Ragi Dosa is a healthy variation of dosa or crepes made with ragi seeds or ragi flour. There are many ways ragi dosa can be made. Ragi dosa recipe is gluten-free as well. I am sharing two tasty and healthy recipes in this post.
- Instant Ragi Dosa – crispy dosa made quickly with ragi flour and curd.
- Fermented Ragi Dosa – made with ground urad dal and rice batter.
Both my recipes are tasty, plus you get a healthy ragi dosa that you can serve for breakfast, brunch or in the lunch-box.
Table of Contents
What is Ragi
Ragi also known as Finger millet or Red millet is an ancient grain that first originated in South Africa and later came to India.
In India, Karnataka is one of the top producers of ragi. In rural areas of South Karnataka, ragi is consumed as a staple food.
These are tiny reddish seeds of the Eleusine Coracana plant. Ragi is commonly used in the cuisines of Maharashtra and Karnataka.
In Maharashtra finger millet is called as Nachni and in Karnataka as Ragi. It is also known as Mandua in Hindi, Kezhvargu in Tamil and Ragulu in Telugu.
In India ragi dishes are commonly fed to infants, lactating mothers and people recovering from illnesses. As ragi is easily digestible and very nutritious.
Ragi Health Benefits
- Ragi is a nutrient dense grain and a super food.
- It also has some essential amino acids which are required by the body.
- It is rich in calcium and extremely beneficial for vegans and vegetarians. Thus it aids in keeping the bones strong and prevents conditions like osteoporosis.
- It is the best source of calcium – 100 grams of ragi contains approximate 350 mg of calcium.
- As it is rich in iron it gets rid of anemia.
- Ragi is beneficial for folks having an aggravated pitta dosha.
- As ragi is cooling in nature, thus it is better to have it during the hot seasons.
Ragi Culinary Uses
In India, with ragi we make various dishes like flat breads, idli, dosa, vermicelli, pudding, porridge, sweets, cookies, cakes and even bread.
There is a special dish of ragi balls known as ragi mudde and is a speciality from the Karnataka cuisine.
Ragi ladoo, ragi bhakri (flatbreads) and ragi papad are some popular ragi recipes made in Maharashtra.
Ragi porridge (also known as ragi malt) made with milk or water and jaggery is fed to infants, kids and people recovering from illnesses.
I have also shared some healthy Ragi Recipes like:
- Ragi Ladoo – These are sweetened balls made with finger millet flour & jaggery.
- Ragi Malt – This is a healthy dish which includes ragi flour, water and jaggery/sugar.
- Ragi Roti – Healthy flatbreads made with a mix of finger millet flour and whole wheat flour.
- Ragi Mudde: Soft balls made from a cooked dough of ragi flour and water.
Why this recipe works
This Instant Ragi Dosa recipe is a quick dish made with ragi flour, gram flour (besan), buttermilk, coconut, spices and salt. The recipe is made in about 40 Minutes and great for those super busy mornings.
The recipe is a no grind ragi dosa and very easy to make. Handy at times when you want to make a quick breakfast or brunch.
You only need to mix everything and then begin making the dosa. To quicken the process, you can use two skillets side by side to make these.
How to make Instant Ragi Dosa
Making batter
1. Take 1 cup ragi flour (finger millet flour) and ¼ cup besan (gram flour) in a mixing bowl or pan. You can even use rice flour or chickpea flour instead of besan.
2. Add the following ingredients:
- ⅓ to ½ cup finely chopped onions
- ½ teaspoon finely chopped ginger
- 8 to 10 curry leaves (chopped)
- 1 green chilli (chopped)
- 3 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves
- 1 pinch asafoetida (hing)
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- salt as per taste
3. Add ½ cup buttermilk and 1.5 cups water. To make the buttermilk, stir briskly ¼ cup curd (yogurt) with ¼ cup water.
TIP: You can also use the buttermilk obtained after churning butter.
4. Mix to a thin batter.
5. Add 3 tablespoons fresh grated coconut. Mix very well. Cover and let the batter rest for 15 to 20 minutes.
TIP: Add 2 tablespoons desiccated coconut if you do not fresh coconut or you can skip the coconut completely.
Making Ragi Dosa
6. Heat a cast-iron or non-stick tawa/skillet on medium heat. Spread some oil on the tawa.
7. Before pouring batter mix very well as the flours settle on the bottom of the pan. On the medium hot tawa or skillet pour the batter from outside to inside just like you do for Rava Dosa.
