Ragi dosa batter recipe, made by grinding whole ragi and no rice, in fermentation method. A nutritious south Indian breakfast, a healthy alternative to regular dosa.
Make it for breakfast on a weekend or weekday morning and enjoy as a family, kickstarting the day with a healthy note.
Check out my Instant version I posted earlier with a perfect spicy chutney 2-in-1 post. Check out my Ragi puttu recipe too, another healthy breakfast in this website.
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Ingredients
To prepare Ragi dosa batter, here are the ingredients needed. For full list and quantities, refer the recipe card at end of this post.
- Ragi - also know as finger millet in English, kezhvaragu in Tamil. Whole ragi is used in this method by soaking and grinding it.
- Urad dal - For softness as well as it adds protein to the recipe.
- Methi seeds - Also for softness, helps with fermentation and healthy addition.
For full list and quantities, refer the recipe card at end of this post.
Step by step Images
Let's see how to make ragi dosai batter with step by step pictures.
1. Firstly, wash and soak ragi, urad dal and fenugreek seeds for minimum 4 hours.
2. Once done, drain water and place in a blender. I add ice water and grind until it is smooth.
3. Transfer to a vessel and mix salt, keep aside for fermentation. Minimum 5 hours or maximum overnight.
4. Once done, mix well and adjust water if needed. Just ¼ cup or less than that (only if needed). Adding water makes it softer and gives thin, crispy dosa.
5. Heat tawa and spread the dosa batter as you wish - thick or thin.
6. Cook covered and flip to cook the other side. Ragi dosai ready.
Serve with any spicy chutney of your choice.
Top tip
If you are living in hot humid area, the batter gets fermented faster. So, you can check and keep inside fridge accordingly.
The less fermented batter may give slightly bitter after taste. Ensure to ferment well. Over fermentation will give too much of tangy taste, thus do not over ferment.
In case the batter is too thick, it turns dry and dense. Dilute with ¼ cup water and mix well to make it right.
On the other hand if it is too thin, it sticks to the pan or turns too soft. To troubleshoot, mix 1 or 2 tablespoons of rice flour or ragi flour if it is there.
My notes
If you use wet grinder for preparation, the dosa turns softer and the batter is also smoother.
After fermentation, it is normal that you see a darker top layer in the batter you keep for fermentation. Just mix well before making dosai.
Substitutions & variations
The Ragi dosa batter is naturally vegan and gluten free.
I made ragi masala dosa one day and plain the other day. Same way for variations, you can use the same batter to make ragi onion dosa/ uthappam or even make kuzhi paniyaram by mixing lots of onion, chopped green chilli, coriander, carrot and a tempering of mustard urad dal, ginger and curry leaves.
Shelf life and storage
Once fermented enough, you can store in fridge and use couple of days.
FAQs
Yes, it has more nutritional value than the regular dosa and since there is no rice, it is diabetic friendly.
Make sure the tawa is hot and greased. Flip only when it is cooked.
Does ragi dosa batter contain rice?
This particular ragi dosa batter contain no rice. Depending upon the recipe, there may or may not be rice in ragi dosa batter.
Recipe card
Ragi dosa batter recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups Ragi Whole finger millet
- ½ cup Urad dal whole, white (skinless)
- ½ teaspoon Fenugreek seeds
- Salt as needed
Instructions
- Firstly, wash and soak ragi, urad dal and fenugreek seeds for minimum 4 hours.
- Once done, drain water and place in a blender. I add ice water and grind until it is smooth.
- Transfer to a vessel and mix salt, keep aside for fermentation. Minimum 5 hours or maximum overnight.
- Once done, mix well and adjust water if needed. Just ¼ cup or less than that (only if needed). Adding water makes it softer and gives thin, crispy dosa.
- Heat tawa and spread the dosa batter as you wish - thick or thin.
- Cook covered and flip to cook the other side. Ragi dosai ready.
Video
Notes
- In case the batter is too thick, it turns dry and dense. Dilute with ¼ cup water and mix well to make it right.
- On the other hand if it is too thin, it sticks to the pan or turns too soft. To troubleshoot, mix 1 or 2 tablespoons of rice flour or ragi flour if it is there.
- Make sure to use good quality, fresh stock urad dal for best results.
Meena says
If I have to use ragi flour how much should I use?
Raks Anand says
For 1/2 cup Urad dal, you can use 4 cups ragi flour. Grind urad dal smooth and fluffy by soaking it for 3 hours. Then mix ragi flour, salt and required water until you get the dosa batter consistency. Ferment for 4-5 hours, it's enough.