Aloo Masala Dosa is a beloved South Indian classic that has won the hearts of people across the country and beyond. While it traces its roots to the southern states of India, this golden, crispy crepe filled with spiced mashed potatoes has become a staple in homes and restaurants across the nation and internationally.
The word 'aloo masala' refers to the flavorful potato filling, while 'dosa' is the thin, fermented crepe made from a batter of soaked rice and lentils. Though traditionally enjoyed as a breakfast favorite, its hearty nature makes it just as popular for lunch or dinner.
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Why will you love this dish?
- The crepes made with the fermented batter taste great combined with the stuffed potatoes; they always elevate the taste as in aloo parathas.
- Keep the batter fresh in the refrigerator for 8 to 10 days, and you'll have a quick, ready-to-make meal at your fingertips anytime. Fermented batters are a true lifesaver, whether you're craving soft, fluffy idlis or delicate Kerala palappams.
- Have the dosa plain and with chutneys like coconut chutney, tomato chutney, green chutney, or spiced chutney powder (molaga podi) with ghee or oil.
- The dosa tastes delicious and is a powerhouse breakfast, like the Kerala Puttu.
Ingredients needed
- Idli Rice, Raw Rice, and black gram dal
- Lentils - split chickpea, split pigeon lentils
- Fenugreek seeds
- Cooked Rice
- Salt
- Mashed Potatoes for the filling
- Onions, green chilies, and curry leaves
- Mustard seeds for tempering
- Vegetable oil
- black gram dal
- Ginger chopped finely
How to make Aloo Masala dosa?
Make the Dosa batter
The first step is to wash and soak all the required ingredients in plenty of water overnight or for six to eight hours. Idli rice (short-grain parboiled rice), raw rice, fenugreek seeds, and urad dal (split black gram lentils) are the main ingredients.
Add a little chana dal (split chickpeas) and tuvar dal (split pigeon peas), optionally, to get the light yellowish tinge for the dosas. Add leftover rice and salt during the grinding process.
Grind the rice with a little water, next grind the soaked urad dal, and mix both the batters. Mix the batter well with your hands, which they say is the trick to kick-start the fermentation process. You can then keep the batter in a warm and humid place for fermentation. The batter will ferment in eight hours.
Ferment the batter
The typical tell-tale sign of a good fermented batter is the tart-like, pleasant smell with a light, frothy, and airy consistency. The dosa that is fermented well will form nice, visible pores on cooking.
I usually prefer fermenting the dosa batter overnight in a warm place in the oven with the oven light switched on. This works perfectly when the weather is warm and humid.
Many folks use the Instant Pot with the yogurt option button for fermentation. I have not tried it so far, but I am sure it is a great option. It will especially help in winter when the temperature drops and fermentation can be challenging.
Make the Aloo Masala
To make Aloo masala the stuffing for dosa, heat a pan with oil and splutter mustard seeds along with split black gram. Add onions, ginger and green chilies, turmeric, and salt. To this, add mashed potatoes, curry leaves, and coriander leaves and mix well.
Cooking the Dosa
To make the dosa, pour a ladle full of batter on a nonstick pan and spread it into a large circle by forming smaller inner circles from the center, or, in other words, concentric circles (see the picture for reference).
The making process is indeed an art in itself. When pouring the batter, take care not to overheat the pan, or else you will not get a smooth round crepe. If the pan gets overheated, sprinkle cold water and continue making. Add a large spoonful of masala onto the cooked dosa and fold it. Take off the heat and serve.
Serving Masala Dosa
The Dosa is served with different kinds of chutneys like coconut, tomato or mint, peanut, coriander, and sambar (lentil soup). The Masala dosa by itself is a great option as the crepe with the potato filling tastes out of this world.
You do not even need any sides to go with it. Optionally, you can spray it with butter and oil to make it rich. If you are health-conscious, you can make it in a nonstick pan with very little oil as well.
Some other south indian breakfast recommendations are puttu recipe Kerala , palappam, and pathiri recipe. Do check them out!
Useful Tips
- Adding the split pigeon lentils and channa dal is optional.
- Mix the Dosa batter with your hands very well and keep it in a warm place for fermentation.
- Keep in an oven with the light on or ferment in an Instant Pot with the yogurt option and a glass lid on.
- Use a blender or grinder to grind the batter.
Recipe FAQs
Masala dosa batter can also be used to make idlis. However, I normally skip the split chickpeas and split pigeon lentils addition for the idli batter. They are usually added to get the yellow-tinged dosas.
We normally prefer white idlis and so we can skip that. I have a post for the Idlis where you can see the difference in the batter preparation.
The ideal ratio of rice to dal is 3:1 to get a good balance of crispiness and softness.
The batter gets fermented in about 8 to 12 hours. In colder climates, it may take longer.
Related Recipes
If you tried this Aloo Masala Dosa Recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and a 📝 comment below. I love hearing from you!
Aloo Masala Dosa
Ingredients
Dosa Batter
- 3 cups Rice Idli Rice (parboiled short grain rice)
- 1 cup Rice raw
- 2 cups black gram urad
- 2 tbsp chickpea split
- 2 tbsp lentils split pigeon
- 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
- 1 cup rice cooked
- 2 tbsp salt
Potato Stuffing
- 3 medium potatoes boiled and peeled
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 4 green chillies
- 1 tsp ginger finely chopped
- 1 tbsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tbsp black gram split black gram lentils
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 1 cup coriander leaves chopped finely
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
Instructions
How to make dosa batter
- Soak the rice in a big bowl submerged in plenty of water for 6 to 8 hours
- Soak the lentils, fenugreek, cooked rice in another bowl submerged in plenty of water for 6 to 8 hours.
