Maravalli Kizhangu Adai | Tapioca Dosa

Maravalli Kizhangu Adai, a traditional adai recipe from South India, made from tapioca, rice and flavored with Indian spices. We love maravalli kizhangu so often I make simple boiled and tempered tapioca for our breakfast and as an evening snack. You might already know this if you have followed me on IG :-) 

This maravalli kizhangu adai is the new addition to our breakfast menu. I have heard about this adai a lot but until a few months back, i never tried on my own. It's an instant hit at my home. I really love the flavor of the adai.

Tapioca roots are also known as cassava which is completely gluten free and easy to digest. In South India, the tapioca roots are the integral part of their cuisine especially in Kerala where it's also known as "Kappa" or "kuchi kizhangu". 

Related : How to make Adai Dosai

Lentils 

In today's recipe , I have used only a little amount of urad dal and still the adai is so soft and delicious. There are so many variations available in this recipe. Like the regular adai, you can use a mix of lentils in this recipe and reduce the amount of tapioca. That will give crispy dosa like texture ! 

Spices 

For this adai, I prefer cumin and fennel seed flavor. In addition to those flavors, you can add a inch of ginger and /or a few cloves of garlic while grinding the batter for extra flavor.

Tempering 

In the traditional lentil adai, usually onion tempering is added to the adai batter. You can do the same for this adai batter also, but i want to keep it simple hence didn't add any tempering to the batter.  

Whenever I share boiled tapioca pictures on IG, I get so many requests on how to peel the tapioca roots easily. Tapioca roots that are available here in North America are usually bigger than the one that we used to get in India and it's a little hard to peel honestly. Hence I made this quick video on how to peel the tapioca roots easily.  

Maravalli Kizhangu Adai

Preparation Time : 2 hrs | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 3 
Recipe Category: Adai | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Maravalli Kizhangu Adai, Tapioca Dosa, Kappa Adai, Kuchi Kizhangu Adai Maravalli Kizhangu Adai, a traditional recipe made from tapioca, rice and flavored with Indian Spices.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients

Idli rice - 1 cup

Urad dal - 2 tbsp

Tapioca - 1 cup(chopped)

Red chili - 4

Cumin seed - 1/2 tsp

Fennel seed - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Water - as needed

Salt - to taste

Oil - to make adai

Procedure

Soak the rice and dal for 2 hrs. Peel and chop the tapioca and add into the mixie/blender jar along with red chili, cumin seed, fennel seed & turmeric powder. 

Grind into smooth puree, drain the water from the soaked rice and dal and add into the mixie jar along with the needed salt. 

Grind all together as smooth batter. Pour into a vessel. That's it, your adai/dosa batter is ready.

Heat the dosa pan, pour a ladle of batter and spread it lightly with the ladle. Drizzle some oil on the sides of the adai. After a few mins, flip on to the other sides and  cook it for a few more mins. 

Tasty & healthy Maravalli Kizhangu Adai is ready. 

Related : How to make Varagu Adai / Millet Adai

Related :More Breakfast Recipes 

Serve it with your favorite chutney. We had it with coconut chutney. 

Related : How to make Coconut Chutney  

Related :More Chutney Recipes 

Notes:

• I have used flavorless oil for making this adai. But you can use coconut oil and sesame oil for more flavor.
• Don't store the leftover batter for a longer time. Try to finish within a couple of days.
• The given quantity of chilies are for mild spice. Adjust the chilies as per your liking. 
• If you don't like the fennel flavor, you can totally skip that.
• You can add a  few curry leaves or coriander leaves for extra flavor.

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Dosa Recipe and Dosa Batter | How to make Crispy Dosa

Dosa, a staple South Indian breakfast made from the fermented rice and urad dal batter. Making dosa batter and dosa at home is super easy and the dosa tastes best when it's homemade ! 

Till today, where ever i'm, at least once in two week, I would make idli and dosa batter at home. Having dosa batter in the refrigerator would actually ease the answer to the question "What's for breakfast or dinner"? :-) 

Even though I have already shared my go-to-recipe for idli and dosa batter, here in today's recipe, I'm sharing the recipe for making perfect crispy dosa. Every time I share my dosa platter on IG, I get few requests for sharing the recipe for making crispy dosa.  

Honestly, most of the time, i use the same batter for idli and dosa, but when i want uncompromised delicious dosa, then i would make this batter for dosa. It's one of the amma's foolproof recipes and I have been using it for years without any change in recipe. 

