Oats Dosa – Healthy Dosa

This fantastic nutritious packed Dosa made with majority Oats and lesser Rice is a perfect start (breakfast) or end (dinner) for the day. More of the Oats and less of the Rice makes this a lot easier to grind, a task that can become cumbersome at time. The flavor of the Oats in the Dosa is a great plus and makes us wonder why it was not like this to start with. Oats are known to be high fiber and great for folks who have cholesterol issues. Enjoy and always stay healthy. Thanks Meena Venkateswaran!

Ingredients:

Instant Oats – 3 cups
Long Grain Rice – 1 cup
Urad Daal – 1 cup
Fenugreek Seeds – 1 tsp
Salt – 2 tsp or to taste
Oil – for pan frying
Water:
1.5 cups to grind the Rice and Daal
2.5 cups to soak and grind the Oats

Method:

Soaking Procedure:
1. Wash and Soak the Rice in a ample water, along with the Fenugreek seeds for about 8 hours.
2. 1 hour prior to grinding, soak the Oats in 2.5 cups water
3. Also, at the same time, wash and soak the Daal in ample water.

Grinding Procedure:
1. Drain the water out of the Rice and the Fenugreek Seeds and Grind with 1 Cup fresh water.
2. To that add drained Daal and grind. You may need to add 1/2 cup fresh water to help grind well.
3. Grind till the batter is smooth and pour into a big pot/pan with ample room for it to grow in case of excess fermenting.
4. Next grind the Oats along with the water it has been soaking in.
5. Grind till smooth.
6. Pour into the dish that has the Rice and Daal batter.

Fermenting Procedure:
1. Mix the batter very well, preferably with your hands, in one direction.
2. Cover the dish and store in a warm place to allow it to ferment.
3. If you live in a warm place, just set it aside and allow it to ferment for about 8 hours and not more than 10 hours.
4. If you live in a cooler place, warm up your oven to the lowest temperature. Turn it off and then place the batter in there. Allow it to ferment for about 8 hours and not more than 10 hours.
5. After 8 hours, take the batter and transfer to the refrigerator.

Preparation Procedure:
1. Add Salt to the Batter and mix well.
2. With this recipe, you may not need to add any additional water to get to the dosa consistency, but add very little if you feel you do need to.
3. Heat the Tawa or the Skillet on medium-high and allow it to heat up really well.
4. Once hot, season the tawa with a few drops of Oil, smear it and wipe off.
5. With a ladle, pour a ladle-full of batter in the center and in a circular motion spread it going outwards till all the batter has spread.
6. Allow it to cook on the bottom side.
7. When there are no wet-spots on the top-side, drizzle a few drops of Oil and allow it to cook.
8. Once the bottom side is done, this will take only about 2-3 minutes, loosen the edges of the dosa and flip it. Allow the other side to cook.
9. Cook for about 1 minute and take it off the tawa and serve hot.

Serving Suggestions:
1. You can serve this with Coconut Chutney, Chutney Powder with some Oil or as a Masala Dosa with some Sambar.

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0 thoughts on “Oats Dosa – Healthy Dosa

    1. Hi Manjula,

      This recipe was meant to be a healthy take on traditional dosas so we have not tried it with rice or rice flour.

  1. the oats dosa sounds really good, haven’t made it yet to comment on the taste but just wondering can the white rice be substituted by brown or wild rice?
    Sujata

    1. Hi Sujata,
      Yes, you can. I just made a batch with brown rice, oats and used split Urad dal with skin. Unfortunately, it did not rise but there was fermentation and it tasted great 🙂

      1. Hi Anuja,
        That sounds like a healthier alternative 🙂
        Does the method stay exactly the same when we use the brown rice and split urad?
        Also, can it be refrigerated for a few days if not consumed the same day or does adding the oats make it bad in the fridge?
        Thanks in anticipation!!
        Shilpa

  2. Hello
    I have been trying most of ur recipes & truly they turn out good !
    Just a question on the above recipe.
    Can we restore batter made in fridge for couple of days or more.

  3. hi hetal and anuja
    i bought the castiron pan but when i tired dosa it is sticking can u help me out..before using the pan for dosa i have fried rotis so is that a problem plz help me out regarding this

  4. Hi,

    How are you? I need one suggestion from you. My grinder of India has not been working properly since last few days, so I am thinking to buy one from here. Can you suggest me something that will be good for our indian recipe purposes such as dosa, idli, and grinding dry spices? Thanks a ton.

    1. Hi Lajja,

      If you are used to using an Indian style grinder, you will probably be disappointed with any blender you buy here. They do sell ones with powerful motors but they are very expensive. For the same or less amount of money you can probably purchase an Indian style grinder from your local Indian grocery store or online. The benefit is that you will get different size jars that will do the majority of your wet and dry grinding.

