Whole Grain Dosa | Whole grain Rice and Lentil Crepes

100% Whole grain & lentil South Indian Crepes

I have a growing affinity towards whole foods (not the brand) off-late and I have been looking for ways to cut out all things refined from my dietary intake on a daily basis. The reason is simple. White is out, Brown is in! Whole foods are good for us. No, a fairy god mother did not whisper this to me. Neither did this suddenly dawn upon me one fine day. Just that, I am increasingly cognizant of everything I put in my mouth ever since I parted ways with those dreaded 35 pounds.

I love Masala Dosa. It has been my all time favorite ever since I can remember. I have found myself ordering it in restaurants time and again over the years and yet, never once fed up of it. Well, who doesn’t like Masala Dosa right?

It struck me like a lightning the other day – why not re-incarnate my favorite food in the whole foods arena? I get to eat what I like most in the most healthy way possible. Sounded like a win-win to me. And, I had everything I needed in my pantry to play along.

Recipe is plain simple. Just the same ingredients, replaced with their whole grain counter parts. Sounds easy? Unlike my guess, it was easy on my stomach too and to top it all, it was a guilt free indulgence.

Things you’ll need:

• 1 cup Brown Rice
• 1/2 cup whole black gram / whole urad dal
• 1/4 cup whole bengal gram / whole chana dal
• 1 tbsp grated coconut
• 1 pinch of methi / fenugreek seeds (pinch with 3 fingers)
• 1-2 green chillies
• A pinch of Hing/Asafoetida
• Sea salt
• Oil for pan roasting (I prefer peanut oil)

How it’s done:

• Place the Brown rice, fenugreek seeds and whole lentils in a large bowl, wash and soak them in water overnight.
• In the morning, drain the water and give them another nice wash. This tiny step is important as it significantly reduces the gas causing indigestible complex sugars in the lentils.
• Grind them with grated coconut, hing and green chillies along with a little water until smooth. The finished batter should neither be too thick nor runny.
• Remove into a larger bowl (needs space for batter to rise), cover and set aside for fermenting for about 6-8 hours.
• Once fermented, give the batter a good stir to mix well.
• Add salt only to the portion that you will use now.
• Place a tawa/griddle over medium-high heat. When the tawa is hot enough, ladle out about half a cup of batter and spread evenly in a circular motion.
• Drizzle some oil all around and at the center, flip and cook on either sides until golden brown.
• Serve hot with a chutney of your choice.

{Soaked rice and lentils look so gorgeous}

Tips:

• Always use a spoon while handling Asafoetida as it’s smell, much like garlic is hard to get rid of when used with bare fingers.
• Left over batter stores well in the refrigerator comfortably for 2-3 days without any added salt. If added, salt turns the batter sour when stored.
• Do not add too much water while grinding the lentils and rice.
• Too much of fenugreek seeds turn the batter bitter.
• To ferment well in a cold place, pre-heat a conventional over to 350 degree F and switch off. Leave the covered bowl inside the pre-heated oven for about 6-8 hours.