- Grind the soaked rice , lentils, fenugreek, cooked rice in a mixer or grinder until you get a smooth batter .
- Add salt and mix well . Use your hand to mix the batter well and keep it in a warm and humid place.
- The batter will double and rise up after about 8 to 10 hours . It can be used immediately or stored in a refrigerator for later use.
How to make Potato Filling
- Heat a pan with a little oil .
- Add mustard seeds and wait for it to splutter.
- Add split black gram and wait until it turns brown.
- Add onions , ginger and green chilies.
- Add turmeric and salt .
- Add mashed potatoes , curry leaves and coriander leaves and mix well.Cook for about 5 minutes with a closed lid . Remove from heat and keep aside.
How to make dosa
- Heat a non stick pan .
- Take a ladle full of batter and go in circles inside out or concentric circles to form a thin crepe.
- Spray oil, butter or ghee and wait till it browns .
- Filp it over and make sure its cooked well. Flip it back again.
- Place a little potato filling in the center and fold it as you like, either into a semi circle or like a envelope.
- Serve it hot and while still crisp with a little coconut chutney or sambar (lentil soup).
Video
Notes
- Adding the split pigeon lentils and channa dal is optional.
- Mix the Dosa batter with your hands very well and keep it in a warm place for fermentation.
- Keep in an oven with the light on or ferment in an Instant Pot with the yogurt option and a glass lid on.
- Use a blender or grinder to grind the batter.
I will definitely make this and eat happily today!
Wonderful, hope you enjoy it as much as we do! Thank you so much for the wonderful comment!
I am making Dosa in our breakfast in an alternate days after lockdown. it is very healthy and tasty also.
Wonderful to know Swarnali, lockdown has helped many of us to have a leisure breakfast for sure. Indeed it is a healthy and delicious breakfast! Thank you so much for stopping by.
Yum Dosa😍
Don't forget to Glee and spread Sparkles ✨
-Nani 💖
Thank you so much Nani!
I cannot stop eating masala dosas , Always! love to eat idli and dosa . Dosa looks perfectly crispy, Nisha! It is sleeping time, and you made me crave for this. Potato stuffing texture and color is soo good, I am going to eat dosa tomorrow first thing in the morning. Have a great weekend!
Thank you for such a wonderful comment, I hope you have a satisfying dosa breakfast in the morning ! We really love crispy dosas and the classic potato goes so well with it .Hats off to the person who first invented this recipe . You too have a good weekend my friend.
Oh, YUM, Nisha! This looks and sounds absolutely delicious!! My husband and I enjoy egg wraps, and this kind of reminds me of those? What do you think?
I love the idea of fermenting in the Instant Pot too. Funny you should mention this - I've been meaning to try making homemade yogurt with it. I can see how it would work perfectly for this too. Although, as you say, heat and humidity do the trick!
I really want to try this recipe. My mouth is watering just reading your description! 🙂 Thank you for sharing this, my sweet friend. I pray you & your family are well! ❤
Glad to hear you loved this share Holly . We love egg wraps too. The dosa will have a different texture as the crepe is made from batter being fermented from soaked and ground rice and lentil.
Oh yes! I have been wanting to make yogurt in my instant pot as well and it has been put on the back burner every time 🙂 . I hope you get to try this wonderful dish sometime .Most Indian restaurants here have it in their menu as well. We are all fine .Thank you for stopping by and hope you and your family have a great weekend!
Wonderful explanation and easy to follow steps - the soaking and fermentation of the rice & lentils boosts the nutrition of this recipe! Thanks Nisha! 🌾
Glad to hear that Anna, yes wonderful to hear that from a dietitian like you on this .The nutrition from soaking and fermentation makes it a wonderful dish as well. Thank you for stopping by!
I am drooling over these scrumptious Masala Dosas Nisha! Thank you for the awesome recipe !
Thank you so much dear Smitha, we really do love our dosas isn't it , especially the home made ones!
I love having dosa with idlis in my breakfast. But I didn't know how to ferment it. Because I think fermented one is much healthier.
Thanks for sharing, dear.
Yes Shikha, fermented one has a very natural taste and is healthy as well. I hope you get to try it some time. My pleasure to share .Thank you for stopping by!
Crepes filled with potato! It doesn’t get any better than that!
Yes rightly said Diane , who wouldn't love crepe filled with potatoes right ! Many Thanks .
Nisha,
This is a perfect crispy breakfast, satisfying and that potato filling keeps the flavours going long! Thanks for an amazing perfect dosa making recipe. It's therapeutic!
So true Hasin very satisfying and filling as well. Glad you liked the recipe shared .The process of making and having Dosa can be indeed therapeutic , guess because it brings back warm memories of family and childhood ! Thank you for stopping by!
I can definitely imagine testing your recipe, very different from what my regular breakfast looks like. 😀 I guess it also fits as lunch as well.
Yes it's definitely very filling and can be had as a brunch as well. Hope you enjoy making and having it. Thank you so much for stopping by!
Such a classic ☺️ I would happily eat this daily
It's a classic for sure . Agree that once the dosa batter is ready ,we can have it in different forms every day 🙂 Most of us can never get bored of it ! Thank you so much for the comments Nisha!
Absolutely, can never get bored of it❤️❤️