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Ruchik Randhap

Food & Memories of Mangalore

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Panpolay/Neer Dosa – Simple Rice Pancakes


Who can resist the Panpole/Neer Dosa? The Panpole (pronounced as pun-polay) as it’s called in Konkani and ‘Neer Dosa’ called in Tulu/Kannada is everybody’s favourite. Neer Dosa derived its name from the term ‘Neeru’ which means ‘Water’ in the local languages of Mangalore namely Kannada & Tulu. The watery consistency of the batter is what’s behind the name. Its the Neer Dosa’s simplicity and ease of preparation that has reigned supreme in every Mangalorean house and has gained a lot of popularity outside Mangalore too.
In Mumbai, the Neer Dosa is famous in all seafood restaurants irrespective of whether the propreitor is a Mangalorean or not. However, this simple bread is sold at an exhorbitant price – so it’s quite ridiculous to order these pretty dosas as they cost about Rs 25 per plate (with just 2 dosas staring back at you). Also, the restaurant’s version of the dosa usually does not turn out the way it is made at home. Dosas are essentially characterised by the ‘holes’ that form either due to air bubbles or fermentation – so in that respect what they serve you are pretty flat ones. However, if you have never tasted these simple & frilly dosas which are thin & delicate like a lady’s handkerchief – go try some at once!
The Neer Dosa/Panpole are eaten for breakfast along with chutney or gravies, some like to enjoy it with leftover curries or a side dish of vegetables. These dosas are so versatile that they can be also introduced during ,meal times as an accompaniment to meat/fish dishes. Leftover ones can be rolled up like Kati Rolls with a sweet filling made of fresh coconut & sugar/jaggery. My son loves them plain or with a generous splash of honey. One can never get tired of eating these simple dosas and the best tasting ones are made in cast iron griddles which are kept aside only for these dosas. Cook anything else in these special griddles and they are deemed useless forever as the dosas will never turn out easily and will stick horribly to the griddle.

Panpole
(print this)
Yield: 8-10


You Need:

  • 1 cup raw rice (Surai/Kollam or any small grained rice)
  • sufficient water to make a thin batter
  • salt to taste
  • oil for greasing the griddle
  • 2 tbsp cooked rice (optional) – helps make the dosas ultra soft
  • 2 tsp grated coconut (optional) – brings in a lovely flavour to the dosas – but u can totally skip this

Method:
1. Soak the rice for at least 2 hours or overnight. Grind it with 1/2 cup water & cooked rice and/or coconut to a very fine paste
2. Add 2 cups of water and some more if required to achieve a watery batter (consistency of slightly thicker than milk)
3. Add salt to taste and mix well.
4. Heat a cast iron or non stick griddle/tawa which should have edges (not the one used to make dosas which are without edges). Lightly grease the surface of the griddle with oil – you can poke 1/2 a medium size onion with a fork and use it to grease the griddle. Many people use a small piece of muslin tied to a stick to do the same, but it’s more hygienic to use an onion and discard it after use.
5. Using a deep round ladle scoop out batter & pour it on one side of the griddle and lift quickly lift & tilt it to help spread the batter across the entire surface of the griddle. This needs minimum practice. Add more batter in places which are not covered with batter. Cover & cook for about one minute or till you see the dosa leaving the sides of the griddle.
6. Remove and allow to cool a bit before folding into a quarter.
7. Serve with Chutney, gravy, Chicken or Fish curries and simply enjoy this simple delicacy!


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Comments

  5. Andrea Rebello says

    Hi Shireen, Found my way to your blog from Michelle's Food, Football and a baby. Love all your recipes.. and have tried a few of them.I'm mangalorean as well.. but living far away form home now :-(.. so ur food definitely gets me nostalgic and inspires me to try out.. keep them coming !!

    Reply

  8. Kanasu says

    Wow neer dosas are my favourite. Its been a long time since I have made these. After seeing these pictures, I am very tempted to make and eat some straight away.

