sabudana dosa recipe with step by step photos – soft dosa made from sabudana or tapioca pearls, idli rice and urad dal.
the recipe of sabudana dosa gives nice soft dosas with a mild sweet taste coming from the sabudana pearls. the method of making these dosas is the traditional method, where everything is soaked, ground and then fermented.
i had tried a few recipe of preparing sabudana idli and dosa some time back. both the idlis and dosas did not come out good. so again tried with different proportions and the recipe was a success. this recipe gives very good dosas, but do not try to make idlis with the batter as they become slightly sticky.
do use sabudana pearls, which we use for making sabudana khichdi or sabudana vada and not the large variety of sabudana, which is used for making sabudana chiwda. these dosas can be made slightly thick or thin. the thick ones are soft and the thin ones have softness as well as crispness in them. for more sabudana recipes, you can check this collection of 11 sabudana recipes.
you can serve sabudana dosa with coconut chutney or sambar. i had made cabbage pachadi to go with these dosas.
if you are looking for more dosa recipes then do check neer dosa, mysore masala dosa, instant atta dosa (whole wheat dosa), plain dosa and onion rava dosa recipe.
sabudana dosa recipe card below:
- ½ cup sabudana (tapioca pearls)
- ½ cup idli rice or parboiled rice or sona masuri rice
- ¼ cup whole urad dal (husked whole or split black gram)
- 10 to 12 fenugreek seeds (methi seeds)
- 1.5 cups water for soaking sabudana and urad dal
- ¾ cup water for soaking idli-dosa rice
- ¼ cup water for grinding rice
- ⅔ to ¾ cup water for grinding urad dal, sabudana and methi seeds
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon rock salt or add as required
- take 1/2 cup sabudana, 1/4 cup whole urad dal and 10 to 12 methi seeds in a bowl.
- rinse them a couple of times. then add 1.5 cups water. cover with a lid and soak for 5 hours.
- take 1/2 cup idli rice in another bowl. rinse a couple of times. add 3/4 cup water and soak the rice for 4 to 5 hours.
- before grinding, drain away all the water from the sabudana, urad dal and methi seeds.
- add them in a grinder jar. also add 1/2 cup fresh water.
begin to grind. once the dal and sabudana are lightly crushed, then add 1/4 cup more water. grind to a smooth batter. a few whole pieces of sabduana are fine, but there should not be too many. the batter should be light and smooth.
its better to grind the sabudana and dal in two batches. depending on the quality of urad dal and sabudana, you can add an overall ⅔ to ¾ cup water for grinding.
- pour the batter in a pan or bowl.
- in the same grinder add the rice. drain off all the water from the rice and then add. also add 1/4 cup water.
- grind rice till you get a fine rava like consistency in the rice batter.
- now pour the rice batter in the same bowl or pan which has the urad dal + sabudana batter. mix very well.
- add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon rock salt. add salt as required. mix very well. cover with a lid and let the batter ferment for 8 to 9 hours or more.
- depending on the temperature conditions in your city you can keep for less or more time. as its rains here often and is cool all the time, the sabudana dosa batter took around 15 hours to ferment. it should have a faint sour aroma with tiny air pockets in it. just lightly mix or stir the batter.
now heat a cast iron griddle or non stick pan. the pan should be medium hot. you can keep the flame to a low or medium while making sabudana dosas.
if using an iron pan, then spread ¼ to ½ tsp oil all over the pan. use a silicon brush or spoon or kitchen towel or an onion halve to spread the oil. do not spread oil on a non stick pan. do keep the flame on low to low-medium flame, so that you are easily able to spread the batter.
if the pan base is very thick, then keep the flame to medium. if the pan is very hot, you won’t be able to spread the batter in a round circle.
- pour a ladle of the batter in the center.
- with the ladle gently spread the batter to a neat round circle and a slightly thick dosa. you can even make thin dosas if you want.
- sabudana dosas take a longer time to cook than regular dosas. do cook the dosas on a low to medium flame.
cover the sabudana dosa with a lid and cook it for some minutes.
when the top looks cooked, you can spread some oil on it. you need to cook these sabudana dosas on one side only.
- cook till the base turn golden.
when the base has turned golden, remove and serve sabudana dosa. the leftover batter can be refrigerated.
- serve sabudana dosa hot or warm with coconut chutney, kara chutney, tomato chutney or onion chutney.
how to make sabudana dosa recipe:
1. take ½ cup sabudana, ¼ cup whole urad dal and 10 to 12 methi seeds in a bowl.
2. rinse them a couple of times. then add 1.5 cups water. cover with a lid and soak for 5 hours.
3. take ½ cup idli-dosa rice in another bowl. you can also use sona masuri rice instead of idli-dosa rice.
4. rinse a couple of times. add ¾ cup water and soak the rice for 4 to 5 hours.
5. before grinding, drain away all the water from the sabudana, urad dal and methi seeds. add them in a grinder jar. also add ½ cup fresh water.
6. begin to grind. once the dal and sabudana are lightly crushed, then add ¼ cup more water. grind to a smooth batter. a few whole pieces of sabduana are fine, but there should not be too many. the batter should be light and smooth. its better to grind the sabudana and dal in two batches. depending on the quality of urad dal and sabudana, you can add an overall ⅔ to ¾ cup water for grinding.
