Millet-Based Idli And Dosa Batter Recipes You Must Try

Idli and dosa are South Indian staples that have transcended boundaries when it comes to popularity. From India to the US, the two dishes enjoy a fan base among people of many ethnicities. Both delights are lightweight, gluten-free, and easy to digest. Hence, even people following various kinds of diet include these in their everyday meals.

Video Credit: Skinny Recipes/ YouTube

While idli and dosa are traditionally made using a batter of lentils and rice, you can make these healthier by using millet. The ancient grains add more nutrition to the recipe and allow you to create varieties. In a few recipes, you can even eliminate the long process of soaking and fermentation before preparing South Indian staples.

Ragi Idli-Dosa Batter

You can prepare a batter by combining a cup of urad dal with two cups of ragi flour and half a cup of flattened rice. Make sure to soak urad dal for about 6 hours before blending it into a smooth paste. You will have to also leave the batter aside to ferment for soft idli and crispy dosa. You can also prepare an instant blend of ragi flour and rice flour and make a thin dosa with it in just 10 minutes.

Kodo Millet Idli-Dosa Batter

The process of making idli-dosa batter with kodo millet is the same as ragi millet. However, this blend has more protein compared to the previous one. For this, you should use cooked rice instead of poha for extra sponginess in idli. While the batter for rice cakes will be slightly runny, you should keep it thick for dosa so it can spread easily without sticking to the ladle.

Bajra Idli-Dosa Batter

Using bajra, you can make instant dosa. Keep the pearl millet soaked for an hour and blend the grains into a paste. Add chopped onion, green chillies, water, salt, cumin seeds, and coriander leaves to the batter. The dosa will be crispy but it will have holes in the middle like neer dosa. If you keep the batter thick and temper it with curry leaves, a pinch of turmeric powder, urad dal, mustard seeds, and chopped green chillies, you can make soft masala idli.

Finger Millet Idli-Dosa Batter

If you are using the finger millet to prepare idli-dosa batter, you should add fenugreek seeds while soaking. They are supposed to speed up the fermentation. After blending the ingredients and combining them with urad dal batter, keep the mixture aside for at least 8 hours. The rise in the batter will tell you how soft idli and crispy dosa you will be able to make with it.

Little Millet Idli-Dosa Batter

When preparing idli-dosa batter with a little millet, soak chana dal as well along with the grains and urad dal. If you dry-roast the lentils, grind them, and add them to a smooth batter of little millet, you will be able to make dosa and idli instantly. Since the lentils are roasted, the dish features smokiness and nutty flavour. This batter is perfect for making masala idli.

Mixed Millet Idli-Dosa Batter

When in doubt, combine at least 2-3 grains. Soak barnyard millet, foxtail millet, and kodo millet along with salt and urad dal. When you have a smooth batter after 6 hours, let it ferment for another 8 hours. Since the batter is prepared with multiple grains, it yields healthier versions of idli and dosa.