Neer Dosa are soft, thin, light and lacy crepes from the Mangalorean cuisine. These soft crepes made with a finely ground batter of rice, water and salt. No fermentation is required for making these naturally gluten-free and vegan crepes.
Rinse the rice grains a few times. Soak them in enough water for 4 to 5 hours or overnight.
Later drain the soaked rice and add them in a blender or a mixer-grinder.
Add water for grinding or blending the rice. Do not add a lot of water as then you won't be able to grind the rice finely.
Grind to a smooth and fine batter and then transfer the batter to another bowl or pan.
Add water again to get a thin, flowing, runny and watery consistency. I added 2 cups of water.
The addition of water depends on the quality and kind of rice. So add water as needed.
Then add salt as required and mix well.
Making neer dosa
Heat a cast iron pan or a non stick pan on medium to medium-high heat. Drizzle ½ teaspoon of oil.
Just spread the oil all over with a spoon or small piece of cotton kitchen napkin or with half of an onion.
Stir the batter in the bowl with the ladle. Then fill the ladle with the batter.
Pour the batter moving outwards to inside like the way we do for rava dosa.
Fill in the large gaps too with some of the batter.
Cover with a lid and cook the dosa till the batter firms up. Don't brown it or flip it. The edges will also separate when the dosa is cooked. You can drizzle a bit of oil on the top of neer dosa if you prefer.
Make a triangular fold on the tawa itself.
Then remove the dosa and place it in a plate. Make neer dosa this way and place them separately without them touching each other in a plate.
Serve neer dosa hot or warm with coconut chutney, veg sagu, veg korma.
Notes
Batter Consistency
Keep in mind that the batter consistency for neer dosa should be runny, watery, thin and flowing. It should not be thick or with a medium consistency. If the batter has a pouring consistency, then you will get lacy appearance of neer dose. If you cannot easily pour the batter, then you'll need to add some more water to thin it down.
A thicker batter or a very thin batter will make for cracks in the neer dosa. So make sure to have a pourable, thin consistency.
If the batter becomes too thin, then the dosa will fall flat and break while lifting. In this case, add some rice flour to slightly thicken the batter.
Cooking Neer Dose
You do need to heat the skillet or tawa very well before you pour the batter. Keep the heat to medium or medium-high. Remember to use a well seasoned cast iron tawa or skillet, so that the batter does not stick.
Before making each neer dose, stir the batter very well with the ladle as the ground rice particles tends to settle over time.
Variations
You can consider adding about 2 to 3 tablespoons of fresh grated coconut while grinding the batter. It gives a lovely flavor.
You can use Indian rice varieties like sona masuri, surti kolam or parimal rice. Basmati rice will also work.
Storage
Once the neer dosa are made, then don’t stack them up while they are hot as then they will stick to each other. Once cooled then you can stack them up. Or you can place a parchment paper between each neer dose.
Neer dosa are best enjoyed hot or warm. But you can also eat them when they cool as they remain soft and taste good. Thereby making them a good option to pack in a tiffin box.