Traditional Neer Dosa Recipe With All Tips Rice Crepes

You can serve neer dosa with chutney and sambar. These crepes are dairy-free, vegan, and gluten-free.

Why is it called Neer Dosa?

Neer means water in Kannada and Tulu which translates to water dosa. Neeru dosa is famous for its simplicity in preparation, no fermentation, no lentils are used, and, obviously, the taste is addictive. The rice is soaked and then ground to the thin, smooth batter of water or milk or buttermilk consistency with which thin crepes are cooked. A good neer dose will have holes when you pour the batter on a hot pan. These are also called pan polo in Konkani cuisine and are the most loved recipe by Mangaloreans. When there is pan polo batter at home, we like to serve it for breakfast with chutney and with lunch or dinner as an accompaniment with any curry or gravy. It goes well with anything, Secret tip: If you find difficulty in making crisp rava dosa, next time, use leftover batter and add rava and maida. Just see how crispy your dosas will be.

Ingredients for Neer Dosa (Rice Crepes)

2 cups Raw rice ½ cup Grated coconut 3 ½ cups Water; adjust accordingly Salt, to taste Oil for cooking dosa, I prefer coconut oil for authentic taste

How to make Neer Dosa?

Wash and soak the rice

Nicely wash and soak the rice for atleast 1 hour. You can even soak it overnight if you plan to make it early for breakfast.

Neer dosa batter

Drain the water completely from the rice. Add the soaked rice along with grated coconut to a wet grinder or mixie jar and grind it to a smooth paste adding ½ to 1 cup of water. Do not add all water at once while grinding. Now transfer this to a bowl, add salt and more water, maybe another 2 to 2/12 cups, till the batter is of milk or pouring consistency.

How to cook neer dosa?

I highly recommend using a well-greased cast iron pan or nonstick pan for cooking dosas. The pan should be very hot while cooking dosas Pour a laddle full of batter and tilt the pan slightly. Don’t worry about the shape while making this dosa. Drizzle coconut oil, and cover it with a lid. Cook on a medium flame for 1 minute. Open the lid and, using a spatula, fold the Dosa to form a semi-circle (you can stop at this point) and fold again to form a triangle.

Pro Tips

The thin batter is the key to making good neer dose. The batter should be of flowing consistency. Good neer dose batter will have holes that form on the surface as soon as you pour the batter on a hot pan. If you are making dosa for the first time, I highly recommend you experiment with the consistency of the batter. We cook it on a daily basis and thus know what the right consistency is. For 2 cups of rice, start with 3 cups of water, and you may go up to 4 cups depending on the quality of the rice. The batter will have a coarse texture if you add a lot of water while grinding itself. So make sure you add water only after you have a smooth batter. You can skip oil if using a nonstick pan, but I love the flavor of coconut oil and use it while cooking the dosa, even on a nonstick pan.

What to serve with Neer Dosa?

Neer dosa is a special recipe that can be served with almost anything. From a simple dollop of butter to a combination of ghee and sugar or honey, jaggery syrup (godda ravo), coconut jaggery mixture (churnu), sweetened coconut milk (narla rosu), any type of chutney, coconut-based gravies or even with North Indian curries. In restaurants, neer dose is accompanied by coconut chutney, sambar, kori gassi, shrimp (prawns curry), mango rasayana, and ghee roast.

Storage suggestion

Neer dosa tastes the best when served hot. Since this dosa remains soft even when they cool down, you can cook and keep the dosas ready in a hot box or air-tight conatiner. This is also one of the best lunch box, tiffin box, and snack box option. Secret tip : Do not put the dosa one over the other when hot, as they will stick to each other.

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