Then you can gently spread the batter with the ladle. If there are some empty spots, then pour a bit of the batter in the spots to cover it.
8. Let the base cook and become crisp. Sprinkle some oil on top and spread it with a spoon. Sprinkle a few drops of oil on the sides as well.
9. When the base is golden and crisp, turn over and cook the other side. Cook till both sides are crisp and cooked well. Make all ragi dosa this way.
10. Serve ragi dosa hot or warm.
Serving Suggestions
Serve ragi dosa with a potato masala (potato bhaji), any Indian veggie stir-fries, sambar or coconut chutney.
Helpful Tips
- Sourness: If you do not like the sourness in dosa due to the buttermilk being added, then you can add a bit of milk in combination with the buttermilk. For more sourness you can use sour curd.
- Replacing gram flour: You could even add rice flour instead of the besan (gram flour) in this ragi dosa recipe.
- Spicing it up: I have added chopped onions, green chillies, ginger to the batter to make it more wholesome and spicier. You can easily skip the onions, herbs and spices and make dosa just with ragi, besan, buttermilk and salt.
- Coconut: If you do not have fresh coconut, then you can add desiccated coconut or skip it completely.
- Sprouted ragi flour can be used instead of ragi flour.
About Fermented Variation
This healthy vegan version of ragi dosa recipe is made with fermented dosa batter like the regular dosa.
Ragi or finger millet is a healthy seed and I do include them wherever I can. I make these ragi dosa with ragi flour and not the ragi seeds. However, you can make this dosa by soaking and grinding finger millet seeds.
I make both idli and dosa with this batter recipe. I have also shared the recipe of Ragi Idli made with this batter.
These ragi dosas are both crisp and soft and the idli are also soft and fluffy. So you can make both idli and dosa with this batter.
How to make Fermented Ragi Dosa
Soaking rice and lentils
1. Take 1 cup idli rice or parboiled rice (ukda chawal, sela chawal) in a bowl.
2. Rinse the rice a couple of times. Add 1 to 1.5 cups water and keep the rice aside.
3. Rinse ¼ cup thick poha (flattened rice) once or twice and add to the rice bowl. Mix very well. Cover and keep aside to soak for 4 to 5 hours.
4. In another bowl take ½ cup urad dal and ¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds (methi).
5. Rinse both for a couple of times. Then soak both the urad dal with the fenugreek seeds in 1 cup water for 4 to 5 hours.
Making Batter
6. After 4 to 5 hours, drain the urad dal and add in a mixer-grinder jar. Also add water in parts. Initially, I added ¼ cup water and blend or ground for some seconds. Then I added again ¼ cup water and continued to blend.
7. Grind the urad dal and methi seeds until you get a smooth and fluffy batter. While grinding, add water in parts. I added a total of ½ cup water for grinding urad dal. Once the batter is ground well, then pour the urad dal batter in a bowl or pan.
8. Next drain the rice, poha and add them to the same mixer-grinder jar. Depending on your jar capacity, you can grind the rice in two to three batches.
For the first round I used ½ cup water and for the next round I added ¼ cup water. So overall I added ¾ cup water for grinding rice.
9. Grind the rice till smooth or a fine granular consistency in the batter is also fine. While grinding, if the mixer-grinder becomes hot, then stop. Once the grinder cools down, then continue to grind.
10. Pour the rice batter in the same bowl containing the urad dal batter.
11. Mix both the batters very well.
12. Now add 1 cup ragi flour (nachni or finger millet flour).
13. Then add ½ cup of water. You can adjust the water amount here depending on the consistency of the batter.
14. Mix very well with a wired whisk or spoon or with your hands. Break the lumps if any. Mix to a smooth batter.
A bit of handwork is required while mixing the ragi flour with the dosa batter.
Alternatively, you could mix the ragi flour in ½ cup water (preferably warm) in a separate bowl. Then add this ragi batter to dosa batter. There would be no lump formation this way and also less strain while mixing.
15. Cover the bowl or pan with a lid and let it ferment overnight or for 8 to 9 hours or more depending on the temperature conditions in your city. The batter will increase in volume and double up.
16. The ragi dosa batter after fermentation on the next day. if the batter does not increase in volume, then just add ¼ teaspoon baking soda in the batter. Mix very well and then proceed to make ragi dosa or idli.
