dosa in uphara darshini jayanagar.. u can check there

esther said...

Can we soak the rice overnight and grind it in the morning with the coconut.if u say yes, then I can soak the rice now and try the dosa tomorrow as 2morow is a holiday for us.

Chitra said...

Yes esther.It would be much better.U can soak it now & grind tomorrow morning :) Try n let me know your feedback :)

esther said...

Hi chitra, tried the dosa and I'm not that much satisfied with the result. It was not like urs. I don't know the reason,may be the quality of rice.

Chitra said...

What happened ? How did it look ? Was it dry ?

Chitra said...

Thank u Smitha.Will check it out :)

esther said...

Yes chitra.it was dry nd not soft. Tawa also may b d reason?

Chitra said...

If the batter is thick,dosa may turn dry.Even my first dosa was dry with cracks.But then i added more water.It came out very soft.As u said,heat of the pan is also very important.I checked with water sprinkling test before pouring the batter.

esther said...

Really appreciate ur patience. Loved ur simplicity...May God bless u and bring lots of happiness in ur life.

Chitra said...

Thanks Esther.So sweet of u :)

Sushma said...

Chitra, Neer Dosa is my all time fav, had no clue how to make it. Thanks to you for sharing the recipe, tried it last week and it turned out perfect.... Yummmyyyy!!!! My 2yr old daughter demands for a Neer Dosa for Brkf now :D
let me try it again tomorrow, hope I don't spoil it this time.

Chitra said...

Thanks a lot Sushma.Ur feedback made my day :) As u made it perfect last time,u will get it right this time too :)

Unknown said...

Thanks Chitra for detailed recipe and tips. I have been wanting to learn and make Neer dosa from a long time. One problem still is my doses are not very soft as I want, tried with adding more water to the batter and felt become better. I'm sure I try in few more times and it'll come out better. My daughter is my best critic and she loved them. Thanks

Chitra said...

Yes,Water plays a major role in bringing the softness for this dosa.Even i too kept adding water for 2-3 dosas till i get it right :) You will get it perfect the next time.Thanks for trying and feedback :)

RB said...

Hi Chitra, can I use store bought coconut milk instead of grated coconut?

Chitra said...

Yes u can use.Adjust the water quantity accordingly.

aranganula said...

Hi I tried this recipe today came out very well and my kid liked it.. Thank you for sharing this recipe

Unknown said...

hi, is it Ok, to add rice power or cooked rice with water & mixed with coconut ?

Unknown said...

Hi, is it ok if rice powder mixed with water or cooked rice grinded with grated coconut ?

Chitra said...

Hi, I have not tried this way. But I guess it works :)

Unknown said...

ok,thanks for the reply, am planning to replace rice, by ragi floor .. does it suits ?

Chitra said...

Do u want to make instant ragi dosa ? U can try it.

Unknown said...

Hi, I tried with rice powder today,got crispy dosa, tasted good:-)

Chitra said...

Oh great :) Thanks for the prompt feedback :)

kalpana said...

Hai tried neer dosa today. But not much satisfied with outcome.. initially it was dry . Then I added more water.it was soft .. but it was not lacy like urs..Can u tell me wat to do with left out rice flour

Chitra said...

Water quantity is the key here. U can try adding little more water to get lacy dosa like mine. With the leftover rice flour, soak more idli rice, urad dal and grind usual idli,dosa batter OR you can add little curd, salt to it, whisk it well.Temper mustard, jeera, chana dal, red chilli,hing and curry leaves. Add this rice flour mixturee and mix well till it thickens and shiny. we call this as mor koozh. Try this if u wish to use the leftover batter immediately.

Unknown said...

This is a tuluva dish, not kannada. Neer is a tulu word