      1. Hetal,

        I remember in one of your videos you said it is from Bed, Bath and Beyond…. I dint get it. Can u put up a link of it. I hunted all over the place, but dint get it 🙁

  5. Hi Hetal & Anuja,

    Wow! Am a big oats fan and I just love this recipe….A quick question though…Can I substitute brown rice for white rice?

    Thanks
    Shalini

  6. Hi Hetal & Anuja,

    I tried out this oats dosa recipe of mine. My in-laws were away on pilgrimage and I was baby sitting my 11 month old son. I wanted to try out something different, that’s when I came across this recipe of yours. I had oats at home and was planning to prepare either upma or dosa out of it. Dosas came out really well. I followed the procedure you have explained to the T, only the quantities were reduced to half to suffice for two persons. I also tried out the kande ki sabzi to go with it.

    Thanks,
    Devi

  7. Hi Anuja/Hetal didi,

    Can i use broken urad for this recipe? Will i have to add a little more urad than the amt u mentioned? Actually i use it for my regular idli dosa batter so i don have whole urad stocked up in my pantry! 🙁

    Thanks,
    Priya

  8. Hi,Anuja and Sheethal,
    Iwant to share one more recipe for mulaga podi,which is very tasty.Hope this may be useful for learners.
    Urad daal 1 cup
    Channa daal 1 cup
    Dhania 1/2 cup
    Jeera 1 tbsp
    Ground nuts 1 cup
    Red chillies 1 cup
    (add or remove according to personal taste)
    Hing a pinch
    Salt
    Roast each and every material seperatrely,to light brown.Lastly dry grind it in to a coarse/smooth powder .
    Add salt.Store it.Serve with ghee..

  9. Hi Hetal N Anuja
    g8 idea i tried vth buttermilk also it has a good flavor.
    Ur Receipes r very clear i hav tried some of dem . Its awesome taste. Thnk Q

  10. try this receipe with Long grain Brown Rice. I have been making Idli’s and Dosa’s with the Long Grain Brown rice instead of the white rice.

  11. Lovely idea..however i have question.Im a student and would love to save on some time.We get Urad dal flour and rice flour.I usually use this combination for dosa.Can i add oats powder (do we even get something like this????) to this mix,add water and so forth?
    Im sorry,but if anyone has tried it..pls suggest the measurements.

    1. Hi Deepa,
      Though we have never tried it, here is what makes sense in theory, hopefully it will work practically as well 🙂
      Take one part each of rice flour and daal flour and 3 parts Oats, grind and allow it to ferment. It should work 🙂
      Regarding Oats Powder – have not ever heard of it….
      🙂

      1. There is sold, at least in American and European grocery stores, Oat Flour – it’s mostly bought and used by people who have Celiac disease, which is an allergy to gluten, a component of wheat and barley. In America you’re more likely to find oat flour in a “health food” store but it’s in some regular grocery stores too.
        You can grind oatmeal (yes, that’s “quaker oats” – either regular or quick-cook/instant) in the blender (dry, before cooking or soaking) and make your own oat flour. This is cheaper than buying the special oat flour from oats that were grown far away from wheat, to make sure they have no gluten accidentally in them!

  12. The recipe was perfect. The dosas turned out beautifully. I still have my husband fooled. He hates oatmeal, but loves the dosas.

    Can you post a recipe for “aapam”, a white, fluffy, sort of sweetish type of dosa that is eaten with egg curry?

    Thanks a bunch.

  13. hi both of u
    please put the reciepe of maysur masala dosa i coudnt find that reciepe from anywhere ok love u both

  14. Hi – thanks for the recipe. Can half the batter be frozen for later? At what stage should I freeze?
    Thanks,
    Sabiha

    1. Hi Sahiba,

      We have frozen regular Dosa Batter and it freezes really well, but have never tried this one 🙁 Let us know if you do experiment and try it out!

      BTW: try making Uttapams out of this batter – YUM!

  15. Hi, i need to know were can i get Oats, can i find them in indian grocery store, or in american grocery store, is it same as quaker plain oats.

    thanks you.

  16. Hi Hetal & Anuja,

    Just wanted to share another version of this dosa. I substituted the oats with ragi flour ( which is available in any Indian grocery store). It turned out very well & was an instant hit with my family. But let me warn you that the color of the batter & the dosa is not very appealing!

    Devi

  17. Hi
    wow nice receipe….
    can you please add receipe of that Powder chutney with oil.
    i know its made of some daals, but do not know how to make it.

    thanks

    sss

  18. Hi Hetal & Anuja,

    I made oats dosa today for breakfast..it was super super delicious, me & my husband really loved it…
    we feel that compared to traditional dosa, oats dosa’s are more filling for the stomach, and also feel so light.
    Thanks for sharing this recipe.

