Set dosa is a popular breakfast item at Udupi restaurants in Bangalore. It usually comes as a set of three soft and thick spongy dosas served usually with sago or vegetable korma. The best part of this dosa is that it is oil free and remains soft and spongy even when cold. Serve this with mixed vegetable korma and you have a complete and nutritious meal.
Like with other urad dal based dosas, proper fermentation of the batter is very important to get spongy dosa. Fermentation time may vary depending on the local climate. During summer time, 8 hours of fermentation is sufficient for the batter to raise well.
Ingredients:
Idli/Dosa rice – 2 cups (You may also use 1 cup unpolished raw rice and 1 cup boiled rice)
Aval/poha/avalakki – 1 cup
Urad dal/uzhunnu parippu – ½ cup
Fenugreek/methi seeds – 1½ tsp
Water as needed
Salt as needed
While preparing dosa:
Oil to taste
Cooking Time:
Soaking time for ingredients – 6-8 hours
Grinding batter – 20 mins
Fermentation – 8-12 hours
Dosa making time – 2 mins/dosa
Makes 25-30 set dosas
Method:
Making batter:
Wash and soak rice in water in a bowl. Wash urad dal and fenugreek seeds and soak in water. Let these sit for about 5 hours.
Wash poha/aval in water just before grinding. Drain the water.
Add soaked urad dal, fenugreek seeds, and washed aval to the mixer. Add small quantities of water and grind to a smoote paste. Remove the ground paste from the mixer and transfer to a large bowl.
Add rice to the mixer. Add small quantities of water and grind to a smooth paste. Add this paste to the bowl containing the urad dal batter. Add salt. Use your right hand to mix the batter well. The batter should be idli batter consistency. You may add water to make it the right consistency. Remember, you can always add more water if needed but if you make the batter watery, your will not get the right texture of dosa. Adding the right amount of water at this stage is very important. A very thin or thick batter may not ferment well.
Set the batter aside in a warm place to ferment for at least 8 hours.
After 8 hours, you will notice that the batter has risen well and almost doubled. Use a ladle to stir the batter and mix it well.
Making dosa:
Heat an iron tawa. When the tawa is appropriately hot, place it on medium heat and pour one ladle of batter on the tawa and gently spread it around to make a small round shape (about 5 inches/similar to the size of a CD-ROM). Do not spread thin like the regular dosa. Keep the flame in medium. If the batter is fermented properly and if the heat is right, you will notice holes forming on the surface of the dosa. You may choose to sprinkle oil around the edges. You may skip this also.
Set dosa is usually not cooked on both sides. Personally, I prefer cooking it on both sides. But, if you choose to cook it only on one side, after spreading the batter on the tawa, cover it with a lid.
When you notice the edges turning crisp, flip the dosa and cook for less than a minute.
Remove the dosa from the tawa, place on a serving plate, and serve hot with vegetable korma or chutney.
You can also sprinkle milaga podi on the dosa just before serving.
Notes:
I used 1 cup unpolished raw rice and 1 cup boiled rice and hence the dosas are slightly red.
If you live in colder regions, place the ground batter near the refrigerator/warm stove to aid in proper fermentation.
Ingredients:
When the griddle is hot, spread a ladleful of batter and spread around to make a thick dosa. My grandmother never used to a ladle to spread adai. She would use her hand to spread the batter around.
In Karnataka, Neer dosa (made of rice) with sweetened coconut is served in many restaurants. Here is a wheat version that is very easy to make at home.
Ingredients:
Method:
Ingredients:
Method 1:
Wash banana leaf, wipe with a dry cloth, and smear oil on the dark green side. Take fistful of dough and make into a round ball. Place the round ball of dough on the banana leaf where the oil is smeared. Flatten the ball with your hands – in this case, wet your fingers with oil/water periodically to prevent the dough from sticking to them. Alternatively, you could place the dough between two well-oiled banana leaves and use a rolling pin to spread it. Before cooking, take off the banana leaf at the top. The spread out dough can have the thickness of a roti.
Heat an iron tawa and use an oil smeared cloth to smooth out the surface. Place the banana leaf on it, dough-side down. After a minute or so, when the leaf starts fading in color, carefully peel off the leaf. If you are using a plastic sheet, make sure the sheet doesn’t touch the tawa. Drizzle a tsp of oil and cook the roti on medium flame on both sides. Roll out the remaining dough and cook in a similar fashion. Serve with coconut chutney and/or Sambar.
Method 2:
Sprouting Ragi: 
Roughly 6 hrs before you want to make the batter, soak 2 cups of raw rice and 3/4 cup of urad dal separately. After 6 hrs, drain excess water. When your ragi sprouts are also ready, it’s time to make the batter.
Chop onions, curry leaves, coriander leaves, and green chilies finely. Add to the sprouted ragi dosa batter. Crush cumin seeds and add it to the batter. If you like the plain variety, you could avoid this step. Mix well.
Making Dosa: 
Melt jaggery in water and strain it. Add all the flour, elaichi powder, and mix well. Wheat bran tends to thicken your batter. If the batter is very watery, the dosa may stick to the pan and you may have difficulty removing the dosa from the pan. This batter is better suited to make pancake-style dosas.