Set Dosa Recipe | Sponge Dosa

Set Dosa or Set Dose is a popular breakfast recipe from South India which are vegan, soft, spongy, thick, and incredibly delicious. These dosas are served in sets of 2 or 3 with chutney or kurma. 

About the recipe

Set Dosa is a popular breakfast recipe in the Mangalore Udupi region. The batter for set dosa is prepared using rice, urad dal, methi, poha, and salt. 

This Dosa gets its name - Set Dosa - because more than one Dosa is generally served on a plate in all restaurants. In the early days, four dosas were served in one plate, but as this was very filling and people could not finish the entire plate, they started ordering half set (2 dosas) Dosa. As a result, most restaurants started to serve 3 dosas in a plate, along with chutney and sambhar or sagu - and this has become a norm. 

The proper fermentation of the batter with the addition of poha and fenugreek gives you soft, spongy, lighter, and fluffy Dosa and thus the name sponge dosa. 

Ingredients for Set Dosa

• 2 cups Rice
• ½ cup Urad Dal
• 1 teaspoon Fenugreek seeds (Methi)
• 1 cup Poha / Flattened rice / Avalakki (Check tips)
• Salt, to taste
• Vegetable or Coconut oil, for cooking dosa

How to make Set Dosa or Sponge Dosa?

Set Dosa Batter

• Wash and soak rice, urad dal, and fenugreek seeds together in water for 4-5 hours. Nicely drain them.
• Wash poha and grind it with rice, dal, and fenugreek seeds by adding water in a mixie jar. Add water little by little. 
• Grind it to form a thick and smooth batter.
• Cover it and allow it to ferment atleast for 7 hours. I keep it overnight (Do not keep it in the refrigerator)
• You will notice that volume of batter is increased after fermentation. Now add salt and mix well.

How to cook set Dosa or sponge Dosa

• Heat a non-stick pan or tava on medium to medium-high flame.
• Pour a laddle full of batter and spread it gently. Drizzle oil on the sides. (you do not have to spread it like other dosas) 
• Cover it with a lid and leave it for 30 seconds.
• When it becomes light golden at the bottom, and you see the holes on top, flip the Dosa on the other side and cook uncovered till it's golden brown. Drizzle oil if needed. 
• Repeat the process for remaining batter.

Tips:

• I have used thin poha (beaten rice). If you are using thick poha, just reduce the amount by half.
• I prefer cooking the Dosa with coconut oil.
• The dosa batter should not be too thin or too thick. Else it will not ferment well. Once the batter is fermented, check the consistency and adjust the water accordingly.
• You can use raw rice, parboiled rice (idli rice) or sona masoori or any regular white rice to make the dosa batter. 
• You can even reduce the amount of urad dal to ¼ cup if desired.

How to serve set Dosa?

Serve dosas with a dollop of butter or any chutney of your choice or vegetable kurma south Indian style. Here are some of the chutney recipes for set dosa. 

Set Dosa vs. Uttapam

Set Dosa and Uttapam are both thick, soft Dosa, but the batter for uttapam does not contain any poha. Instead, it is topped with onion, green chilies, or podi varieties in Andra. 

You can uttapam with dosa idli batter or simple leftover dosa batter made using urad dal and rice. You can check here. 

Popular Dosa Recipes

• 2 in one Idli dosa batter 
• 7 varieties with one dosa batter
• Surnali dosa or Konkani appam 
• Ragi dosa
• Mushti dosa
• Crispy masala dosa - must try 
• Instant wheat dosa

Chutney recipes for Dosa

• Green coconut chutney
• 5 chutney recipes  - popular post!!
• Tomato Chutney
• Vegetable Kurma

Recipe card

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