17. Add salt and mix very well. I added salt the next day due to it being a cold season here. In a warmer climate, add salt before you keep the batter for fermentation.
Cooking Ragi Dosa
18. Heat an iron skillet or tawa or a non-stick pan. Dip half of an onion in oil and smear the oil on the iron tawa or griddle. If using non-stick pan, then don’t smear oil.
19. Pour a ladle of the batter and quickly spread the dosa with the help of ladle in a circular motion.
20. Let the one side cook. Drizzle with ½ to 1 teaspoon oil on the top and sides.
21. Flip and cook the other side of nachni dosa till crisp and browned. instead of cooking the dosa on both sides, you can just cook one side.
22. When both the sides are cooked and crisp, remove the dosa.
23. Serve this healthy fermented ragi dosa hot or warm. Any leftover batter can be refrigerated for a couple of days or frozen for about a month.
Serving suggestions
Like regular dosa, these ragi dosa also go well with coconut chutney and sambar or even idli-dosa podi (dry chutney). I had served these with coconut garlic chutney.
More Dosa Recipes!
Breakfast Recipes
Breakfast Recipes
Vegan Recipes
Vegan Recipes
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Instant Ragi Dosa
Ingredients
- 1 cup ragi flour or sprouted ragi flour (finger millet flour) – 150 grams
- ¼ cup besan (gram flour) or rice flour
- ⅓ to ½ cup finely chopped onions
- ½ teaspoon finely chopped ginger or ½ inch ginger
- ½ teaspoon chopped green chillies or 1 green chilli or serrano pepper, chopped
- 8 to 10 curry leaves – chopped
- 3 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves (cilantro)
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 pinch asafoetida – optional
- 3 tablespoons fresh grated coconut or desiccated coconut
- ½ cup buttermilk or ¼ cup curd (yogurt) mixed in ¼ cup water
- 1.5 cups water or add as required
- salt as required
- oil or ghee as required for cooking
Instructions
Making Batter
- Take ragi flour and besan (gram flour) in a mixing bowl or pan. You can even use rice flour or chickpea flour instead of besan.
- Add finely chopped onions, finely chopped ginger, chopped curry leaves, chopped green chillies, chopped coriander leaves, asafoetida, cumin seeds, grated coconut and salt as per taste.
- Add buttermilk and 1.5 cups water. To make the buttermilk, stir briskly ¼ cup curd with ¼ cup water.
- Mix very well to a thin batter.
- Cover and let the batter rest for 15 to 20 minutes.
Cooking Ragi Dosa
- Heat a tawa or a skillet on medium flame. Spread some oil on the tawa.
- Before pouring batter mix very well as the flours settle on the bottom of the pan. On the medium hot tawa or skillet pour the batter from outside to inside just like you do for rava dosa. Then you can gently spread the batter with the ladle.
- Let the base cook and become crisp. Sprinkle some oil on top and spread it with a spoon. Sprinkle a few drops of oil on the sides of the dosa as well.
- When the base is golden and crisp, turn over and cook the other side. Cook till both sides are crisp and cooked well. Make all ragi dosa this way.
- Serve ragi dosa hot or warm.
Serving Suggestions
- Serve ragi dosa with any potato masala, vegetable dish, sambar or coconut chutney.
Notes
- Sourness: If you do not like the sourness in dosa due to the buttermilk being added, then you can add a bit of milk along with the buttermilk. For more sourness you can use sour curd.
- Replacing gram flour: Use rice flour instead of the besan (gram flour).
- Spicing: I have added chopped onions, green chillies, ginger to the batter to make it more wholesome and spicier. You can easily skip the onions, herbs and spices and make dosa just with ragi, besan, buttermilk and salt. About ¼ to ½ teaspoon of crushed black pepper can also be added.
- Coconut: Add desiccated coconut in place of fresh grated coconut or skip it completely.
- Sprouted ragi flour can be used instead of ragi flour.
Nutrition Info (Approximate values)
Fermented Ragi Dosa Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup idli rice or parboiled rice or 200 grams
- ½ cup urad dal (husked black grams) or 100 to 120 grams
- ¼ cup poha (flattened rice)
- 1 cup ragi flour (nachni or finger millet flour) or 120 grams
- ¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds (methi seeds)
- ½ cup water – for grinding urad dal or add as required
- ¾ cup water – for grinding rice or add as required
- ⅓ to ½ cup water – to be added later whiling mixing ragi flour
- 1 teaspoon rock salt (edible and food grade) – food grade and edible (sendha namak) or sea salt – add as required
- oil – as required for making dosa
Instructions
Soaking
- In a bowl, rinse and then soak the rice with poha for 3 to 4 hours.