7. pour the batter in a pan or bowl.
8. in the same grinder jar add the rice. drain off all the water from the rice and then add. also add ¼ cup water.
9. grind rice till you get a fine rava like consistency in the batter.
10. now pour the rice batter in the same bowl or pan which has the urad dal + sabudana batter. mix very well.
11. add ¼ to ½ teaspoon rock salt. add salt as required. mix very well. cover with a lid and let the batter ferment for 8 to 9 hours or more.
12. depending on the temperature conditions in your city you can keep for less or more time. as its rains here often and is cool all the time, the sabudana dosa batter took around 15 hours to ferment. in the below pic, the batter consistency the next day. it should have a faint sour aroma with tiny air pockets in it. just lightly mix or stir the batter.
13. now heat a cast iron griddle or non stick pan. the pan should be medium hot. you can keep the flame to a low or medium while making sabudana dosas. if using an iron pan, then spread ¼ to ½ tsp oil all over the pan. use a silicon brush or spoon or kitchen towel or an onion halve to spread the oil. do not spread oil on a non stick pan. do keep the flame on low to low-medium flame, so that you are easily able to spread the batter. if the pan base is very thick, then keep the flame to medium. if the pan is very hot, you won’t be able to spread the batter in a round circle. pour a ladle of the batter in the center.
14. with the ladle gently spread the batter to a neat round circle and a slightly thick dosa. you can even make thin dosas if you want.
15. sabudana dosas take a longer time to cook than regular dosas. do cook the dosas on a low to medium flame.
16. cover the sabudana dosa with a lid and cook it for some minutes.
17. when the top looks cooked, you can spread some oil on it. you need to cook sabudana dosas on one side only.
18. cook till the base turn golden.
19. when the base has turned golden, remove and serve sabudana dosa. prepare dosas from the batter this way. the leftover batter can be refrigerated.
20. serve sabudana dosa hot or warm with coconut chutney, kara chutney, tomato chutney or onion chutney.
Shanta says
Hello,
I’m a big fan of your work. Your recipes always work for me.
Please help me with these two questions:
1. My mom always says not to add salt before the dosa batter has fermented. She says if salt is added after grinding, it will not ferment. But here, you have added salt after grinding. So, which is the better way?
2. I used to refer to your Android app. It was really very convenient as it had a bookmarking option in the ‘favourite’ tab. But now, it is no longer active in the Google Play store. Have you deactivated it? If not, please tell me where I can download it in a workable version like it was earlier.
dassana amit says
thanks shanta.
1. addition of salt should be added keeping in mind the temperature conditions. if its warm or hot, then add salt before fermenting. salt retards fermentation and so addition of salt in a hot climate helps the batter not to get over fermented. in a cold or cool climate, add salt before making dosa or idli.
2. we have deleted the app. unfortunately we were not able to manage the app. we used to get complaints everyday and the company we were using were also proactive in dealing with those complaints. the app had many issues.
Shubha says
Dear dassana…..dosa is very tasty….i add around. Five tablespoon of ragi powder to the batter…eagerly waiting for ragi mudde recipe…… N here the tawa which u used is it granite
dassana amit says
thanks shubha. for ragi mudde i will take time as i have some videos and new recipes lined up till june. but i will try to add in a couple of months.
shubha says
Ok dassana….n which tawa have u used here….n one more in ur Christmas fruit cake Kerala style…u have soaked dry fruits …my doubt is …whether it has to b kept in fridge directly or for one day v have to keep outside?…n later keep in fridge…bit confused
dassana amit says
shubha, the tawa is wonderchef tawa. since the kerala style christmas fruit cake is made during winters and if you live in a cold city, its fine to soak dry fruits in it at room temperature for a day in the winter season. but in summers, keep in the fridge. in the winters also, if you have noted in the recipe, i have kept in the fridge as we do not get cold winters here.
shubha says
Ok dear thank you very much….
dassana amit says
welcome shubha
Malathi Babli says
Nice receipy
dassana amit says
Thanks Malathi
ANU RADHA says
Awesome
dassana amit says
Thanks Anu
renuka joshi says
what if we wanr to make dosa for only fasting what are substitute to rice and dal
dassana amit says
rice and dal can be substituted with amaranth seeds, sama ke chawal (barnyard millet) and buckwheat groats. you can use them alone or in combination. just soak one of the grains that you will use separately and then grind to a fine batter. for reference you can check this recipe link – https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/sama-ke-chawal-ki-idli-vrat-ki-idli/
aman says
if Sona masuri or idli rice or parboiled rice are not available then what we can use instead of them
dassana amit says
another variety of rice that can be used is parmal rice. you can also use kolam rice. if you use brown rice, then even this can be added.
neha says
can we use rice flour??
dassana amit says
you can use rice flour.
Sudha says
Appreciate your quick and prompt replies very much. A good dosa recipe. Thanks for sharing. Can we soak all three together.
dassana amit says
welcome sudha. i would suggest only to soak sabudana and urad dal together, since sabudana takes a lot of time to grind. even after grinding very well, you can see a few half broken sabudana in the batter. if you have really good mixer-grinder, then you can soak all three together.