Quinoa Dosa is a healthy and delicious alternative to traditional dosas. It is made with Quinoa and lentils instead of rice and does not require any fermentation of the batter. It requires very little preparation of soaking lentils and quinoa for 4-5 hours and then grinding them to smooth batter. You don’t have to wait for 10-12 hours to ferment it. The dosas can be made straight away. Crispy, gluten free and protein packed , these dosas make a nutritious and satisfying meal at any time of the day.
Benefits of Quinoa:
Quinoa is an edible seed from South America. It is a nutrient dense food and is a great source of fibre, plant based protein, minerals and vitamins. It is gluten free and has good amount of iron and zinc. It has all 9 amino acids and a low glycemic index which helps in controlling blood sugar.
Ingredients for Quinoa Dosa:
Quinoa : I used white Quinoa. You can use any Quinoa, however the color of the dosa will depend on type of Quinoa used.
Lentils: I used 4 type of lentils. Urad dal is mainly used to make the batter. Other than that you can add same amount of any lentil of your choice or skip any if you don’t have it. Lentils add to the nutritional value of the dosa .
Methi seeds : They help in making dosas crispy.
Aromatics and spices: I have used dry red chillies, ginger, cumin seeds and asfoetida to the batter. All these give a nice taste and aroma to the dosas. Skip red chillies if making for kids.
Quinoa Dosa Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa
- ½ cup chana dal
- ½ cup urad dal
- ½ cup toor dal
- ½ cup moong dal
- 1 tsp jeera cumin seeds
- ½ tsp methi seeds fenugreek seeds
- 4 dry red chillies
- ½ tsp hing asafoetida
- ½ inch ginger peeled and grated
Instructions
- Wash the quinoa thoroughly under running water to remove saponins (bitter coating). Rinse until the water runs clear.
- Wash the chana dal, urad dal, toor dal, and moong dal.
- Soak the quinoa, all dals, jeera, methi seeds, and dry red chillies in enough water for 5-6 hours (or overnight for better fermentation).
- Drain the water after soaking.
- Grind everything together with just enough fresh water to cover the ingredients. Add the grated ginger while grinding. You can add chopped ginger but sometimes they are difficult to grind.
- Grind to a smooth paste (the batter should be slightly thick but pourable, like traditional dosa batter).
- Let the batter rest for 1 hours at room temperature to make dosa without fermentation. (If you want to ferment the batter , then cover it and leave it overnight or for 6-8 hours)
- Heat a non-stick tawa or dosa pan on medium heat. Pour a ladleful of batter and spread it in a circular motion to form a thin dosa. Apply ghee on the edges once the bottom starts to get a little golden.
- Cook until the edges turn golden and crisp. Flip if needed, or serve as is.
- Serve hot with chutney, sambar and potato masala.
- Enjoy!