Oats Dosa Recipe (Crispy Oats Crepes)

Oats Dosa is a crispy, lacy breakfast/snack recipe of thin crepes made with cooking oats, yogurt, onions, herbs and spices. This South Indian recipe of Oats Dosa recipe is quick, instant to prepare and makes up for a healthy breakfast for your busy mornings. Additionally, this recipe does not need any fermentation of the batter.

About This Oats Dosa Recipe

This delicious oats dosa has become a frequent part of our menu. They are quick to prepare and make for a nutritious breakfast or snack. Here are a few more tasty Oats Recipes to try.

Oats Dosa is a crispy crepe made with oats flour. This recipe is an instant, quick variation of the traditional Dosa Recipe which is time-intensive – that involves soaking rice and lentils, grinding them into a batter, and fermenting.

When I had begun to test and develop oats dosa recipe many years back, I could not believe that these delicious crepes had oats in them. I was surprised with their texture and taste – crisp, lacy, flavorful and healthy.

Bonus they were quick to make as no fermentation is needed. I must admit though, that the oats dosa recipe made with the traditional method of fermented rice, lentil batter and ground oats flour tastes great as well.

All you need to make this recipe, is oat flour and the usual Indian pantry staples. I make my own oat flour by grinding quick cooking oats or rolled oats in a mixer-grinder.

Sometimes I also make the oats flour a day ahead and store it in the fridge. This make it very easy and quick to make the Oats Dosa in the early morning hours.

Simply mix the rava (sooji), rice flour, onions, herbs, spices, yogurt, water with the flour. Spread batter on a hot tawa and make dosa in batches.

I keep the consistency of the batter similar to Rava Dosa batter. This makes for a lacy, thin and crispy texture in the Oats Dosa, which taste awesome as is and even when paired with any chatni.

How to Make Oats Dosa

Make Oats Flour

1. In a blender or mixer-grinder take ½ cup of quick cooking oats or rolled oats.

2. Grind the oats to a fine flour.

Combine The Flours

3. Transfer the ground oats flour into a mixing bowl.

2. Add ¼ cup of fine rava (sooji or cream of wheat or semolina). Do not use coarse rava granules. You can add semolina flour too.

3. Next add ¼ cup of rice flour. As a healthy option, you can opt for brown rice flour. Make sure that your rice flour is finely ground and not coarse.

Make Batter

4. Add ½ cup of fresh curd or ¼ cup fresh curd for a less sour taste. If you prefer a sour taste in your oats dosa, add sour curd.

If you decide to include sour curd, add ¼ cup of it. Add water as needed to get the right consistency. For rolled oats flour, you will need to add slightly more water.

5. Add 1 cup of water.

6. Begin to mix the batter.

7. Stir and mix thoroughly until you get a smooth consistency without any lumps.

8. Add all of the listed ingredients mentioned below

• ¼ cup of finely chopped onions
• 1 teaspoon of finely chopped ginger
• 1 teaspoon of finely chopped green chilies
• 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of chopped coriander leaves
• 7 to 8 finely chopped curry leaves (about 1 tablespoon chopped curry leaves)

9. Combine and mix very well. Add ½ teaspoon of cumin seeds, ¼ teaspoon of crushed black pepper, and salt as required.

You can add 1 to 2 tablespoons of grated coconut if you like.

10. Stir again and set aside the batter for 10 minutes. The water will float on top and the flours will be at the bottom after resting the batter.

11. Check the consistency and add ¼ cup of water. I added a total of 1.25 cups water but you can add about 1.5 cups water depending on the texture of the flours.

I used Homemade Curd and the batter was not very thick. If you are using very thick yogurt like greek yogurt, you may need to add more water. The consistency should be thin and runny like Rava Dosa batter.

Make Oats Dosa

12. Heat a cast iron skillet/tawa or a nonstick frying pan on a medium to medium-high heat. If using a cast-iron skillet, sprinkle some water carefully to check the temperature before adding the oil. If the water droplets sizzle and evaporate, add the dosa batter to the pan.

