Rava Dosa

Rava dosa is a popular variety of South Indian dosa which are crisp, netted and thin. They are very easy to make and need no grinding or fermentation. This recipe gives you a truly crispy rava dosa which you will make again and again.

Rava dosa is one of the quick breakfast I make on occasions. At home, we prefer the rava dosa which has onions and some spices in them.

So I usually add onions, ginger, green chilli and some spices to the batter. At times I even add some chopped cashews. Addition of these ingredients makes the dosa more healthy and tasty.

Here I am sharing my mom’s recipe of instant rava dosa which is made without curd or buttermilk. Water is used to make the batter.

You can even use curd or buttermilk instead of water to make the batter. This rava dosa recipe can also be halved or doubled or tripled.

Instant rava dosa can be served with sambar and coconut chutney.

Table of Contents

What is Rava?
Rava stands for suji or semolina or cream of wheat. Hence this dosa is named after one of its main ingredients. The type of rava used is the fine variety of rava also called as Bombay rava.

Rava is coarsely or finely ground husked wheat. Depending on the type of dish, the type of rava is used accordingly. E.g fine rava is used in making Rava Idli, Upma, sooji halwa, sheera etc.

All the three terms suji, rava, semolina and cream of wheat mean the same. In western and southern parts of India, the word ‘rava’ is used. In northern parts of India the word ‘sooji’ or ‘suji’ are used. Thus rava dosa can also be called as ‘suji ka dosa’ or ‘suji dosa’.

Along with rava, rice flour and all purpose flour (maida) are also added to the batter. You can make the suji ka dosa plain or you can spice it up by adding chopped onions, curry leaves, herbs and spices.

How is Instant Rava Dosa made?
A thin batter is made of sooji, rice flour, maida and water or buttermilk. The batter is spiced with onions, green chilies and some more herbs & spices.

The batter is then poured on a hot tawa (griddle) to get netted effect on the dosa. The dosa is cooked till golden crisp and then served hot.

To make perfect crisp instant rava dosa which has a netted texture, the batter has to be thin. So always remember that the batter should be thin and easy to flow.

Also allow some soaking time for rava or suji, so that they soften. I usually mix everything and set the batter aside for 20 to 30 minutes.

sooji dosa served in a green plate with a side of two bowls having sambar and coconut chutney on a dark black-blue board

How to make Rava Dosa
1. Take ½ cup unroasted fine rava, ½ cup rice flour and ¼ cup all-purpose flour in a bowl.

rava, rice flour and all-purpose flour in a steel mixing bowl
2. Then add ⅓ cup chopped onions, 1 or 2 green chillies (chopped), and ½ inch ginger (chopped).

chopped onions, green chillies and ginger added in the bowl
3. Also add ½ tsp crushed black pepper, ½ tsp cumin seeds, 8 to 10 curry leaves (chopped) and salt as required. You can also add 1 to 2 tablespoons of chopped cashews.

4. Add 2 to 2.5 cups water. Depending on the quality of rava or suji and rice flour, you can add less or more water – from 1.5 to 2.5 cups water. I added 2.25 cups of water. You can also use buttermilk instead of water.

5. Whisk till smooth without any lumps. The batter has to be flowing and thin. If the batter looks thick or has a medium consistency, then add more water. If the batter looks very thin and runny, then add some rice flour.

6. Cover and let the batter rest for 20 to 30 minutes. Once the batter rests, you will see that the rava and the flours have settled down and the water will be floating on top.

7. Before preparing dosa, mix the batter very well.

8. Spread some oil on the tawa. Do make sure that the tawa is hot. Keep the flame to medium or medium-high before pouring the dosa batter.

9. With a ladle pour the dosa batter. Start from the edges move towards the center.

10. If there are big or small gaps, then fill them lightly with the batter.

11. On a medium-low to medium flame, cook the dosa. If the tawa or pan becomes too hot, then you can reduce the flame.

12. When the top side looks cooked, then sprinkle ½ to 1 tsp oil on the top and sides.

13. Spread oil all over the dosa with a spoon.

14. Instant rava dosa takes a little longer time to cook than the regular Dosa.

15. Cook till the base is golden and crisp.

16. The more you cook the dosas and the more golden it becomes, the more crisp it will be. You can even cook both the sides if you want.

17. Fold and then serve instant rava dosa hot with coconut chutney and sambar. The flours settle down at the bottom of the batter. So you have to stir and mix the batter very well every time you make dosa.

18. Serve rava dosa with sambar, coconut chutney or dosa podi or any chutney of your choice.

Expert Tips
Before making rava dosa, always allow a soaking time of 20 to 30 minutes for the batter.
The batter has to be thin and of pouring consistency. Even if the batter is of medium consistency, the rava dosa will be soft and not crisp.
When pouring the batter, the tawa has to be hot. When you pour the batter, it will sizzle when it comes in contact with the hot tawa. So keep the flame to medium or medium-high.
The batter also has to be poured from a slightly more height than what is the norm. This will give you the netted effect on the instant rava dosa.
When pouring the batter, pour from the edges first and then move towards the center.
When you make the first dosa then you will come to know whether you are getting the crisp and netted effect or not. If not then you will need to add some more water. Instead of water, you can also add buttermilk to the batter.
Rava dosa takes more time to cook than the regular dosa.
When cooking instant rava dosa, you can reduce the flame if the tawa becomes too hot.
Every time before pouring the batter on tawa, you have to mix it very well as the flours and rava settle down at the bottom of the batter. After making some rava dosa, if the batter looks slightly thick, then you can add some more water.
Always use a heavy or a thick bottomed tawa or pan, so that the rava dosa does not stick to the pan. You can even use cast iron pan.

With the basic instant rava dosa recipe, many variations can be made. Increase or decrease any of the herbs and spices and make a variation. Example: you can make pepper rava dosa by increasing black pepper or onion rava dosa by increasing amount of onions.

Add ghee or butter and make ghee rava dosa or butter rava dosa. Serve rava dosa with potato masala and you get rava masala dosa.