Tasty and healthy Ragi Dosa

Ragi (finger millet) is a super grain rich in calcium and fiber. Some people (including my husband) does not like the taste of ragi. This recipe makes even the ragi haters like this dosa.

Dosa is generally of 2 types - aracha dosai (Dosa for which the batter is ground) and karacha dosai (Dosa for which the batter is mixed -i.e. using flours). Ground dosa batter is poured in the center of the skillet and spread out. Mixed dosa batter is poured all around starting at the rim of the skillet.

It was my mom's tip to combine both these types by replacing 3 parts of rice in dosa batter by 3 parts of ragi (or any other like whole wheat, millet etc) flour.

Ingredients:
Urad dal - 1 cup
Rice (Boiled or Idly rice preferable) - 2 cups
Ragi flour - 3 cups
Methi (fenugreek) seeds - 1/4 tsp
Green chillies - 3-4 or to taste
Salt to taste
your favorite veggies - to be added at the end - optional (I used grated carrot, finely chopped onion, cilantro and cabbage)

Soak urad dal, rice and methi seeds for at least 4 hours. Grind them into a smooth paste in a blender. Add Ragi flour and salt and mix well (mixing with hand allows better fermentation). You can use the batter right away or allow it to ferment. I prefer fermentation, as it brings out the fluffiness and gives a mild sour taste. In India, we would just leave the batter at room temperature overnight to ferment. Here in the US, it is a lot colder than in India so room temperature fermentation does not work. There are many techniques out there - the best one that worked for me is to leave the batter in the oven with the light on overnight.

After fermentation, mix the batter well. Add thinly sliced green chillies and your favorite veggies and mix again. Then make dosa in a skillet like ground dosa (Heat the skillet over medium heat. Take a laddle full of batter and pour in the center of the skillet and spread in circular motion towards the ends. Drizzle little oil along the edges of the dosa. Turn when cooked and allow to cook on the other side. Remove from skillet). Enjoy with chutney or dosa milagai podi.