Compared to my idli batter recipe, there is a slight variation in the ingredients for this dosa recipe and that's key to make a perfect restaurant style golden crispy dosa.This dosa batter can also be used for making any type of masala dosa.  This dosa holds the shape well hence it's so easy to fill with the stuffing without tearing apart the dosa :-)

Related: How to make Masala Dosa

Rice 

For this dosa recipe, I have used the combination of idli rice and raw rice. Idli rice is a parboiled rice and it's pale in color, it gives softness to the dosa. On the other hand, raw rice(pacharisi) is pure white in color and it's mainly used in south India for making idiyappam and kozhukattai. Here in this recipe, raw rice gives crispness to the dosa. Adding a small quantity of raw rice is enough to achieve the crispy dosa. Additionally, it makes the batter so easy to spread thinly compared to the idli batter. 

Urad dal

Urad dal, an another key ingredient for dosa recipes. I have used whole skinless urad dal for today's recipe. But you can also use the split variety of urad dal too. Both work really well and don't make any difference in the output. 

Related: How to make Idli batter using blender/Mixie

Fenugreek seed 

Fenugreek seeds in the recipe serve a couple of purposes. First it helps to ferment the batter quickly. Second, it gives a wonderful flavor to the dosa.  Finally it gives that golden brown color to the dosa. 

Back in the days, Amma added fenugreek seeds only  to this dosa batter recipe, never to the idli batter recipe. So I fondly associate the fenugreek flavor to this dosa recipe.

Dosa Pan 

Highly recommend to use the iron pan for making dosa. The texture and the color of the dosa are better when it's made in an iron dosa pan. But, if you're a beginner, I would recommend using the non stick pan for making dosa without any hassle. 

Related: How to make Barley Dosa

Cooking Oil 

Let's be honest here, for delicious dosa, you should be a little generous with oil. I personally like sesame oil for making dosa because of its flavor. The aroma from the dosa making on an iron pan with drizzle of sesame oil is purely divine. 

But it's really up to you ! Use whatever the cooking oil you have. Any flavorless oil/peanut oil/ coconut oil all works for making dosa.

 

Related: How to make Ragi Dosa

Fermentation 

Compared to the idli batter, this batter ferments quickly. However, here are a few tips to ferment the batter well. 

• Make sure to mix the salt with the batter using your hand. It's believed that the warmness in the hand helps to ferment the batter quickly and this one tip that we have been following in our family for generations.
• Keep it in a warm place undisturbed for 6-8 hrs. During winter days, usually I keep it in the oven with the lights on or keep near the heater vent .
• Don't skip the fenugreek seeds, as said earlier, in addition to the flavor, it helps to ferment easily.

Dosa or Dosai 

The name "Dosa" comes from the Tamil word "Dosai(தோசை) pronounced as "dow-sei"  and still we Tamil people use the word "Dosai  for this dish. But people outside Tamilnadu usually refer to it as "Dosa". In conclusion, both dosa and dosai refer the same dish but the original name is "Dosai"

 

 

Dosa Recipe and Dosa Batter

Preparation Time : 8 hrs | Cooking Time : 25 mins | Serves : 6 
Recipe Category: Dosa | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Dosa Recipe,Dosa batter,How to make crispy dosa, dosai recipe,Tamilnadu dosai,crispy dosa description.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients

Idli Rice - 2 & 1/2 cups

Raw Rice - 1/2 cup

Urad dal - 3/4 cup

Fenugreek seed - 2 tsp

Water - as needed (to grind)

Salt - 2 & 1/2 tsp

Procedure

In a bowl, add idli rice, raw rice, urad dal and fenugreek seeds. Wash it thrice or until the water runs clear and then soak it with water for overnight. 

Next day, drain the soaked water &  put a batch of soaked rice and urad dal in a blender/mixie/wet grinder along with fresh water and grind into smooth batter.

Pour into a vessel and add the salt. Mix it well with your hand. Cover it with lid and let it ferment for 6-8 hrs.

Once the batter is well fermented, take the needed batter in a separate bowl and add water if needed and make a free flowing batter.

Heat the dosa pan and pour a ladle of batter and spread it in a concentric circle. Drizzle some oil on and over the edges of the dosa. 

Once it starts to brown on the bottom, flip to the other side and cook it for a min.

