Masala dosa
Preparation Time
32 minutes
Cooking Time
38 minutes
Difficulty Level
easy
Meal Type
Breakfast
Serves 8
Key Ingredients
- Sona masoori rice
About This Recipe
Masala dosa is a plain fermented crepe cooked a shade thinner than usual and folded around a turmeric-yellow potato palya. Cook the palya before the first dosa goes on, so it is ready to spoon in.
The batter is the classic three-to-one mix of rice and urad dal, soaked, ground and fermented the same way as for any dosa. The palya is the point of difference: potatoes boiled and mashed coarse, then cooked with onion, green chilli and ginger in a tempering of mustard seeds that crackle in oil, turmeric giving the filling its colour. The dosa is folded over the palya, never rolled, so the filling steams inside the crisp shell.
Sona masoori is a medium-grain rice and makes a good dosa batter. The fenugreek goes into the soak with the urad. The plain dosa is the same batter without the filling, and the grain itself is covered in our guide to chawal (rice).
Ingredient List
Serving Size:
1x
2x
3x
Batter
- Sona masoori rice — 1 1/2 cups
- Urad dal (white, dhuli) — 1/2 cup
- Fenugreek Seeds — 1 tsp
- Salt, for the batter — 1 tsp
- Water, for grinding and thinning — 2 cups
Palya
- Potato, medium — 3 pieces
- Onion, medium — 1 piece
- Green chilli — 1 piece
- Ginger, finely chopped — 1 tsp
- Turmeric Powder — 1/2 tsp
- Mustard Seeds — 1 tsp
- Curry leaves (fresh, or a few dried) — 8 leaves
- Water, for cooking the potatoes — 1 cup
- Salt, for the palya — 1/2 tsp
- Water, for the palya — 1/2 cup
For the tawa
- Groundnut oil — 2 tbsp
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Serving Suggestions
Tips for Cooking Masala dosa
The batter for masala dosa pours a shade thinner than for a plain dosa, so the shell crisps through while the centre stays soft. Cook the palya until it is nearly dry; watery potato leaks through the dosa and steams it soft. Fold over the middle third only, leaving the crisp edges bare. Keep the tawa hot through the batch, and let each dosa brown at the edges before you fold it.
Chef’s Note
The fold matters: spoon the palya into the centre, fold the edges over to close it, and the potato finishes steaming inside the shell. The batter and oil come to about 212 kcal per dosa with 6.0 g of protein and 2.7 g of fibre; the potato palya is not counted, so the real figure runs a shade higher.
Per serving (approx.): 212 kcal, protein 6 g, carbs 36 g, fat 4.4 g, fibre 2.7 g. Computed from IFCT 2017 / USDA values for the listed quantities. Measures: 1 cup = 240 ml, 1 tbsp = 15 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml.
Happy Cooking
!!
ByCOWBERRY
Aug 18, 2026
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