Ragi Rava Dosa with Dill Leaves – crispy, lacy crepe like south Indian instant savory dosa with rava/semolina/cream of wheat along with dill leaves and cumin, generally served at breakfast with any coconut chutney.
Most south Indians love their dosas (savory crepes) and idlis (savory steamed cakes) for breakfast. They could either be the fermented batter ones (which need presoaking, blending and fermenting for at least 6 to 8 hours) or my favorite, instant dosas and idlis!
Regular dosas and idlis need a bit of preplanning but these instant varieties just need some basic pantry ingredients and a quick mix to churn out crispy dosas or instant rava idlis too!
WHAT IS RAVA DOSA?
Rava dosa is a crispy south Indian savory instant crepe with semolina/cream of wheat as the main ingredient. Spices like cumin and black pepper as well as chopped green chilies and onions add taste and texture to this dosa.
You can add finely chopped curry leaves, cilantro, dill leaves or a combination of all to make it more delicious!
The batter is basically a thin, watery mixture of semolina along with some rice flour and a dash of maida or all purpose flour. These are mixed to form a thin batter which is then spread on a hot griddle to make thin, crispy and lacy instant dosas or Indian crepes.
I try to totally avoid maida nowadays, so I have used wheat flour and some ragi flour or finger millet flour (which is one of the most nutritious and easy to digest millets) to make this rava dosa a healthy one!
TIPS TO MAKE PERFECT RAVA DOSA:
- Use only fine semolina like the ones you use for upma (another south Indian breakfast) or sometimes also called Bombay rava.
- The key to crisp dosas is a thin batter. Make sure the rava dosa batter is watery and flowing when you begin to make dosas. As semolina tends to settle at the bottom, mix the batter well every time you are ready to make a fresh rava dosa.
- Using the right kind of pan or griddle; I prefer using iron griddles, but you can make these using non stick pans too. Just make sure to grease the pan and wipe with a tissue before pouring the batter.
- Cooking with the right heat – to begin with, the pan should be hot, but once the batter has covered the pan, drizzle oil all around and over the dosa, reduce heat to medium and then cook until the bottom is crisp and brown. Too much heat will burn the bottom of the dosa without crisping the dosa.
- Another distinct difference between this and other dosas is the way we pour the batter on the griddle. Unlike regular dosas, you do not and cannot spread the batter on the hot griddle. You will just have to pour ladles of batter to cover the hot pan leaving some lacy holes in between; the way rava dosas are mean to be!
SERVING SUGGESTIONS:
Crisp rava dosas are served hot and crisp for breakfast; perfect with any coconut chutney or even some molaga podi/south Indian chutney powder. We love it so much; I have made these south Indian delights at dinner too!
Sharing this with our gourmet Face Book group Healthy Wellthy Cuisines where the theme this time as suggested by fellow foodblogger Swaty Malik is “semolina”. She shares her culinary expertise on her blog Foodtrails25.com. Do check out her blog for delicious ideas to rustle up in your kitchen!
Do check out to see what my other foodie friends shared for this theme:
- Suji Malai Cake by Sujata
- Semolina Upma by Shalu
- Kesaribath by Preethi
- Rava Upma Mix by Sasmita
- Semolina Bites by Swaty
Enjoy foodies and Happy Cooking!
Now, do check out how to make Ragi Rava Dosa with Dill Leaves:
A crispy, lacy crepe like south Indian instant savory dosa with rava/semolina/cream of wheat as the main ingredient along with dill leaves and cumin, generally served at breakfast with any coconut chutney.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup rava/suji/semolina/cream of wheat
- ¼ cup ragi/finger millet flour
- ¼ cup wheat flour (or you can use besan or chickpea flour)
- ¼ cup rice flour
- 1 tsp jeera/cumin seeds
- 1 large green chili/jalapeno, finely chopped
- ¼ cup chopped dill leaves
- Salt to taste
- Oil for drizzling over the dosas
- Finely chopped curry leaves
- Finely chopped cilantro/coriander leaves
- Grated carrots etc.