  19. hi,
    4 cups of oats soaked in buttermilk.
    any kind of rice 1 cup.
    mix them with chillis and cuminseeds.
    this batter makes nice dosa too.
    i tried this somany times. this goes well with peanut chutney.only thing season tawa with oil and rub with onion.

    thank u
    madhura

      1. i do grind my soaked oats with
        soaked rice(brown rice,boiled rice,longgrain rice etc) just like dosa batter

  20. Hi,
    Just love the way u guys make this recipe. Going to make it this weekend. Could you make a video demo on how to make Obbattu/Holige/ Puran Poli?.

    Thanks in advance & keep up the good work !!

  21. i prepare idli dosa batter regularly, as we are south indians and prepare to have them for breakfast most of the days.
    my query is will it work if we just add ground oats to already prepared dosa batter and make dosas or do they have to be fermented along with the batter..

    1. Hi Soumya,

      We have not tried it but one of our other viewers mentioned that she adds oats to rawa dosa. Rawa dosa is not fermented so it must work. The reason we add it before fermenting is that we want to save time and grind everything at one time. Who wants to take out the blender again and wash again? 😉

      1. I have tried making Moong Dal + Oats Dosa which doesn’t need fermentation. Soak 1 cup of moong dal for about an hour. Grind it along with some coriander leaves, ginger, and few green chillies. Add 1/2 cup of oats and salt and continue grinding till you get the dosa batter consistency. This dosa batter can be used immediately and does not need any fermentation. This is healthier too since there is no rice involved at all. It tastes great with coconut chutney and sambhar.

  22. hi both of u,i have one quick question plz do tell me is parboiled rice and long grain rice same?do reply as soon as possible as im going to try it.thanks in advance.

    1. Hi Sonia,

      No, parboiled rice and long grain rice are not the same. Parboiled means that the rice has been pre-cooked and then dried again. Long grain rice is raw rice.

  23. Hey anuja and hetal,

    AWESOME recipes for starters like us. Hats off !!!
    my family is planning a road trip for 3-4 days and i am not ready to spend so much money on food. Can you please share some ideas on what i can cook and carry along with me including recipes which dont need a fridge.
    I am here in US and am sure your ideas will be great for a lot of viewers.

    Thanks a lot!!

    1. I think this will make a great tip for a lot of us! The ones I have tried are –
      chapathis and parothas, with some chutney powder and oil smeared after preparing them
      sometimes we buy a small rice cooker after reaching the destination or take a microwave rice cooker from home, make pullav with some frozen veggies and buy some yogurt at that place
      roasted upma rava with all the seasoning (with enough oil for the upma) in it can be carried to the destination, heat some water in rice cooker, add the rava to the boiling water, cook it as necessary and eat it with pickle or chutney powder

      1. Hi Seema,
        I’d Like to share what i did when we went on a 4 day trip…i’ve taken maggi packets and cooked it the microwave ( open the maggi packet in a bowl n add the masala and 1 cup of water and microwave it for 3 min and mix it with a fork and put it back in the microwave for 2 mins and its ready to eat!!)and we also taken a small rice cooker to cook rice n u could carry pickles with u tht will help u a lot, and if u have the time you could prepare a big batch of lemon rice or tamarind rice and carry it in ziploc’s, it will be good for 2 days.Hope this helps u Seema…

    2. Hi Seema,

      Looks like some really good suggestions from our viewers. You can also make spinach or methi parathas. They taste really good with pickle. Invest in a good ice box (cooler) so that you can carry things that need to be refrigerated…just keep adding fresh ice as it melts. This way, you can make several subzis along with you.

  24. Hi girls,
    I am also planning to buy a cast iron pan because everytime I make dosa on a non-stick pan, my spatula starts shedding at the tips since it is high heat. Can you tell me what brand of cast iron skillet is good? I loved yours. Thanks a lot.

  25. Hi Hetal and Anuja,

    I found Urad Daal at my local grocery store, but the beans look very different than the ones you used – mine are black with a little white oval. Is this an okay substitute in this recipe (and others on the site such as Khaman)??

    Thanks!

    1. Hi Stephanie,

      The urad daal you have has the skin on it and it will not work for dosa or khaman. You can use it to make Daal Makhani. You need to get the peeled one for these recipes.

      1. Hi Hetal,
        we can remove that skin by rubbing nicely while washing but only after soaking it.This method really works well for soft idllis,but takes more time.

    2. To be honest, the whole Urad Daal you have got is supposed to be healthier than the generally used white ones. I have tried them for other kinds of dosas (I have not tried oats one yet) and I didn’t have any problems. Just the color of the finished product looks different (which is fine as long as it is not for parties/guests).

