Neer Dosa or Neer Dose is a soft, thin, light, addictive lacy rice crepe prepared using rice batter. One of the easiest dosas to make, and no fermentation is required. This is a popular recipe from the Mangalore Udupi Tulunadu region.
You can serve neer dosa with chutney and sambar. These crepes are dairy-free, vegan, and gluten-free.
Why is it called Neer Dosa?
Neer means water in Kannada and Tulu which translates to water dosa. Neeru dosa is famous for its simplicity in preparation, no fermentation, no lentils are used, and, obviously, the taste is addictive. The rice is soaked and then ground to the thin, smooth batter of water or milk or buttermilk consistency with which thin crepes are cooked. A good neer dose will have holes when you pour the batter on a hot pan.
These are also called pan polo in Konkani cuisine and are the most loved recipe by Mangaloreans. When there is pan polo batter at home, we like to serve it for breakfast with chutney and with lunch or dinner as an accompaniment with any curry or gravy. It goes well with anything,
Secret tip: If you find difficulty in making crisp rava dosa, next time, use leftover batter and add rava and maida. Just see how crispy your dosas will be.
Ingredients for Neer Dosa (Rice Crepes)
- 2 cups Raw rice
- ½ cup Grated coconut
- 3 ½ cups Water; adjust accordingly
- Salt, to taste
- Oil for cooking dosa, I prefer coconut oil for authentic taste
How to make Neer Dosa?
Wash and soak the rice
Nicely wash and soak the rice for atleast 1 hour. You can even soak it overnight if you plan to make it early for breakfast.
Neer dosa batter
Drain the water completely from the rice. Add the soaked rice along with grated coconut to a wet grinder or mixie jar and grind it to a smooth paste adding ½ to 1 cup of water. Do not add all water at once while grinding.
Now transfer this to a bowl, add salt and more water, maybe another 2 to 2/12 cups, till the batter is of milk or pouring consistency.
How to cook neer dosa?
I highly recommend using a well-greased cast iron pan or nonstick pan for cooking dosas. The pan should be very hot while cooking dosas
Pour a laddle full of batter and tilt the pan slightly. Don't worry about the shape while making this dosa. Drizzle coconut oil, and cover it with a lid. Cook on a medium flame for 1 minute.
Open the lid and, using a spatula, fold the Dosa to form a semi-circle (you can stop at this point) and fold again to form a triangle.
Pro Tips
- The thin batter is the key to making good neer dose. The batter should be of flowing consistency. Good neer dose batter will have holes that form on the surface as soon as you pour the batter on a hot pan.
- If you are making dosa for the first time, I highly recommend you experiment with the consistency of the batter. We cook it on a daily basis and thus know what the right consistency is. For 2 cups of rice, start with 3 cups of water, and you may go up to 4 cups depending on the quality of the rice.
- The batter will have a coarse texture if you add a lot of water while grinding itself. So make sure you add water only after you have a smooth batter.
- You can skip oil if using a nonstick pan, but I love the flavor of coconut oil and use it while cooking the dosa, even on a nonstick pan.
What to serve with Neer Dosa?
Neer dosa is a special recipe that can be served with almost anything. From a simple dollop of butter to a combination of ghee and sugar or honey, jaggery syrup (godda ravo), coconut jaggery mixture (churnu), sweetened coconut milk (narla rosu), any type of chutney, coconut-based gravies or even with North Indian curries.
In restaurants, neer dose is accompanied by coconut chutney, sambar, kori gassi, shrimp (prawns curry), and ghee roast.
Storage suggestion
Neer dosa tastes the best when served hot. Since this dosa remains soft even when they cool down, you can cook and keep the dosas ready in a hot box or air-tight conatiner.
This is also one of the best lunch box, tiffin box, and snack box option.
Secret tip : Do not put the dosa one over the other when hot, as they will stick to each other.
FAQ
Neer dosa can be made with dosa rice, good quality raw rice like sona masuri, surti kolam, ponni. Even basmati can be used (both brown and white). The taste and texture of dosa will vary depending on the type of rice you use.
