Barnyard Millet Dosa – Dosas made using the healthy barnyard millets instead of rice.
Millets are gluten free grains with high nutritional benefits. They are high in fiber and loaded with essential vitamins and minerals. Millets have been an integral part of Indian diet for many generation. But over the years they were ignored and forgotten . They are now making comeback in a huge way .People have now realised the health benefits of millets and are adding millets to their daily diet. There are various types of millets and most millets have similar health benefits, The commonly used millets are bajra (pearl millet). Ragi (finger millet), Jowar (Sorghum and Samak (Barnyard millet) Barnyard millet / Samak/ Varai is small grained millet commonly grown in India.
Barnyard millet dosa is made in the similar manner as we make the regular dosa. Instead of rice, I have used barnyard millet.
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What is Barnyard Millet
Barnyard millet is a small grained millet which is popular in India as vrat ke chawal. It is commonly cooked during fasting days in India. Barnyard millet is known by different names in different languages. It is known as samak or bhagar in Hindi, Varai in Marathi, Oodalu in Kannada, Kuthiravali in Tamil etc. It is an excellent and healthy replacement for rice and can be used in various recipes such as idlis, dosas, upma, kheer, khichdi etc.
Barnyard Millet Dosa
Barnyard Millet Dosa is made using barnyard millets, udad dal, methi seeds and a small quantity of chana dal. Barnyard millet is an excellent alternative to rice and hence is used in place of rice in this recipe. The dosa tastes similar to the dosa made with rice and hence taste-wise there is no compromise besides being healthier than the dosas made with rice.
List of ingredients to make Barnyard Millets Dosa
Barnyard Millets (samak/varai)
Split black gram (udad dal)
Fenugreek seeds (methi seeds )
Split Bengal gram (chana dal)
salt
oil/ghee to cook dosas
Step-wise recipe with pictures
Wash and soak barnyard millet, methi seeds and chana dal in water for 5 hours.
Wash and soak udad dal in water for 5 hours.
Drain the water from udad dal. Transfer the soaked udad dal to a mixer jar. Add little water and blend to a fine paste.
Drian the water from barnyard millet. Transfer soaked barnyard millet alongwith methi seeds and chana dal to the mixer jar. Blend to a fine paste. Add this to the udad dal paste.
Add salt and mix well. Cover and keep aside for fermentation for 10 to 12 hours.
After 10 hours, the batter would be fermented. This batter can be used to make dosas as well as idlis.
For making idlis, the batter needs to be a bit thicker. For dosa, we need the batter of thinner consistency. So, you can remove as much batter as is required in a large bowl. Add some water and mix well.
Heat a dosa pan. Drizzle some drops of ghee/oil on the pan. Spread the ghee/oil on the pan using a tissue paper. The tawa should be hot before pouring the dosa batter on it. Pour a ladle of dosa batter and spread it in a circular motion to form a thin dosa. Drizzle a tsp of oil or ghee around the dosa and cook the dosa on low flame.
When the dosa has cooked well and turns crispy, remove the dosa off the heat.
Similarly make dosas with the remaining batter. Serve barnyard millet dosa with chutney and sambar.
Recipe Card
Barnyard Millet Dosa
Ingredients
- 2 cups of barnyard millet (samak/bhagar/varai)
- 1 cup of split black gram (udad dal)
- 1 tbsp of fenugreek seeds (methi)
- 2 tbsp of split gram (chana dal)
- salt to taste
- Oil or ghee for cooking dosas
Instructions
- Wash and soak barnyard millet alongwith methi seeds and chana dal for 4 hours.
- Wash and soak udad dal for 4 hours.
- After 4 hours, drain the water from udad dal.
- Transfer to a mixer jar.
- Add some water and blend to a fine paste.
- Transfer the udad dal to a deep vessel.
- Blend barnyard millet, methi and chana dal to a fine paste.
- Add this to the udad paste.
- Add salt and mix well. Keep aside for fermentation for 10 to 12 hours.
- After 10 hours, the batter would be fermented.
- This batter can be used to make idlis and dosas.
- For making dosas, we need to add water to the dosa batter and make the consistency thinner.
- Heat a dosa pan.
- Drop some drops of ghee or oil on the pan and spread the ghee on the pan with a tissue paper.
- The tawa should be hot before pouring the dosa batter on it.
- Pour a ladle of dosa batter and spread it in a circular motion to form a thin dosa.
- Drizzle a tsp of oil or ghee around the dosa and cook the dosa on low flame.
- Repeat the same with the remaining batter, Serve dosa with chutney/sambar.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is chana dal and fenugreek seeds soaked alongwith barnyard millet?
Fenugreek seeds aids in fermentation and chana dal helps to make dosa crispy.
Should salt be added to dosa batter before or after fermentation?
During summer, when the weather is hot, salt can be added after fermentation, During winters, salt can be added before fermentation.
How long does it take for the batter to ferment?
It depends on the weather. In warm temperature, fermentation is faster. So, it may take anywhere from 7 to 12 hours.for the batter to ferment, depending on the weather.
For how long can the batter be kept in fridge?
The batter remains good in the fridge for 4 to 5 days.
More Dosa Recipes
Barnyard Millet Recipes
Recipe Video
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