When you think about Karnataka food, different things come to your mind – like Gokak Kardantu, Belgaum Kunda, Davanagere benne dose etc. These places have become synonymous with these popular dishes. I have been on the lookout for Davangere benne dose for a very long time. I had previously posted a version of benne dose here. Last week when I was going through my recipe collection – if some of you remember, I had mentioned earlier that my dad had given me a huge collection of recipes that he collected over the years, just for me. Love you dad – I found an article about Davanagere food. And there was a recipe for benne dose. I cannot believe I had missed reading this recipe!. Better late than never.
So I immediately decided to make it and declared to V that he will have these dosas for next day’s breakfast. When I started, I realized that there were some confusions about the recipe. So wherever I got confused, I just went with my instinct. Ohh these dosas –along with its two sides, which make a huge difference – were just out of the world. I want to make this for my parents when they visit next time.
The article says we have to use ‘Jaya thick rice’. Since that is not available here, I used idli rice. It mentions, we have to wash some rice, dry it and make rice flour, but the quantity is not mentioned. I just used rice flour. It also says we can make the dosas 1hr after making the batter, I was not so sure about that. So I kept it for fermentation overnight. The quantity was enough for 3 days for two of us. After making the batter, I took 1/3rd of it out and kept for fermentation. Remaining, I refrigerated. About 1 cup of batter was left out that day. Next day I took out another 1/3rd and mixed the 1 cup left out fermented batter. Let it rest for about 30mins and made dosas. They came out really well. Repeated the same for last batch.
The article says, these dosas are served with bhaji and chutney. While the bhaji is quite bland, the chutney is made very spicy. It is an experience in itself to eat the dosas with these two sides. It also mentions that for the chutney, a special chutney masala that is readily available in shops is used, unfortunately the masala recipe is not given but the article says that the masala is made of moggu, cinnamon and cardamom. Since I did not have moggu, I used cloves. The chutney was very very flavorful.
Give it a try atleast once. I am sure you will love it, like we did.
Ingredients for dosa:
1 cup urad dal
2 and 1/2 cups idli rice/dosa rice
1/2 cup rice flour
1 cup poha(avalakki)
1/2 tea spn methi(fenugreek) seeds
Butter
Salt
Method:
Soak urad dal, methi seeds and rice for 1 hr. Wash poha in water.
Grind all together to a soft batter. Now add rice flour, salt and grind again (or mix well with a spoon).
Keep it aside for 4-5hrs.
Heat tava and spread a thin dosa. Add some butter pieces. Flip the dosa and fry for a min. Flip again and fold. Serve with a dollop of butter on top.
Ingredients for bhaji:
2 potatoes
1/2 cup onion
2 green chillies
1 tea spn mustard seeds
3-4 curry leaves
A pinch turmeric
Oil
Salt
Method:
Cook the potatoes in pressure cooker, peel and mash them.
Heat oil and add mustard seeds. When they start popping, add curry leaves, green chillies, onion. Fry for few minutes. Add turmeric, salt and potatoes. Mix well.
Ingredients for chutney:
1 cup fresh/frozen coconut
6 green chillies (chillies I used were not very spicy)
4 cloves
1 cardamom
2″ cinnamon
1 tbl spn choppes ginger
1/4 tea spn tamarind
Salt
Method:
Grind all with minimum amount of water needed.
Serves : 6-7
Preparation time : 45mins
Pictorial:
Bhaji :
Chutney :
Hi shilpa
had heard abt this dosa a lot.after going thro’ this recipe,i am super excited .will try this weekend.thanks a
lot for sharing this recipe.
sudha
Humm the taste is due to the benne truly speaking, this chutney is quite complex and those spice one would not think of using uncooked, isn’t it? Got to try with less chilies.
i make somethg similar (dosas) -did’nt know they had a kannada background
hi shilpa
-Is dosa rice same as white rice(belthige akki)?
-wen i prepare any thin dosa it sticks to my spoon it doesn’t come so nice and thin as u have put here all the time i end up making thick dosa, plz help me to put like this type of thin dosa batter on pan, love to learn it.