Tasty & crispy dosa is ready !  Serve it with sambar and/or chutney

Related: How to make Rava Dosa

Notes:

• Instead of oil, you can use butter or ghee also while making dosa
• Don't add more raw rice than the mentioned, it will affect the softness of the dosa.
• You can use either mixie or wet grinder for making this batter

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Muttai Dosai, a delicious & filling dosa recipe with egg. There are so many variations in egg dosa, here i'm gonna share the simple recipe that you can make in no time. This recipe comes handy on busy morning or when you run low on dosa batter and gives you a fulfilling breakfast. Though egg dosa is quite common in our house hold for breakfast/dinner, don't know why i haven't posted this recipe so far, may be thought that it's too simple to make a post.  

Dosa batter and egg are the only two main ingredients that you need to make this delicious dosa. For seasoning, you can use whatever the spice powder you like, here i'm using idli podi and that's our favorite to sprinkle on egg dosa. Simple salt & pepper also works well. In addition you can sprinkle some chopped coriander leaves on top. Even some people like to add thinly sliced onions on the top, so it's really up to you how you want your egg dosa. Now let's see how i have prepared my egg dosa.

Egg Dosa | Muttai Dosai

Preparation Time : 0 mins | Cooking Time : 5 mins | Serves : 1 
Recipe Category: Dosa | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Egg Dosa, Muttai Dosai,Muttai Dosa,Egg Dosai,Easy Breakfast, Leftover dosa recipe Muttai Dosai, a delicious & filling dosa recipe with egg. Dosa batter and egg are the only two main ingredients that you need to make this delicious dosa.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
Dosa batter - 1/4 cup
Egg -1 
Idli podi - 1/2 tsp
Sesame oil - 1/2 tsp

Procedure

Heat the dosa pan and make dosa as regular, crack open a egg on the center of the dosa.With the help of spoon, spread the egg all over the dosa. Sprinkle idli podi on the top and drizzle oil on the sides of the dosa.Once the bottom gets brown, gently flip the dosa and cook on other side wellThat's it, Tasty Muttai Dosai / Egg Dosa is ready to serve. It taste good as it is or you can serve it with sambar and/or chutney. For more breakfast item check out here 

Notes:

• Instead of idli podi, you can sprinkle salt and pepper on top also.
• If you find it difficult to spread the egg with spoon, then whisk the egg in a bowl and then add into the dosa.
• Idli podi and sesame oil goes well together & gives great flavor to the dosa.
  

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Idli and dosai are the integral part of Tamil Nadu breakfast menu and it's also one of the healthiest breakfast in the world. Whatever the world claims now as good for your health like probiotic rich, gluten free, vegan and steamed food, idli ticks every one of the checklist. 

For me, more than healthy food, Idli is the most delicious and comforting food in the world. In Tamil Nadu, still people prefer idli as the first solid food for their babies. With all that being said, let's see how to make this super food. The key to make soft and fluffy idli is the batter, if you make the idli batter perfectly, everything else is icing on the cake. 

Back in India, we use a wet grinder to make the idli and dosa batter, but when you live abroad and move frequently, carrying a wet grinder with you is not at all possible all time. So I stick with my Indian mixie to make batter. Compared to a wet grinder, making fluffy idli batter using mixie/blender needs little more attention and tricks.

Next, the fermentation process. The batter should be fermented well and this is again a tricking thing especially when you are in a cold place. Currently I'm living in Canada, before that I lived in Colorado, Michigan, hence  with my personal experience, I have learned a few things about how to ferment batter when the temperature is below freezing outside. So here i'm gonna share all the tips and tricks so far i have learned on how to make perfect idli & dosa batter using mixie / blender in extreme cold weather.

• If you're using mixie / blender, then soaking-time of rice and dal is very important. Longer hour soaking helps to grind the batter easily without running the mixie / blender for a longer time. Long running of mixie /blender generates heat and it will affect the fermentation process. Also a long hour of soaking helps to ferment the batter quickly.

• For grinding the batter in mixie / blender, you need cold water because mixie / blender tends to get heated very quickly which affects the batter temperature, we don't want that to happen, so cold water helps to keep the batter at room temperature while grinding.

• If you're using blenders like ninja or similar one, then cold water is not necessary to grind because it doesn't get heat easily.

• While grinding dal, don't add water all at once, otherwise the batter would be running instead of fluffy. Add water little by little to get that fluffy consistency.Once the dal batter is smooth, don't stop grinding immediately, add water little by little and grind it for couple more run. It gives you that fluffy batter. In Tamil, we use to say "ponga ponga araikurathu". 