Instructions
- To start with, in a large mixing bowl, stir the dry ingredients: semolina, ragi flour, whole wheat (or besan) and rice flour.
- Add 1 cup water and mix well to make a lump free batter. The batter will be slightly thick. Set aside for 10 minutes. The semolina will absorb the water and make the batter more thick.
- After 10 minutes, add ½ cup to ¾ cup more water along with salt to taste (I added 1 tsp salt), chopped green chilies, chopped dill leaves and jeera.
- Mix well to form a dilute batter which is slightly watery and runny. Adjust and add more water if needed.
- Now, to make rava dosas, heat an iron griddle pan or dosai pan.
- Once it is hot, drizzle a few drops of oil over it. Wipe with a tissue to coat evenly.
- Now, mix the batter again well (semolina tends to settle at the bottom so you will have to keep stirring every time you make dosas) and take a ladle of batter.
- Pour the batter over the hot griddle to cover the pan. Start from the edges going to the center but DO NOT SPREAD USING THE LADLE like you would regular dosa; you will end up with a mess!
- The batter will form lacy dosas; try not to fill the gaps; the beauty of this dosa is the lacy texture and look!
- Drizzle some oil over and around the dosa; cook on medium high heat until the bottom is cooked, slightly brown and crisp and the top is devoid of any moist batter.
- You will notice the dosa start to peel from the edges. If the dosa is thin, just cook the bottom on medium heat and then remove using a ladle, folding gently and then serve hot.
- You can cook both the sides of the rava dosa too if you prefer. Gently flip the cooked dosa and roast the other side too. Once cooked and roasted, flip again to crisp the bottom of the dosa and then remove to a serving plate.
- Serve hot, crispy and lacy thin rava dosas with your favorite chutney, molaga podi (chutney powder) or Indian pickle!
- Enjoy and Happy Eating!
Notes
Make sure to use fine semolina also called Bombay rava (cream of wheat).
If you cannot find ragi or finger millet flour, just omit it.
If the batter is thick, add more water and if by chance it is too thin, stir in more semolina or rice flour.
Other ingredients you can add are finely chopped onions, crushed black pepper, finely chopped curry leaves,
Keep mixing the batter well before making every dosa as semolina tends to settle at the bottom of the batter.
Making these lacy, crisp rava dosa takes some practice but not rocket science that you cannot master!
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Here are some more dosas from my kitchen that you can enjoy:
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Very interesting blog. I would definitely recommend this to my family and friends. I have been using Multigrain Dosa Mix from True Elements - a clean label food brand as a breakfast option and they are really tasty and healthy. Thank you.
Thank you so much for your kind words and appreciation.
Yes, I love using multigrain atta in all my rotis and dishes; healthier and good for you too.
I so appreciate your stopping by to share your thoughts.
What a healthy and delicious share. I love rava dosa. Will definitely give your version a try. Looks so delicious.
Ragi Rava dosa looks so perfect di ! This is a healthy and nutritious breakfast option. Wonderful share with all the tips included 🙂
What an amazing healthy breakfast dish. I often make rawa dosa but only with rice flour. Your sounds super healthy. Using ragi flour made it more nutritious. Thanks dear for the recipe and tips.
Ragi Rava is a healthy and nutritious way to start the day.. light and filling meal, and you have nicely explained.. wonderful share especially for beginners
Ragi Rava dosa is one of my all time favourite . Loved the tips you have mentioned . Tempting dosas.
I've tried several times to make rava dosa but have not succeeded. I like all your tips so hopefully that should guide me to make lacy rava dosa. Such a wonderful way to enjoy the healthy benefits of ragi in the form of dosa. And adding dill is a plus point.
Thank you Mayuri <3 Yes, making rava dosa takes a few tries but with practice, anyone can master it! I have made it so many times, it is like a breeze now and our favorite dosa to enjoy very often!
Can imagine the wellness of such recipe which carries the goodness of ragi, rava & dill. Dosa looks superb & delicious to the core.
Thank you so much 🙂 Yes, I just bought a large pack of ragi flour and adding it to dosas is my favorite way of enjoying this nutritious millet nowadays <3