This is also a kind of belthige akki. You can ask for any “dappa akki” or “Jaya dappa akki” to be specific.
I use nonstick tava and it does not stick. You can also try using a cast iron tava, which is well oiled. If you let it crisp and bit first and then flip, it won’t stick
Whenever u make dosa if u want a crisp one first heat the tava well. Apply a bit of oil evenly with a spoon(or coconut fibre ie tengina naru in kannada). Now reduce the heat to medium and sprinkle some water on the tava. This reduces the heat of the top layer of the tava and prevents the dosa batter sticking to the ladle when spreading the dosa. Now u can increase the heat and allow the dosa to become crisp. For masala dosa no need to turn over. U can cook till crisp on one side only.
dosa, one of my fav Indian Snacks. looks delicious.
Thats the spirit shilpa, expecting more from ur dad’s book with more authentic karnataka stuff.
Hi Shilpa,
I use to eat this Dosa when i was in Dharwad..been so long. Going to try out soon. Quick q* how do you ferment batter in this cold winter? Keep the batter in a oven with lights on?
Deeps, ever since I bought the ultra grinder, this problem has been solved. Earlier I used to keep it in oven and sometimes it used to work and sometimes the batter would become sour. Now, I just keep it near a hot stove(not on top, just keep it near the stove when something else is cooking on another stove). Thats all. Sometimes, I just leave it out as it is and it gets fermented. I think it all depends on how well the batter is ground. Didn’t know grinder makes so much difference
The Dosas look perfectly crunchy..and love the coconut chutney
I have eaten this Benne dosa in Davangere on the way to Bangalore.But the authentic davangere benne dosas are lil bit thicker than the the once you have shown in the pic.
You can make them thicker. Since we like thin dosas, I added more water and made them thin
awesome!!!!!!!!!!will try this recepi for sure…. pls do update us all with more karnataka dishes……. 🙂 thankyou
Delicious!! Love the dosas!!
Feast to the eyes. Perfectly clicked photos 🙂
shilpa, this is a super hit in my house tonight, sundar has promised me with one more pair of bangles, fr the lovely speciality. Though we make dosa with idly rice and they are always crisp, i think it is the unique taste of adding poha nd rice flour, in a specific proportion that has given the taste. Pl keep posting such authentic ones. When i wear those new bangles i shall dedicate them to shilpa
hi shilpa,
Being a kannadiga, frankly i have never tasted this dosa.Would try yur recipe.
Sosa looks super .by the way which poha did u used I mean is it thick or thin.I want to try this dose
I used thin
i have already made a dosa similar to this called musti dosai
but quantity is different. i will try this one and see please give more karntaka dosa receipe
very nice recipe
Tahts cute that you found the recipe after all these years! :-). How did it compare with the other benne dosa you posted. I had made the latter from your blog and really liked it.
Hi shilpa,
I tried this recipe.though it tasted well, I don’t think that the taste is v.different from the regular urad and rice dosas that we make.I want to know one more thing.earlier I used to gring dosa batter in mixie.that time 1:2 prportion of urad dal and rice was ok.But since the time I’ve been using Ultra stone grinder, urad batter fluffs up a lot.A tamilian friend suggested to use 1:4 proportion of urad dal and rice which I do and works well.I grind urad dal and rice seperatly.i would like to know your experience.
Yes, it does pluff more with 1:2 proportion. So, I leave it in a little cold place and grind just before we go to bed (to decrease fermentation time). I usually grind both together (do not have so much time to grind both separately) and I am not liking the consistency of dosas when I try with 1:4 or 1:5 proportion ground together. But if ground separately, it works well.
shilpa, I think the proportion needs to be altered when u grind it in ultra, my previous one was ground in my mixie.Today it turned out to be rather too thinand soft unlike the previous one which was little thick and crisp. Since the yield of urad in grinder is more i think we can either reduce the quantity of urad or poha and try .