- In another bowl, rinse and soak the urad dal with the fenugreek seeds for 3 to 4 hours.
Making batter
- Drain the rice & poha and then in a wet grinder, first grind the rice and poha, adding about ¾ cup water till smooth. A fine granular consistency is also fine.
- Pour the rice batter in a deep bowl. Remove the batter clinging at the sides with a spatula and add in the bowl.
- Drain the urad dal. Then in the same grinder grind the urad dal and methi seeds till you get a smooth and fluffy batter. Add ½ cup water in parts while grinding the urad dal.
- Pour the urad dal batter in the same deep bowl. Mix well.
- Add the ragi flour and ⅓ to ½ cup water. Again mix very well. There should be no lumps in the batter.
- Stir in salt. Close the bowl with a lid. Not airtight but just kept over it.
- Keep the ragi dosa batter in a warm place for 8 to 9 hours or more till the batter doubles up and is well fermented.
- If the batter does not increase in volume, then just add 1.5 to 2 tbsp yogurt and ¼ tsp baking soda in the batter. Stir and let it sit for some 30 minutes more and then proceed making with the dosa or idli.
Cooking ragi dosa
- Heat a iron griddle or tava or a non stick pan. Dip half of an onion in oil and smear the oil on the iron tava or griddle. If using non stick pan, then don’t smear oil.
- Pour a ladle of the batter and quickly spread the dosa with the help of ladle in a circular motion.
- Let the one side cook. Drizzle with ½ to 1 tsp oil on the top and sides.
- Flip and cook the other side of dosa till crisp and browned.
- Instead of cooking the ragi dosa on both sides, you can just cook one side.
- For cooking only on once side, after spreading the dosa batter on the hot tava, sprinkle oil on sides and top.
- Cover the dosa with a lid and cook till the base gets golden and the top is also cooked.
- Remove and serve the ragi dosa hot with coconut chutney and vegetable sambar.
Nutrition Info (Approximate values)
This post is from the archives and has been republished and updated on 25 May 2020.
Each blogpost and recipe you share and write is like a mini-research project. Rich in content and one of the few food bloggers/YouTubers whom I trust cent per cent. There is a lot of competition out there, and you were one of the first few to begin this era. With content and perseverance like this, you will thrive and inspire many more like me. Thanks for all the effort that goes into your cooking and craft.
Thank you so much for the lovely inspiring comment. I had the advantage of starting out early. Then it was a peaceful place to blog and share the recipes. Thanks again for the trust and for the inspiration.
Hello Dasanna,
I always follow your receipes. But this ragi dosa receipe i am bit confused. You said it is good for vegans also, but i find buttermilk in that. What substitute i can use for buttermilk, since i am following vegan diet
Ragi as a flour or grain is extremely good for both vegans and vegetarians. For a vegan version, just use water and add about ½ to 1 teaspoon lemon juice for that sour taste. You can even use cashew yogurt or almond yogurt. Another good option would be to use thin coconut milk. Here too for the that light tang you can add a bit of lemon juice.
amazing , quick, healthy and wholesome preparation.
Thank you.
today in dinner i tried ragi dosa from your recipes it is just awesome came out so good… everyone loved it
thanks for sharing this sweta. glad to know ragi dosa was liked by everyone.
It turned out well.thanks for sharing yummy receipe
welcome gautami
Hi Dassana ,made ragi dosas today for breakfast and it really turned out awesome. My husband just loved it.thanks for the simple yet great recipe.:)
nice to know swati. thanks for sharing this feedback on the ragi dosa recipe. happy cooking.
I bought a bag of black urad dal just for the kicks. I didn’t particularly like the ‘Mah ki daal’ that I tried making, but I do not wish to waste the gram either. D’you think I could use that in the dosa batter instead?
