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The past few days saw me debating on the kind of recipe I could introduce to celebrate the Indian Independence Day, which is today, the 15th of August. Something that would represent the colours of our Indian flag and also something that was easy to prepare, that didn’t have too many ingredients and of course something that the kids would enjoy. Introducing colours in food has its limitations though, unless you are willing to use commercially available artificial food colours. Since my priority is to serve healthy & safe food to my kids at least when it is prepared at home, I had to pick between foods that are famously known for imparting the required colours to food. Carrots & spinach. You guessed it right.
While I toyed with the idea of preparing either cupcakes or idlis with these colours I wondered how neer dosa would be like. However, my chain of thoughts was broken and I totally forgot about this. To my amazement I saw these lovely coloured dosas prepared by Mrs. Nayana Shetty on one of the food groups on Facebook and I simply borrowed her recipe which was so perfect and gave the desired results. The green colour in her recipe is contributed by coriander leaves – an idea I thought was simply fabulous. The addition of coconut was wonderful too as it made the neer dosas ultra soft & delicious. I didn’t add the palak/spinach leaves that she recommended as I didn’t have any, but nevertheless the taste was outstanding.
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Knowing that the kids at home would love it, I set off to prepare them. I did take a little time though as there are two extra colours involved here, but the thought of having to see happy smiling faces early in the morning was a true motivator! My brother’s two kids, my son & my 9 month old baby – all of them enjoyed these colourful & healthy neer dosa. The basic recipe for Neer Dosa is here.
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To those who are new here, ‘neer’ means ‘water’ in the local languages (Kannada & Tulu) of Mangalore. In Konkani it is known as ‘Panpole or Panpolay’ where ‘pan or paan’ stands for ‘leaf’ denoting that these dosa/pancakes are as thin & delicate as leaves. Neer dosa got its name primarily because the batter is made very watery to resemble the consistency of slightly diluted milk.
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Ingredients
- 2 cups raw rice (Kolam or Basmati)
- 1 cup grated coconut
- salt to taste
- oil for greasing the skillet
For the saffron colour:
- 1 medium sized carrot finely grated (yield approx 3/4th cup)
For the green colour:
- 1/2 cup coriander leaves/cilantro (you can add a couple of spinach/palak leaves)
Instructions
- Wash the rice a couple of times till the water runs clear and soak for 2-3 hours or overnight. Drain the water completely and grind it along with the grated coconut to a very fine paste. Use water sparingly as it will help you achieve a fine & thick batter (that has a fine texture like toothpaste).
- Divide the batter equally in 3 bowls and then transfer one portion back into the mixer grinder and add the grated carrots and blend again. Remove into the bowl. This is your saffron coloured batter.
- Transfer another portion of white batter into the grinder, add the coriander and/or palak leaves and blend to a smooth batter. Transfer back into its bowl. This is your green coloured batter.
- Make about 1/2 cup additions of water into all the 3 bowls to achieve a milk like consistency of the batters. If its too watery, the dosa wont lift easily off the skillet, too thick and you will change the character of the dosa! Add salt to taste. Use a separate ladle to each of the bowls so that the colours don't mix.
- Heat a neer dosa skillet or a very flat non stick frying pan without tall sides, grease it with oil (you can use a halved onion poked with a fork to help smear the oil evenly) and pour a ladleful of batter into the skillet and quickly swirl it to ensure that the batter has spread evenly across the surface. Cover the skillet with a lid & allow to cook for 30-45 seconds (it cooks fast)
- Remove carefully using a wide spatula or flip the neer dosa on a steel plate. Continue the process till all the batter (all 3 colours) is used up.
- Fold the neer dosa and serve with chutney, sambar or any veg or non veg accompaniment of your choice.
Notes
The batter with the carrot mixture maybe a little thick and will make it tricky to remove the dosa from the pan - so please use your judgement her
Disclaimer
The nutritional values are only indicative.
Tried this recipe?Please leave a comment & rate the recipe below or share a photo on Instagram and tag me @ruchikrandhap
(Above Pic: Traditional Mangalorean Cast Iron Skillet for Neer Dosa)
If you liked this post, you can check the recipe for 3 coloured rice that I had posted on this day 2 years ago
yummy colourful dosas and a very happy independence day to you… today's post : http://nayanas-kitchen-kreations.blogspot.in/2013/08/meethay-ghoday-for-icc.html
Happy Independence day to you. All 3 dosas look wonderfully prepared.
Deepa
Looks so colorful. perfect for the occasion
All the three colours look amazing!
happy independence day.. Dosa looks so yummy
Shireen, thank you for the recipe. I have never made Neer Dosa before and never knew how to make. Just one question, Can you show us a picture of your Neer Dosa Skillet and where I can buy it from in Andheri / Lokhandwala area?
Hi Shireen. Thanks for posting this recipe.
I never knew how to make neer dosa and want to make it at home. Just one question, how does a neer dosa skillet looks like? and where can I get it from? a picture of the skillet will help identifying the tool 🙂
Thanks.
Hi Anjum,
You can use a regular non stick pan without tall edges. I have now updated the post with the picture of a traditional cast iron neer dosa skillet – however involves high maintenance as you need to keep it seasoned with oil at all times to avoid rust.
Colorful and delicious dosas.
Hi Shireen, I am married to a Mangalorean so this blog is a treasure trove of information to me. Great work, thanks for all the recipes!
Coming to the Neer Dosas, is it possible to make neer dosas in a non stick pan or would that change everything? (Now you know what my proficiency levels are ;))
Hi Gee, thanks so much for your lovely compliments! Yes, absolutely! You can make neer dosa in regular non stick pans – that's how I do it! Just ensure that the pan doesn't have very tall edges (not a deep pan) – just a very flat surface is required. Good luck & let me know how your experience is!
This is amazing!!! very good, Shireen.
@ Deepu Panicker: Thanks for your feedback!
Hi Shireen,
Love your recipes ! Can I substitute sona masoori for kolam in this recipe?
@ Hi Romi – thanks a lot! Well, ideally any raw rice would do although I have never tried making them with Sona masoori – not sure if it will work well (some varieties of rice are not suitable as the batter sticks badly to the pan and the neerdosa won't come off)..you could give it a try with a small batch and see how it goes! Good luck!