Any leftover batter can be stored in the refrigerator and used for upto 2 days. If the batter thickens, add water and adjust the consistency. You can also make rava dosa with leftover neer dosa batter.
Neer dosa can be made only with rice and water, and you can skip coconut completely. In this case, you will miss the traditional Mangalorean homemade flavor, and the dosas will also not be soft like the one you see in the picture.
If the batter is too thin, too thick, or coarse, all the 3 cases neer dosa will crack. Thin dosas will stick to the pan and crack, and thick or coarse batter dosa will become dense at some points and break while folding.
If you have added more water than needed to the batter, your neer dosa will become sticky and mushy and not good to taste.
Non-stick pan or well-greased cast iron pan works the best for cooking neer dosas.
Traditionally freshly grated coconut is used to make dosa. If it is not available, you can use frozen-grated coconut or dry-grated coconut. If none of these are available, you can even use coconut milk instead of water for the flavor to make the dosas.
Popular Mangalorean Recipes
- Mangalorean buns (banana buns)
- Ragi manni (ragi halbai)
- Kori rotti (gassi)
- Panchakajjaya
- Ponsa mulik (halasina bonda)
- Charamburi upkari (murmura)
- Disco coffee
- Patholi
If you are interested in checking more Indian breakfast recipes, I have some easy ones for you here.
Recipe card
Neer Dosa Recipe | Rice Crepes (Vegan and Gluten Free)
Equipment
- 1 Non stick pan or cast iron tawa
Ingredients
- 2 cups Raw rice
- ½ cup Grated coconut
- 3 ½ cups Water, adjust accordingly
- Salt, to taste
- Oil for cooking dosa, I prefer coconut oil for authentic taste
Instructions
Wash and soak rice
- Nicely wash and soak the rice for atleast 1 hour. You can even soak it overnight if you plan to make it early for breakfast.2 cups Raw rice
Neer dosa batter
- Drain the water completely from the rice. Add the soaked rice along with grated coconut to a wet grinder or mixie jar and grind it to a smooth paste adding ½ to 1 cup of water. Do not add all water at once while grinding.½ cup Grated coconut, 3 ½ cups Water, adjust accordingly
- Now transfer this to a bowl, add salt and more water, maybe another 2 to 2/12 cups, till the batter is of milk or pouring consistency.Salt, to taste
How to cook neer dosa
- I highly recommend using a well-greased cast iron pan or nonstick pan for cooking dosas. The pan should be very hot while cooking dosas
- Pour a laddle full of batter and tilt the pan slightly. Don't worry about the shape while making this dosa. Drizzle coconut oil, and cover it with a lid. Cook on a medium flame for 1 minute.Oil for cooking dosa, I prefer coconut oil for authentic taste
- Open the lid and, using a spatula, fold the Dosa to form a semi-circle (you can stop at this point) and fold again to form a triangle.
Notes
- The thin batter is the key to making good neer dose. The batter should be of flowing consistency. Good neer dose batter will have holes that form on the surface as soon as you pour the batter on a hot pan.
- If you are making dosa for the first time, I highly recommend you experiment with the consistency of the batter. We cook it on a daily basis and thus know what the right consistency is. For 2 cups of rice, start with 3 cups of water, and you may go up to 4 cups depending on the quality of the rice.
- The batter will have a coarse texture if you add a lot of water while grinding itself. So make sure you add water only after you have a smooth batter.
- You can skip oil if using a nonstick pan, but I love the flavor of coconut oil and use it while cooking the dosa, even on a nonstick pan.
Nutrition
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Prajakta
I love neer dosa and always order it when I visit any Indian restaurant. I will save this recipe so I can try it at home too.
Clarice
I have never had neer dosa but I would love to try this. Thank you for sharing the recipe. Looks very easy to make. Appreciate the secret tip too. Will try to make one this Saturday.
Ebony
I made these today for a snack and they were divine! I loved complimenting them with chutney. They're light, airy and very easy to make!
khoingn | The Broad Life
I'm sure this one will be a good alternative for the rice that I eat daily. I want to have a try.
Fransic verso
This seems an easy and yummy recipe to try it. I would love to try this for breakfast and see how it taste. Thank you for sharing!