• The rice batter shouldn't be super smooth like dal batter, it should have bits of rava like consistency. See the pictures in the step by step instructions to understand more.

• To ferment the batter, it should be kept at room temperature for 8 hrs/overnight. If you live in a cold place like me, keep the batter in the oven with lights on. What should i do if my oven has no light / it's broken ? It happened to me one time :-) . Heat the oven at 350F for 10 mins, switch off the oven and keep the batter, don't open the oven door in between.

• Even if you follow all these steps and the batter doesn't turn out properly, don't lose hope, some times, the rice and dal quality affects the batter, so use good quality rice and dal. If the tap water is hard and has high salt, don't use it, use filter water for grinding. Using hard water gives you that pale color in the idli instead of pure white.

• If you're a beginner, give it a try a couple of times to get that perfect fluffy batter. Still for me, when I move to a new place, it takes a couple of times to get that perfect batter. Like I said earlier , it takes time to find the right brand of rice and urad dal in a new place, identify the correct spot in your oven to place the batter, so it ferments perfectly without under/over done. Like I always say, if i can make it, you can also :-)

Now let's see the FAQs about idli and idli batter.

What is Idli Rice ? 

Idli rice is a short grain parboiled rice and it's used exclusively for making idli and dosa. You can easily find the idli rice in all Indian stores. Nowadays, even Walmart carries idli rice in many stores. 

Other varieties of rice don't work for this recipe !

What's the proportion of idli rice and dal for idli batter? 

This is the most common question that many of my readers ask. In our family we have been using a 4:1 ratio of idli rice and urad dal for years and it yields perfect soft idlis. 

Too much dal in the batter makes the idli soft but it's not spongy and would be flat. Too little dal makes the idli hard. 

What brand of idli rice and dal am i using to make idli batter? 

This is another common question that I have been faced with when i'm sharing my idli platter pictures on social media. Honestly, I never stick to any particular brands of idli rice and urad dal mainly because of our frequent moving to new locations.

Whatever is available in the place, I try to make the best out of it. So try with whatever you can find.  All the tips that i have shared here are learned on trying out various brands :-) 

How to get super white idli? 

Whenever i share my breakfast idli platter on IG or any social media, i get this question ! So let me share what i know from my experience !

• Make sure to use filtered water for grinding the idli, the hard water makes the idli pale yellow color.
• If you're using more than 1:4 proportion of dal and rice, then the idli wouldn't be as white as mine. More dal in the batter yields a pale yellow color idli. 
• Too much of fenugreek seeds also cause pale yellow colour. So when the outside temperature is normal, i skip the fenugreek seeds too.
• Overall, the quality of the rice, dal, water and the proportion play a major role in getting super white idli. 

What are the other ingredients added to make soft idlis? 

I would say that rice and dal are the only two ingredients needed to make perfect soft and spongy idlis. 

Fenugreek seeds are used for flavor and quick fermentation. Since i've been living in cold places for years now, i'm using fenugreek seeds now but back in India, our family usually don't use the fenugreek seeds

Poha and cooked rice are some of the common ingredients used  to enhance the softness of idli. But I have never used them so far in my idli batter.

My breakfast idli platter collage :-)

Why does the idli batter get too sour after fermentation?

The main reason is the over-fermentation. Keep the batter outside for longer hours to ferment makes the batter too sour. 

In general, we know that the batter is fermented when it's risen well. But if your batter is too thick and looking for well risen batter as a sign of good fermentation then most probably you end with too sour batter when it's risen. 

The key of well risen batter is the batter consistency before fermentation. Make sure to keep the batter a little watery(check the step wise pics for understanding) so that when it's risen, the batter will light, airy and have the right amount of sourness.

This is how the batter should look after fermentation

How to ferment the idli batter in cold places ?

This is one of the other common questions that i get whenever i share my idli/batter recipes since i'm currently living in Canada which you know is one of the coldest places in the world. So here are my tips to ferment the idli/dosa batter 

1. So far, i have been keeping my batter in the oven with the lights on for 8-10 hrs and it works like a charm every time. 
2. Depending on your oven-light voltage, the fermenting hrs might vary a little bit.
3. If your oven doesn't have light, then preheat your oven at 350 F for 10 mins and then switch off the oven and place the idli batter inside the oven & keep the door closed, the residual heat from the oven will help to ferment the batter.
4. Another method is to keep a kettle of boiling water in the oven with its pouring cap open along with the batter inside the oven, the hot steam from the kettle helps to ferment the batter. Instead of a kettle, you can also use any heavy pot with a small opening. 
5. What to do when you don't have an oven, then keep the batter near the heater vent which obviously many have in cold places. The hot air from the heater vent is idle for fermenting.
6. Finally if you're having instant pot, then place the batter in the instant pot with yoghurt mode on for 8 hrs, that will give you perfectly fermented batter.