Do not add water to a nonstick pan as adding water will affect the nonstick coating. Drizzle ½ to 1 teaspoon of oil on the skillet (cast-iron or non-stick). Spread the oil with a spoon.

13. Stir the batter in the bowl and fill a ladle with batter and pour it from the circumference to the center.

Do not spread the batter with the back of the ladle as you usually would for the traditional fermented dosa recipes.

You can make a small dosa to test whether the consistency of the batter is correct. If the batter is too thick, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water and if the batter is too thin, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of rice flour.

14. Obviously there will be some large or small gaps in the dosa.

15. Fill the gaps with a bit more of the batter.

16. Now cook the dosa on a medium to medium-high heat.

17. Sprinkle some oil around the sides and in the small gaps.

18. Cook for 1.5 to 2 minutes. You will see that the edges loosen up and separate from the pan.

19. When the base becomes crisp and golden, flip and cook the other side.

20. When this second side is cooked and crisp, flip it again and cook the first side to make it crisper. For a less crisp dosa, cook on both sides once and serve when done.

21. Fold on the tava and remove.

22. Add the oats dosa to a plate and serve hot. If you are not able to serve it hot, cover the dosas with a lid.

The crisp texture of the dosas will change if they are served warm or at room temperature. However, they still taste delicious.

Serving Suggestions

Like your usual regular dosa, oats dosa tastes delicious with Coconut Chutney, Sambar, or Idli Podi.

You can enjoy with Tomato Chutney, Onion Chutney, Peanut Chutney or Ginger Chutney. I like to serve my oats dosa with coconut chutney or tomato chutney.

It is best to eat these instant oats dosa hot. When they cool the texture becomes soft.

Make Ahead and Leftovers

For busy mornings, when you plan to make quick breakfast, prep the batter (without adding onions and coriander leaves) a day earlier and refrigerate overnight.

The batter will thicken a bit after refrigeration. Add some water to get the right consistency before you make your oats dosa.

You could also make the oat flour a day earlier and store in the fridge in an airtight container. Next morning add the remaining ingredients to the oat flour and make the batter.

Any leftover batter keeps well for a day in the refrigerator. While making dosa with the leftover batter, add water if it has become thick.

Expert Tips

• Batter consistency: The consistency of the batter should be thin, runny and flowing like Rava Dosa batter. If the batter is slightly thick, you get soft dosas and not crisp ones. I suggest to test a small portion of the batter to check how the dosa turns out before using up the entire batch of batter.
• Correcting thick or very thin batter: If the batter becomes too thin, the dosas will come out thin and limp with no structure or shape. If the batter is very thin, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of rice flour or more and stir to thicken it slightly. If the batter is thick, add 1 or 2 tablespoons water to make the consistency thin.
• Temperature of the skillet: The skillet/tawa has to be hot. After the batter is poured, small holes are formed that create a lacy effect.
• Cooking time: These instant oats dosa take more time to cook as compared with your regular dosa. Do not be in a hurry to cook them. Remove them from the skillet when you see that they are golden and crispy on both sides.
• Stirring batter every time: Before making each dosa stir and mix the batter very well with the ladle. The flours settle at the bottom of the bowl. Mix the batter every time prior to making every dosa. This ensures the flours are evenly mixed before you make your dosa.
• Using a cast-iron skillet: If you are using a cast-iron skillet, make sure the skillet or tawa is well seasoned. If not the dosa will stick to the skillet.
• Including Curd (yogurt): The addition of curd gives the dosas a delicious slight sour taste. If you don’t have curd, add water instead.
• Scaling: Make a small or a large batch of this oats dosa recipe as it suits you, by easily scaling the ingredients.

FAQs

This Oats Dosa recipe has from the archives was first published on May 2015. It has been updated on December 2024.