vendhaya dosa recipe with step by step photos – light and soft dosas made with fermented dosa batter. the batter is made from idli rice or parboiled rice, lentils and fenugreek seeds. fenugreek seeds are also known as ‘vendhaya/vendhayam’ in tamil language and ‘methi dana’ in hindi language.
this recipe of vendhaya dosai was again shared with me by durga aunty, who has already shared with me whole wheat appam, ven pongal and curd rice recipe. her recipes never fail and are always a success. this vendhaya dosa is again one of her recipes. even if i am making her recipe for the first time, i always get very good results.
along with parboiled rice, the lentils used are urad dal (husked black gram) and tuvar dal (pigeon pea lentils). i have included urad dal in the recipe. though durga aunty’s recipe only had tuvar dal. so you can also just make this recipe skipping urad dal and adding only tuvar dal. tuvar dal does give a different taste to the dosai.
both methi seeds and methi leaves are good for health. so once in a while you can make this methi dosa. bitterness of the methi seeds is not very strongly felt in the recipe, but a mild bitterness is there, which will be fine with indian taste buds as we do include bitter veggies like methi and karela (bitter gourd) in our food.
according to me the chutney that should be served with vendhaya dosa should be a spicy chutney like kara chutney, tomato chutney or onion chutney. these spicy chutneys do compliment and pair well with the faint bitterness coming from the dosas. a lightly sweet coconut chutney won’t be able to match up and pair well with vendhaya dosa. you can also serve vendhaya dosa with any spicy veggie chutney.
if you are looking for more dosa recipes then do check:
vendhaya dosai
INGREDIENTS FOR vendhaya dosai
- 1 cup idli rice or parboiled rice or 200 to 205 grams idli rice
- ¼ cup whole or split urad dal (husked black gram) or 50 grams
- ¼ cup tuvar dal (arhar dal or pigeon pea lentils) or 50 grams tuvar dal
- 1 tablespoon fenugreek seeds (methi seeds or vendhayam) or 12 grams fenugreek seeds
- ¼ cup water for soaking methi seeds
- 1.5 cups water for soaking rice and dals
- ¾ cup water or add as required
- ¼ to ⅓ teaspoon rock salt or add as required
- oil as required
HOW TO MAKE vendhaya dosai
soaking rice, lentils and vendhayam/methi seeds
- take 1 cup idli rice or parboiled rice, 1/4 cup whole or split urad dal and 1/4 cup tuvar dal in a bowl or pan.
- rinse for a couple of times with water and then soak in 1.5 cups water for 5 hours. if you want, you can soak the rice and dals separately.
- in a small bowl take 1 tablespoon methi seeds.
- rinse once or twice and soak in 1/4 cup water for 5 hours.
grinding and fermenting vendhaya dosa batter
- before grinding, strain all the water from the rice and dals and then add half of the rice+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 1/2 cup fresh water.
- grind to a smooth batter. the methi seeds will be sticky, while grinding, but continue to grind till you get a smooth fluffy batter. you can grind in batches or all at one. i ground in two batches. for the first batch, i first added 1/2 cup water and for the second batch, i added 1/4 cup water. so overall i used 3/4 cup fresh water. if you have soaked the lentils and rice separately, then you can grind the lentils & methi seeds first and then the rice.
- now pour the batter in a bowl and pan.
- add 1/4 to 1/3 teaspoon rock salt.
- mix very well. cover and keep aside the batter 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.
preparing vendhaya dosa
- after fermentation, the dosa should have a faint sour aroma with tiny air pockets in it.
- before preparing the dosas, 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 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 and with the ladle itself, gently spread the batter to a neat round circle and a slightly thick dosa.
- these dosas are not thin and slightly thick. you can even make uttapams with the vendhaya dosa batter.
- cover the 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 dosas on one side only.
- when the base has turned golden, remove and serve. prepare all methi dosas this way. the leftover batter can be refrigerated and you can make uttapams the next day or day after.
- serve vendhaya dosa hot or warm with kara chutney, tomato chutney or onion chutney.
RECIPE TIPS
how to make methi dosa or vendhaya dosai recipe
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 want, you can soak the rice and dals 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.
5. before grinding, strain all the water from the rice and dals and then add half of the rice+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 batter. the methi seeds will be sticky, while grinding, but continue to grind till you get a smooth fluffy batter. you can grind in batches or all at one. i ground in two 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 & methi 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 aside the batter 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.
making vendhaya dosai
11. 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 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.
12. pour a ladle of the batter in the center.
13. with the ladle gently spread the batter to a neat round circle and a slightly thick dosa.
14. these dosas are not thin and slightly thick. you can even make uttapams with vendhaya 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 methi dosas this way. the leftover batter can be refrigerated and you can make uttapams the next day or day after.
18. serve vendhaya dosa hot or warm with kara chutney, tomato chutney or onion chutney.
U have nt mentioned how long to soak the rice n dals….
i forgot 🙂 i will update in the post. soaking time is 5 hours for rice, dal and methi.
Made this dosa for breakfast today, my family loved it. Thank you for your effort taken and for sharing it with us.
welcome reshma thanks for positive views 🙂
how long to soak the rice, dal and fenugreek?
Gayatri, soak for 4-5 hours.