  26. Here is a tip that you can share with your viewers…
    1) you can cut an onion (like 1/4th on the top, horizontally) and rub the dosa tawa/pan with it when the tawa is hot. The onion juice coats a layer on the tawa and you don’t need any oil! After sometime the onion will not have any juice left. You can use the other side or use a new one. You can use this “used onion” for some other dish instead of throwing it away.
    Due to some reason I couldn’t even touch oil for 2 weeks and this is what my mom used! It is totally fat-free!
    2) If you want to use little oil, you can use this onion trick.. add little oil on the tawa, use the onion to spread the oil on the tawa. So the dosa will have some oil and it will get that crunch but will not be too much.

        1. I have used knife but after couple of dosas it is not comfortable. Just having a bigger/ticker slice seems to work well.

  27. Hi,

    Sounds very healthy… quick question .I have old fashioned oats(quacker brand) with me, can I use it to make this dosa?

    1. Hi Nusrat,

      This recipe was given to us by an aunt so we followed it but you can use the oats that you have.

    2. I used old fashion oat and it worked perfact. I also grinded them in coffee grinder and then it was easy to mix with the with the rest of the stuff ifollowed recipe. I will never go back other kind of dosa my family loved it as masala dosa

  28. Hetal, Anuja,

    Oats is a good option!

    Have you guys tried steel cut oats? That is supposed to be the best.

    Thanks

    1. Hi R,

      No, we have not tried this recipe with steel cut oats but the texture is really hard so either you’d have to soak them for longer or grind them really well. If you give it a try, we’d love to hear your feedback.

  29. Thanks! What an awesome recipe, this is my menu for the memorial day weekend. Can you tell me the name of that chutney, I have eaten it before and love it. Looking forward for some more oatmeal recipes now.

      1. Hi Hetal and Anuja,

        Thank you very much for this wonderful healthy recipe.
        I would like to share the mulaga podi recipe with you guys and it will taste better than the store bought ones.
        1 cup urad dhal
        1 cup channa dhal
        1/2 cup whole red chillies or you can also reduce or add more chillies depending upon your taste.
        1/2 cup sesame seeds
        Fry the above ingredients one by one on the tava with few drops of sesame oil until golden brown. Then grind it with the spice grinder and make sure to grind it coarsely. Lastly add hing, brown sugar 1tbl or add more if you want to (i use brown sugar to replace jaggery)and add salt and grind it one more time and its ready to have with dosa with sesame oil. You can store this in the fridge up to 6 months.

  30. Hetal & Anuja healthy recipe.

    I’m planning to buy Cast Iron Dosa Pan but would like to know whether it requires oil to make dosa. Usually i make dosas without oil in not stick pan and i don’t use cooking spray too. But the only thing non-stick pan doesn’t give the flavor as u mentioned in the video. It cooks fast but the flavor of the methis seeds will not come-up in non-stick pans…Pls girls i’m looking forward for your reply.

    1. Hi Sha,

      You have to season the cast iron pan with oil, but once it’s seasoned, you do not have to use oil. The dosa will still come off. The key is to have a well seasoned pan.

      1. what do you mean by ”once seasoned?”Does it mean we can put oil just once when we start the whole process…or for every dosa we need to use oil?

        1. Hi Deepa,
          Well, it kind of depends on your Dosa Tawa. Some of them are so well seasoned that they barely need any oil (the cast iron ones) and if you are using a non-stick, it may need a little more seasoning. The best way to tell is when you feel that your dosas are not coming off so easily once they are cooked, season your tawa before you make the next dosa.
          Hope that helps 🙂

  31. Hi Hetal and Anuja

    Replace water with buttermilk for soaking oats it will add a wonderful flavour.

    swapna

  32. Hi Anuja and Hetal,

    This is a great idea. Wonderful job!

    It will be really useful if you give us more oats and flax seed recipes. Also, I think you can add some flaxseed powder in this batter. That makes it a complete healthy tiffin for people having cholestrol issues!

    Thanks a lot. This recipe definitely helps me.

    1. Thanks Subbu,

      We do not recommend using flaxseed powder in this recipe. We have heard that flaxseed should not be heated on a tawa. It is ok to bake with them.

      1. Hetal, I see lots of recipes for flaxseed pancakes on the internet, and pancakes are cooked on a griddle, so… I’m curious where you heard otherwise, if you recall.

        I’m so grateful to you and Anuja for all I’ve been learning in the last month, which is when I realized that cooking can be fun; my winter entertainment, in fact, learning to cook Indian food. My house smells so good now!! I wish you had a “donation” button on your site (or maybe I just haven’t found it?) — you two are SO worth supporting with our love and contributions.

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