Neer dosa

A rice batter thinned with water and never fermented.

Vegan.

Ingredients

300 g raw rice, soaked 4 hours
60 g fresh coconut, grated
about 700 ml water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons coconut oil

Method

A RICE BATTER THINNED WITH WATER AND NEVER FERMENTED, which is what separates it from every other dosa. Its name says so: neer is water. There is no urad dal in it, no overnight rise and no sourness -- so it can be made in the time it takes to soak and grind rice, and it tastes of rice and coconut rather than of ferment.
SO THE BATTER IS FAR THINNER THAN A DOSA BATTER. Closer to milk than to cream. It should run off the back of a spoon in a sheet, and the first one will tell you: too thick and it is a pancake, which is not this.
GRIND THE SOAKED RICE WITH THE COCONUT, AS FINE AS THE MACHINE WILL GO. Any grain left makes a lacy dosa that tears when lifted. Push it through a sieve if in doubt.
SALT IT AND LET IT STAND HALF AN HOUR, NO LONGER. Long enough for the starch to hydrate, short enough that nothing starts fermenting.
THE PAN IS HOT AND THE BATTER IS POURED, NOT SPREAD. This is the other difference from a dosa. Pour a ladleful into the centre of a hot greased pan and tilt it so the batter runs; a ladle used to spread it will drag holes in a batter this thin.
COVER IT FOR A MINUTE AND DO NOT TURN IT. One side only. It cooks through from the steam under the lid, and the surface goes from wet to matt and lacy.
LIFT IT WITH A FLAT SPATULA AND FOLD IT IN FOUR. It should be soft, white and flexible, with no colour on it at all. A browned neer dosa has been cooked too long.
STACK THEM AND EAT THEM WARM, WITH COCONUT CHUTNEY OR A COASTAL CURRY. They are the standard bread for the Mangalorean coast and go with kori rotti's curry, as on its own page.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes