Ragi dosa

In Karnataka and the ragi-growing districts of Tamil Nadu, ragi dose is an everyday breakfast. The traditional version soaks whole ragi with urad dal, grinds it and ferments the batter overnight. This recipe is the instant, weekday version many homes make instead: ragi flour, a little rice flour, cumin, onion and green chilli whisked into a thin batter and poured onto a hot tawa.

The batter is poured from a height rather than spread with the ladle, the way a neer dosa or rava dosa is made, so the dosa comes out lacy, full of small holes, with crisp brown edges around a soft centre. The taste is earthy and nutty, with the cumin and onion doing the seasoning.

Rice flour is there for crispness and binding, because ragi has no gluten and a pure ragi batter gives a softer, more fragile dosa. Leave the rice flour out if you want it, but use a well-seasoned cast-iron tawa. Two tablespoons of curd in the batter adds tang. Many instant versions add a spoon of semolina (sooji) for crunch, but semolina is wheat, so leave it out when the dosa has to be gluten-free. For a plain dosa to eat with sambar, skip the onion, chilli and coriander and add a pinch of black pepper instead. Sprouted ragi flour works exactly the same way and gives a lighter colour.