Vendhaya Dosai | Methi Dosa

South Indian cuisine has many dishes, especially the ones for breakfast, that are really nutritious. Thus, a great choice when you really want to have something tasty and filling, yet high on the health factor. This Vendhaya Dosai from Tamil Nadu is one such dosa variation. The batter of this dosa is made with idli rice or parboiled rice, lentils and fenugreek seeds (a.k.a methi dana in Hindi). Hence, the dish is also known as Methi Dosa. This recipe not only gives light, porous and soft dosas but also is vegan and gluten-free.

What is Vendhaya Dosai

‘Vendhaya or vendhayam’ is the Tamil word for fenugreek seeds and ‘dosai’ is a dosa (a South Indian savory crepe). Thus, when put together, Vendhaya Dosai simply means a wholesome version of a dosa that has fenugreek seeds – and traditionally from the cuisine of Tamil Nadu in South India.

These are spongy and soft dosas made with a fermented batter of rice, lentils and fenugreek (methi) seeds. This Tamil style Methi Dosa, when paired with a comforting Sambar and an earthy Coconut Chutney makes for a really hearty meal.

This is because methi or fenugreek has innumerable health benefits. Both fenugreek seeds and leaves are very good for health. So, once a while, you can make these dosas at home.

Some known and proven health benefits of methi include – it is good for diabetics; helps to keep the sugar levels in blood in control; it is an excellent source of fibre and helps prevent constipation; lessens blood cholesterol levels and menstrual cramps; great for the skin and hair, etc.

Methi has a prominent bitter taste. However, in this recipe of Vendhaya Dosai, it is not strongly felt. Only a mild bitterness is there, which is absolutely fine for the Indian taste buds as we our accustomed to eating bitter veggies and greens like karela (bitter gourd), fenugreek leaves (methi saag), neem, etc. in our food.

More on this recipe

This recipe of Methi Dosa was shared by Durga aunty, who has also shared other recipes of Wheat Appam, Ven Pongal and Curd Rice in the past. Her recipes never fail and are always a success and super hit! Even if I am making her recipe for the first time, I always get super good results.

In this Vendhaya Dosai, along with parboiled rice or idli rice, the lentils used are urad dal (husked black gram) and tuvar dal (husked pigeon pea lentils). Durga aunty’s recipe only had tuvar dal in it. But I added the urad dal as well.

So, you can even prepare Methi Dosa without the urad dal, and by just adding tuvar dal. Tuvar dal does give a different flavor to this dosai.

According to me, the chutney that should be served with Vendhaya Dosas should be a spicy one like Kara Chutney, Tomato Chutney or Onion Chutney. These spicy chutneys compliment and pair well with the faint bitterness of the dosas.

A lightly sweet coconut chutney won’t be able to match up and pair well with this Methi Dosa. You can also serve this dosai with any spicy vegetable chutney.

How to make Vendhaya Dosai

Soak rice, lentils and fenugreek seeds

1. Take 1 cup idli rice or parboiled rice, ¼ cup whole urad dal and ¼ cup tuvar dal in a bowl or pan.

2. Rinse for a couple of times with water and then soak in 1.5 cups water for 5 hours. If you prefer, you can soak the rice and lentils separately.

3. In a small bowl, take 1 tablespoon methi seeds.

4. Rinse once or twice and soak in ¼ cup water for 5 hours.

Make Batter

5. Before grinding, drain all the water from the rice and lentils. Then, add half of the rice and lentils in a wet grinder jar.

Add all the methi seeds along with the soaked water. Do not discard the water in which the methi seeds were soaking. Also, add ½ cup fresh water.

6. Grind to a smooth and fine batter. The fenugreek seeds will look sticky, while grinding. But continue to grind till you get a smooth fluffy batter. You can grind in batches or all at once.

I ground in 2 batches. For the first batch, I first added ½ cup water and for the second batch, I added ¼ cup water. So, overall I used ¾ cup fresh water.

If you have soaked the lentils and rice separately, then you can grind the lentils and fenugreek seeds first and then the rice.

7. Now, pour the batter in a bowl and pan.

8. Add ¼ to ⅓ teaspoon rock salt.

9. Mix very well. Cover and keep the batter aside to ferment for 8 to 9 hours. Depending on the temperature conditions in your city, you can keep for less or more time.

As its raining here and cool all the time, the batter took around 16 hours to ferment.

10. 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.

Make Methi Dosa

11. Heat a cast iron griddle or non stick pan. The pan should be medium hot. You can keep the heat to a low or medium while making dosas.

If using an iron pan, spread ¼ to ½ teaspoon oil all over the pan. Use a silicon brush, spoon, kitchen towel or an onion halve to spread the oil. Remember not to spread oil on a nonstick pan.

Keep the heat on low to low-medium, so that you can easily spread the batter. If the pan base is very thick, then keep the heat to medium. If the pan is very hot, you won’t be able to spread the batter in a round circle.

12. Pour a ladle of the batter in the center.

13. With the ladle, gently spread the batter to a neat round and slightly thick dosa.

14. These dosas are not thin, but slightly thick. You can even make uttapams with this dosa batter.

15. Cover the dosa with a lid and cook it for some minutes.

16. When the top looks cooked, you can spread some oil on it. You need to cook these dosas on one side only.

17. When the base has turned golden, remove and serve. Prepare all dosas this way. The leftover batter can be refrigerated and you can make uttapams with it, the next day.

18. Serve Vendhaya Dosa hot or warm with kara chutney, tomato chutney or onion chutney.

Expert Tips

1. While soaking the rice and lentils, you can soak them separately as well.
2. If you feel like skipping the urad dal, then add a total of ½ cup tuvar dal.
3. You have to grind a smooth batter for this recipe. While grinding, the fenugreek seeds will be sticky at first. But continue grinding till you get a smooth, fluffy batter.
4. Like for any other dosa batter, this Vendhaya Dosai batter also has to be fermented well. The timings will vary depending on the climate and weather conditions in your city. In a cool temperature, it takes more time to ferment and if the climate is hot, the batter will take less time to ferment.
5. The sign of a well-fermented batter is a faint sour aroma with tiny air pockets in it.
6. Keep the pan on a medium heat as if it is too hot, then you won’t be able to spread the batter into a proper circle. Spread some oil, if using a cast iron pan. Do not spread oil, if using a non-stick pan.
7. You have to cook this dosai on one side only. So, when the base turns golden, you can remove and serve.
8. The leftover Methi Dosa batter can be refrigerated and used to make uttapams as well, the next day.

This Vendhaya Dosai post from the archives first published on September 2016 has been republished and updated on November 2022.