Any important tips for beginners in Idli batter making ? 

Yes :-) Depending on the quality of urad dal, it may yield more or less batter. So here is the one tip from Amma that helped me when I was new in cooking. 

"For soft idli, after grinding, the urad dal batter should be equal or a little more than the rice batter" 

• When you try any new brands of urad dal or rice, for your initial batter making, after grinding roughly measure the rice batter and urad dal batter separately and it will give you an idea on what proportion of rice and urad dal should be soak for the next time.
• If the urad dal batter is less than the rice batter, then soak little extra urad dal next time and vice versa.
• Though i have said "4:1 ratio of idli rice and urad dal", sometimes, urad dal may not yield so much batter. In such a case, follow this tip :-)

Now let's check out on the recipe ! 

 

How to make Soft Idli Recipe | Idli Batter Recipe | Fermentation Tips

Preparation Time : 20 hrs | Cooking Time : 15 mins | Serves : 6-8 
Recipe Category: Breakfast | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Idli batter recipe, Soft Idli recipe, How to make Soft Idli,Idli batter using mixie, Idli batter using blender Idli and dosai are the integral part of tamilnadu breakfast menu and it's also one of the healthiest breakfast in the world. Whatever the world claims now as good for your health like probiotic rich, gluten free, vegan and steamed food, idli ticks every one of the checklist.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
Idli Rice - 4 cups
Urad dal - 1 cup
Fenugreek Seed - 1 tsp
Salt - 2 tsp
Water - 2 & 1/2 - 3 cups

Procedure

Previous night itself, measure and take the rice in a bowl, urad dal and fenugreek in a bowl, wash them thrice and add water to soak them. Keep it in the kitchen counter over night. Keep the water required for grinding in the refrigerator

Next morning, discard the soaked water and first add the urad dal and fenugreek seed in the mixie jar.

Take the cold water from the refrigerator and add just enough to cover the dal and grind into smooth batter. 

In between once or twice, scrape the sides and add couple more tbsp of water and grind them into thick paste like as shown below. Transfer the batter into large vessel.

In the same jar(no need to wash them) add half of the soaked rice and add water just enough to cover the rice and grind into fine but not so fine paste,that means if you take the batter in hands and rub it in between the fingers, there might be tiny bits like rava. That's the correct stage of rice batter. 

Pour the rice batter into the dal batter. Grind the remaining rice batter and add into the dal batter. Next add salt and mix the batter using your hands.

Once all the rice batter and dal batter mixed together throughly, scrape the sides and cover it with lid, place it in the oven with light on for 6-8 hrs to ferment.

After 8 hrs, see how much the batter have risen, mix it with laddle well.

Take the needed batter into another bowl and keep the remaining in refrigerator for later use. Now for idli, you can use the batter straight away, pour the batter in idli mold. 

Place it on idli steamer and steam it for 8-10 mins.

Once it's cooked, remove from the flame and let it rest for 2 mins. 

Then take it out from the mold with spoon and soft idlis are ready to serve. For the dosa, in the same batter, add little water and mix it well.

It should be in easily pourable consistency. Pour the batter in the dosa batter and spread it evenly. Drizzle some oil on the edges and on the top, Crispy dosa is ready.

Serve with sambar and/or chutney/s. We had with idli sambar, coconut chutney and coriander chutney.

Related : Side dish for Idli and Dosa

Related : More varieties of Idli and Dosa

Notes:

• Depends on the weather conditions, fermenting time varies.
• If you're making idli after refrigerate the batter, make sure to bring the batter into room temperature, otherwise the idlis won't be soft.
• Always take the needed batter in a separate bowl and keep the remaining in the refrigerator immediately.
• For dosa, add more water to the required batter only, don't add water to the whole batter.
• The batter stays well up to 7 days in refrigerator, I haven't tried storing the batter more than a week.
• With the same batter, you can make paniyaram also. 

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