And on another note , many thanks for building this website. don’t know what I’d do without you!
you can use black urad dal. but here after soaking the lentils, you have to remove the husks from them, before you grind them. just rub them between your palms and the skins will be peel off. but this takes time and needs patience. i have posted many dosa recipes. so you can make anyone of them. also you make medu vadas or pakoras. this is made from only urad dal batter. the recipes are posted on the website.
and thanks a lot 🙂
7th Oct 2015: Had a packet of Ragi that my inlaws got for me from Mangalore and was wondering other than nachni porridge what could I make from it? Came across your super easy recipe and followed the same, and I got some delicious dosa’s made for my family. How can I share the pics with you?
thanks doilyn for the positive review. you have such a sweet name. you can send me the pics on vegrecipesofindia(at)gmail(dot).com
can i use readymade ragi flour available in market without adding any other ingredients for making ragi dosa?
yes you can.
It came out awesome. My husband & me loved it. Will definitely make it more frequently 🙂
Thanks for the recipe
welcome miral
Hi Dassana,
I have tried so many recipes of yours and all turned out excellent. The recipes r not just tasty, yummy but its very healthy too. And the ingredients u use in d recipes are easily available and 90% of them will b ready at home anytime. I have a question for the above recipe ‘RagiDosa’. Can I directly put Ragi(grains) instead of Ragi flour and if yes what is the procedure?. Thanks in advance and thanks for all the recipes.
you have to soak the grains overnight for 8 to 9 hours. they are hard grains and so need good amount of soaking. also you need a good grinder to grind the grains. then just drain and add them to the grinder. add some water and grind. you can soak up to 3/4 cup whole ragi grains.
Awesome recipes quick, easy & healthy recipes. …Thank you….
welcome vani
Hi,
I was looking for a genuine recipe for kaju katli n eventually came across ur site. The genuine words ” kaju katli is not an easy recipe to make ” pushed me to peep into your site n I was really impressed to see such meticulous efforts to convey each n every recipe with every possible tip to make recipe successful. I am gonna try few of them.
Thanx for sharing such valuable info
welcome avani. yes do try some recipes and specially this kaju katli recipe.
nice
can i avoid rice for ragi dosa
no. you will need to add some rice.
Dear Dassana,
Thank you for posting such tasty and healthy recipes. This site has given me lot of good recipe ideas.
I have a query about the above ragi dosa recipe. How long does this batter stay in the fridge?
Thank you,
Neha
thanks neha. stays good for 1 to 2 days.
Hi Dassana, I simply love your food blog. Since we like trying different options, especially for breakfast, I end up using your recipes almost every day. This ragi dosa turned out soft and crisp too! I especially admire your ‘back to roots’ lifestyle. That’s the main reason I guess, that I refer to your recipes. 🙂
I use I have noticed that you use a cast iron tawa/ kadhai for cooking… I was looking at some tawas, but found the flat dosa tawas cumbersome because they are heavy and have a metal handle. The chapatti tawas were (very slightly) concave, although they were lighter and had a wooden handle. But the salesgirl advised me against using it for dosas… could you help me out here?
thanks preena for the positive feedback on ragi dosa and other recipes. the flat tawa that you see in the pics is iron tawa. mostly iron tawas are heavy so can’t help it. but you can make good dosas on them. don’t make dosas on concave tawa. the sales girl was right. concave tawa are best use for making roti/chappati or for sauteing or frying vegetables.
Ok let me try first
I’ve always wanted to make ragi dosas and so want to give this recipe a try. However, it’s hot out here and I would prefer to make idlis if possible.
I have soaked the urad and rice to grind tonight and use tomorrow morning. In point no 8 above you say “let it sit for some 30 minutes more and then proceed making with the dosas or idlis.” However, you don’t get into details about how to use it for idlis. I am assuming the same batter can be used for idlis?
Thanks
Gitanjali
the same batter can be used for idlis. point no 8 is only to be done if the batter does not double or triple. if the batter ferments well, then no need to implement point no 8. i jave not mentioned details as the post was specifically meant for making ragi dosa. yet since i have made idlis with the same batter, thats why i mentioned in the post itself.
Thanks a lot. It’s hot, so I expect it to rise well, and if it does I’ll make idlis.
welcome gitanjali
Can ragi dosa be made with idli rava instead of parboiled rice? If not, can regular rice be used?
Parul, yes you can make with idli rava. soak the idli rava for 3-4 hours. drain and then grind.
I prepared ragi dosa according to your recipe.. turned out very good. Thanks for posting this recipe, my guests liked this a lot.
welcome vijayalakshmi and thanks for the positive feedback on dosa.