Ragi dosa - take a diversion from the routine and enjoy the protein rich dose

Are you one of the Dose(a) lovers? How do you like your dose? Paper thin and crispy or soft and delicious? In my house, dose is an all time favorite and when everybody enjoys it, I can't really make the same versions again and again, can I? There are umpteen number of different varieties of dosas out there while every one of them may not be palatable, some definitely appeal to your senses.

I don't know how many of you prepare Ragi dosa, I started making it recently. I love finger millet or Ragi for all its nutrition. I make a plain ragi flour dosa (similar to godhi dosa) but had not tried it with urad dal. I got the recipe from one of my friends S. I knew she made it regularly, but had never asked her for the recipe until recently. I have made this 3 times already and loved it. As is Sattvaa tradition, I do not post my recipes until I get consistent results with it, so you can be confident that this is a tried and tasted recipe.

This Ragi dosa doesn't need fermentation like the regular dosa and hence scores over for a quick fix. All you need to plan is the soaking time for the Urad dal preferably about 4 hours and the grinding time. While it doesn't need to be fermented, you don't have to fret if you made a large batch because I did that the second time, the dosas turned out delicious even after a 10 hour gap. It was one of those cold days and I had not refrigerated the batter either and we enjoyed the very slight hint of fermented taste. So, go on and make these healthy dosas for a breakfast or dinner.

What do you need to make Ragi dosa? 
Makes about 15 regular size dosas
1/2 cup urad dal - I used the deskinned whole urad
11/4 cup ragi flour - you get this in all Indian stores
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
4-5 cups of water - approximate, see notes below
Couple of Tsp oil to make dosas

How do you make Ragi dosa? 

• Soak urad dal & fenugreek seeds together  in 3 cups of water for 4-5 hours.
• Wash the soaked dal in 2-3 changes of water and grind into a fluffy, soft batter using water preferably in a grinder, see below for useful notes on using regular mixer/blender. 
• Take out the urad dal paste and add the ragi flour and salt into it and mix it in with hands making sure there are no lumps (small or big) by adding water. 
• Play around with the consistency to get the type of dosa you like, thinner the batter, thinner you can spread it for crisp dosa.
• Heat a flat griddle/pan and pour a ladleful of batter on to the hot pan and spread it out using a circular motion. 

• Drizzle oil around it, let it cook for a minute until the edges start to rise from the pan. Using a flipper turn the dosa over and let it cook for half a minute before serving it with any chutney or other side dishes of your choice.

Notes: 

• Use cold water to blend the urad dal into a smooth paste. Add water spoonfuls at a time and take care not to heat up the motor. 
• You need to adjust the consistency of the batter based on your preference for paper thin or thick dosas. If you want thinner dosa, make the batter thinner so you can spread easily