Nirupama, I did use ultra grinder for this recipe and it came out really well. If it did not work, I would suggest not fermenting it (the original recipe did not ask for fermentation as I mentioned in the post)
Shilpa the chutney recipe is totally different than what I make so will try it.
Hi Shilpa,
Love all your dosa recipes!! My DH loves these dosas to pieces! I wanna surprise him by making it this weekend 🙂 I had a small question about the dose akki you mention in all posts.. (sorry if I just stumbled upon if you have already mentioned about it) Which dosa rice do you buy, can you please mention the brand and exact name of the rice. I bought this Patel brand’s Parboiled rice and my dosas aren’t turning as good they do with just sona masoori rice 🙁 Also dear, can you please mention a nice tawa (for making dosas) that I can buy here in the US?
Please help!
I use “idli rice”, the one I am using now is Laxmi brand. I like to use non stick tava for making dosas. The one I have is quite old, don’t remember the brand. Will check tonight and see if the name is mentioned anywhere
hi shilpa
wen i apply the batter to tawa my dosa is coming very thick and wen i put the batter to tawa and turn around the ladle the batter sticks to ladle i dont no to do thin dosa like u have done pls help me…but the taste was superb only problem is i dont know to appy batter to tawa. tnx a lottt for d receipe shilpa
Don’t apply butter to tava. I never do that. I apply butter on top of dosa and when dosa is turned around, some of it gets to tava, which is fine
no shilpa i told not butter but the dosa batter i dont know to put ….tell me the consistency of the batter plz.
I am from Davangere and eaten millions of these Dosas, if you dont know the recipe, please dont publish it, These dosas will never be THIN. and dosnt look ANYTHING like in the pic.
Usha, as a mentioned before, I made the dosas thin because we love thin ones at my home. If you have a more authentic recipe, please do share it with us. I will be so much interested to try it out.
Wish I really Know the recipe, I was searching for the same and landed here on your website,
However I feel if you say Davangere benne Dose then they should look like it, not as per your likings though. Nothing offensive..or trying to hurt your feelings.
It will be little think,crispy, buttery with a topping of butter on top of it and the potato curry wont be yellow in color.
if you ever visit Davangere, please eat at the one opposite to the Dental College, best dosas you can find in the ENTIRE World.
You are right Usha…i love them too.they are the best in the whole world…
i have tasted davanagere benne dosa so many times.. i just loving it./ its so delicious.. thanks alot for publishing that procedure
Silpa Please is there any recipes for Jackfruit items?
tried the recipe today and my family just loved it thanks ,looking forward for more masterpieces such as this one
dear shilpa,
i loved the dosa. but i found that same recipe on a website http://www.bellevision.com/index.php?action=recipies_all&type=109
either you have copied from them or they have copied from you. As a fan of your variety of recipes i hope that your version was original. you should report the copying of the recipe
regards,
sandeep
Thanks a lot for all your recipes. You inspire me to cook some real good authentic konkani dishes. my husband is all praises. Keep up the good work. I was trying to subscribe to your site by clicking on SUBSCRIBE key right side of this page. But the link doesn’t work. 🙁
Hi freinds,
Davanagere is famous in Benne dosa, this is very tasted, i have so many times tasted, pls once come and tasted the Davanagere Benne dosa.
Thanx for publishing this websites..
Lokesha Swamy M N
Hey Shilpa,this recipe is a super duper hit. I tried it twice and it came our very well. a dosa in real sense!! Thanks for sharing.
But the potato palyam is not of davanagere style.
Please read the article about this dose in “The Hindu” Gallery, Magazine page 7, dated 23 Dec 2012, Sunday.
Perfect crispy dosa..Love to have with spicy chutney..
the speciality of Benne dosa is no urud dal goes into it. Just rice + puffed rice (pori) + flat rice (avalakki) + fenugreek + black gram. With urud dal it makes a normal dosa!!!
Dosa came out very well. Can we use the smoke gun a bit to get the smokey flavour like as though it was made over firewood cooking