    Reply

  9. Renee says

    Awesome recipes. Have never made kuswar untill now. No errors, purrfect nevris and kulkuls!! Also pork bafat..yummmmm. Lots of appreciation received for this dish. Thanks a lot, keep posting.

    Reply

  14. Shireen Sequeira says

    Hi Evita: What kind (variety) of raw rice did you use? Sometimes if the rice used is not correct it can turn sticky and won't lift off the pan easily. Secondly, did you grease the pan with oil?

    Reply

  15. Swapna says

    Hi Shireen, I have a similar problem as the previous commenter, it sticks and cracks in the pan before lifting it up. I used Sona masoori rice and a little desiccated coconut.

    Reply

  16. Tina says

    After the rice is soaked overnight, is the rice ground in the water it was soaked in, or is fresh water used to grind the rice? Please reply.

    Reply

  17. Shireen Sequeira says

    Tina: You can grind the rice using the water which was used to soak the rice provided it was not tap water (to be on the safer side) and also provided the rice was adequately washed and then soaked in that water.

    Reply

  18. Preethi Pinto says

    Could the cracking in the pan be due to an extra thin batter? And the stickiness due to inadequate heat beneath? A lot of times it helps to stir the entire batter eachtime just before pouring out on the griddle.

    Reply

  19. Shireen Sequeira says

    @ Preethi: Those are good tips, I have never had problems with neer dosa sticking to the griddle as I always stick to the same brand/variety of rice ie surti kolam rice. I will add your tips to the post, thanks for sharing

    Reply

  22. Shireen Sequeira says

    Lorraine & Amanda: You can use basmati as it is a variety of raw rice but it may work out too expensive! Try looking for Kolam rice or broken basmati which will be cheaper.

    Amanda: You cannot use the brown rice (boiled rice)

    Reply

  23. Clem says

    Hi Shireen,

    Please check if there is some inconsistency in the following two contradictory descriptions:

    (A) In the 'Panpolay/Neer Dosa' method, you have stated :"4. Heat a cast iron or non stick griddle/tawa which should 'HAVE' edges (not the one used to make dosas which are without edges)"

    Whereas,
    (B) In the 'Tri Coloured Neer Dosa / Panpolay' you have stated, " Heat a neer dosa skillet or a very flat non stick frying pan 'WITHOUT' tall sides".

    Thanks and cheers,
    Clem

    Reply

  24. Clem says

    Instead of soaking the rice and then grinding, do you think I can just use raw rice powder and mix with water, (along with some cooked rice and coconut that are pre-ground in a mortar)?

    Reply

  25. Shireen Sequeira says

    @ Clem: Yes, my points sound contradictory because I wrote my first neer dosa recipe much earlier. What I was trying to say was
    You need to have a skillet that has edges but not very tall edges – cuz we use frying pans to fry fish that have really tall edges. We also use slightly concave tawas without any edges to fry regular dosa (masala dosa type). Since the neer dosa batter requires to be swirled around a bit we need a flat (not concave) tawa with small edges.

    Now if you read my two recipes I am sure you will understand what I was trying to say 🙂

    And no, I am not sure how the rice powder neer dosa will turn out for you as my experience was never good with it.

    Reply

  26. Raveena says

    i tried making neer dosa from idly rucw but da surface of da dosa came out to be sticky…… plzzz… need ur expert advice

    Reply

    • Shireen Sequeira says

      Hi Raveena…did you mean ‘idli rice’? If yes, neer dosa is best made with raw rice. Idli rice would be the parboiled variety and not suitable for neer dosa. Please check your grocery for ‘dosa rice’ or ‘kolam variety of raw rice. Hope it helps! Do let me know!

      Reply

    • Shireen Sequeira says

      The quality of rice used determines the final outcome. Also, if you have refrigerated the batter, when you fry the panpoles it could break them

      Reply
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