When it comes to eating something light and healthy, most of us prefer South Indian food. Rice and semolina (suji) are used extensively in making idlis and dosas. Both rice and semolina are refined grains; they are high on carbs and have low nutrient value. Eating a lot of refined grains increases your risk of various non-communicable diseases such as obesity, heart diseases, hypertension and diabetes. A simple way to reduce the risk of these non-communicable diseases is to replace refined grains with millets such as jowar, ragi and bajra. Besides being gluten free, millets provide good amount of proteins, vitamins, minerals and fibres.
Here is our millet twist to your favourite dosa! Instead of the usual rice and semolina, we have used jowar, ragi and urad dal to prepare the dosa batter. To our surprise, these dosas turned out much tastier and crispier. So do give a try to this healthy recipe and let us know your feedback in the comments section.
Ingredients:
¾ katori jowar grain or jowar flour
¼ katori ragi grain or ragi flour
¼ katori urad dal
¼ katori poha
1 tsp meethi seeds
1 tsp salt
5-6 tsp oil
Serving: 10 medium-sized dosas
Calorific Value (per serving):
Energy: 97.1 kcal
Protein: 3 gm
Carbs: 15 gm
Fats: 3 gm
Fibre: 2.35 gm
Method:
Pre-preparation:
Rinse jowar and ragi grains thoroughly in water. Soak them separately in water for 5-6 hours.
Wash urad dal and methi seeds. Soak them separately in water for 4 hours.
About 30 minutes before blending the batter, separately soak poha in water.
Steps to prepare dosa batter:
Drain out water from jowar and ragi grains. Grind them separately into a fine paste by mixing a little amount of water. Mix them together in a vessel.
Drain out water from dal, methi seeds and poha. Blend them together with water just as needed until the batter turns smooth and fluffy. Transfer this mixture to the vessel containing jowar and ragi paste.
Now with clean hands, blend the mixture to a smooth batter. In case the batter is thick, pour some warm water to bring the batter to pouring consistency. Do remember not to add a lot of water as it will turn batter to flowing consistency.
Please note: In case you are using jowar and ragi flour instead of whole grains, then mix these flours with dal, methi seeds and poha paste. Add little water to create a batter of pouring consistency. Now with clean hand blend the mixture to form a smooth batter.
Steps to ferment dosa batter:
Cover the batter vessel with a piece of cloth and keep aside in a warm place for fermentation. The fermentation is complete when the batter gets double in volume. Here is the picture of batter both before and after the fermentation:
Fermentation usually takes 5-16 hours depending on the room temperature. If your room temperature is around 26-32 °C then it will take around 8-10 hours for fermentation.
Once the batter doubles in volume stir it properly and keep the batter in the fridge to stop fermentation process. Letting batter sit outside will result in over-fermentation which will make the batter sour in taste.
Take the batter out 30 minutes before you want to make dosas so that batter comes back to room temperature.
Steps to make dosas:
Check the batter consistency – it should be of pouring consistency. If it is slightly thick, then add some water to bring the batter to the required consistency.
Add salt to the batter. You can adjust the salt amount as per your taste.
Heat a flat pan on a medium flame. Once heated, grease the pan with few drops of oil.
Now take a ladle/round spoon (karchhi) full of batter and pour it on the pan. Gently spread the batter with the back of the ladle. Spread this batter lightly and gently so that the dosa batter does not break.
Now cook the dosa on a low flame till the top begins to look cooked. Drizzle ½ to 1 tsp oil on the dosa all around.
Move around flat spatula at the bottom of the dosa to ensure the bottom portion does not stick to the pan.
Continue to cook till the base gets golden.
Now turn it on the other side. Let it cook for a few seconds till it becomes crisp.
Once it is crisp on both sides, transfer your dosa on the plate.
Serve this dosa with the coconut chutney and sambhar.
Health benefits of Major Ingredients:
Ragi
Ragi is a millet which is packed with all the essential macronutrients - carbohydrates, fibers, fats and proteins, along with noteworthy levels of key micronutrients - vitamins and minerals. Ragi is a rich source of calcium which is required for health bones and teeth. In addition, ragi contains considerable quantities of vitamins C and E, to boost immunity, and skin and hair health.
Jowar (Sorghum)
Jowar is millet which is gluten free and rich in protein and various essential vitamins, antioxidants and minerals. It is loaded with calcium, copper, zinc, phosphorous, potassium and cell-building B vitamins. The rich quantity of potassium and phosphorous helps lower cholesterol and manage high blood pressure. Most importantly, the grain is incredibly rich in fibre and helps in controlling your weight and reduces chances of obesity and diabetes.
Pulses
Pulses are a great source of plant-based protein and fibre. In fact, pulses are made up of over 25%-30% protein, which makes them excellent sources of proteins for vegetarians. They are also good source of B vitamins, iron, magnesium, potassium and zinc.