Idli-Dosa Batter suddenly very disappointing

Friends,

I have been making idli-dosa batter for more than a year now. And i was using the following proportion:

sona masoori 1/2 glass
boiled rice - 1 glass
urad dal - 1/2 of 3/4th glass
fenugreek - about 10-15 grains
cooked rice - cooked rice

The idli was soft and dosa was brown and crispy. But offlate my sona masoori rice got over and also urad dal. A friend of mine told me to whole urad ...that urad gota..and so i got it. And got Swad sona masoori rice. And the night mare began. I followed the same as above proprtion and the batter wont rise at all. :( I kept it in a oven wit oven light on and did everything i could. But no good. Then made some changes and then the batter was stinking like hell.. not the smell of yeast...but spoilt smell. A light pink colour. So, yesterday after googling..i did the following proportions...

boiled rice - 2 glass
urad dal - 3/4 glass
fenugreek - 1/2 tsp
cooked rice - 1 tbsp

Ground it around 5 pm yesteday and saw it in the morning..it never rose and was stinking...a very slight pink colour on top.
Im so upset since so much stuff is getting wasted and rice is so expensive here in US. Please help me guys. All i feel is that something is wrong with urad dal.....may be it is old stock. :( Not sure though.
Please help guys......we just love south indian breakfast and im missing idli and dosa so much..............

please helppppppp

Priya

Bumpppppppppppppppppppp......Please reply...

Hi Priya,

The way i make Idlis are very simple and batter rises and very good idlis come out, i dont use the same batter for dosa tho

Urad Daal - 1 cup
idli rava - 2 and half cup

Soak both in a seperate container each, and grind urad daal, and mix idli rava once u are done grinding urad daal, and put is in a oven, by next day evening, the batter should rise, the only reason batter will get spoiled and smells bad with pink layer forming is if u add more water while grinding or later, make sure that the water u add while grinding is enough to make it to a paste.

Try this and let me now, as i said this batter is only good for idlis and not dosas.

Good Luck!

Priya,

I use Whole urad dal and long grain rice in the ratio of 1:4 for dosa and few fenugreek seeds and fistful of poha (flattend rice).

For Idly, the urad dal and idly rava ratio is 1:2 and fistful poha. Avoid fenugreek seeds in this.

Idly comes out smooth and dosa also comes out crisp and in good color.

I replace long grain with sona masoori some times, when long grain rice is not available.

If u have Idly rice, U can use whole urad dal and idly rice in the ratio of 1:4 and this can be used for both idly and dosa.

Hope this helps.

Hello priya,

I understand your situation....
Well, its been very long I have made idlly/dosa batter with sona masoori, but now that I no longer buy them i am not sure of what measurement to use for it.

Anways, I use idlly rice/ponni boiled rice along with whole urad dhal. Using of whole/broken urad dhal hasnt made a difference to me.The measurement is as follows:
4 cups of boiled rice
1 cup of urad dhal
1/2 tsp of methi seeds
salt - as needed

I soak both rice and dhal separately and grind urad first followed by rice and methi. Keep it overnight and it ferments.
I havent added cooked rice for batter till now.Also, I dont grind separate batters for dosa and idlly.Its always 2-3 times idlly in the batter and then later it becomes dosa batter or utthapam etc.

Let me know if this recipe helps. Also try with a smaller cup measurement to ensure that it is suitable and to ur taste.

-Vanitha

Originally Posted by jkpriyadarshini

Friends,

I have been making idli-dosa batter for more than a year now. And i was using the following proportion:

sona masoori 1/2 glass
boiled rice - 1 glass
urad dal - 1/2 of 3/4th glass
fenugreek - about 10-15 grains
cooked rice - cooked rice

The idli was soft and dosa was brown and crispy. But offlate my sona masoori rice got over and also urad dal. A friend of mine told me to whole urad ...that urad gota..and so i got it. And got Swad sona masoori rice. And the night mare began. I followed the same as above proprtion and the batter wont rise at all. :( I kept it in a oven wit oven light on and did everything i could. But no good. Then made some changes and then the batter was stinking like hell.. not the smell of yeast...but spoilt smell. A light pink colour. So, yesterday after googling..i did the following proportions...

boiled rice - 2 glass
urad dal - 3/4 glass
fenugreek - 1/2 tsp
cooked rice - 1 tbsp

Ground it around 5 pm yesteday and saw it in the morning..it never rose and was stinking...a very slight pink colour on top.
Im so upset since so much stuff is getting wasted and rice is so expensive here in US. Please help me guys. All i feel is that something is wrong with urad dal.....may be it is old stock. :( Not sure though.
Please help guys......we just love south indian breakfast and im missing idli and dosa so much..............

please helppppppp

Priya

I follow the same method as Vanitha and I think it's a foolproof method. Also wash the rice and urad dal before soaking it. Since the soaked water has so much flavor in it, that washing away after soaking reduces the flavor. My 2 cents though...

Have never tried adding cooked rice to idli/dosa batter. Though I've heard that cooked rice is added to 'aappam' batter.

Sushma kiran,
Thanks for the proportion dear. Actually im a tamilian and we both dont prefer rava idlis much and also i make one batter which will make idli and dosa. :( Dh doesnt like that rava thing..so im helpless. so, till date was making them with rice and and urad dal. and everything was fine untill last week. :(

Cool Life,
I shall try your proportion with small measurements and ask u my doubts abt the outcome.

Vanitha,
I too do like u only ma..same batter for idli dosa. my ratio was 3:1 ratio and i made idli one time, plain dosa one time and thalicha dosa with the end product. Cooked rice is added for that crispy brown colour and helps in fermentation. My mummy taught me that and it did help a lot. My batter used to come up so well and i used to be so happy abt it. :( Now all is a dream like for me.
Okay..today ill soak this proportion and try. Lets see ...

smart soul,
that cooked rice is for getting nice brown dosa and helps in fermentation. I have been making them for a yr ..all even guests loved it. But now..all dreams gone in water......im sooo upset. :(


Thanks gals............
Pl more ppl reply...

All the best priya...

Hi Priya,
I personally know how frustrating it could be.
Hey, first of all let me make it clear that I am here..not to provide any solution to the problem...but, just to share my experience similar to your's...just to say that you are not alone
I used to make pretty decent dosas for years without any problem.But I I was bitten by the improvisation bug when I saw a recipe for restaurant style crispy paper thin dosa on the net...
Apart from the regular rice and dal I have added poha,generous amount of methi seeds,sugar and cooking soda as per the recipe.
The resultant batter didn't get the pinkish blush as yours....,but smelt as offensive.
Apart from the normal dosas,I tried utappams with liberal additions of vegetables...and paniyarams....because just like you I didn't have the heart to throw the batter drown the drain.....but all efforts gone in vain and realisation dawned on me.
It's better to discard the batter than not only wasting additional oil and vegetables but most importantly time and energy on it.
And now I am back to my tried and trusted recipe even though it doesn't promise any awesome results ...at least I am sure that it wont' be awful either.....lesson learnt...

hello Priya..the exact same thing happened to me today and i used the same rice(idli rice) and split urad i always do,withbarely 1 tbspn of cooked rice.The batter rose well but was stinking to the high heavens,without the pretty pink color though!The only difference was that i used a little more methi seeds than i usually do...and soaked it for abt 8 hrs and fermented for abt 12 hrs..which is a bit much i guess since my house is warm
i am guessing that the problem is too much yeastin the air
maybe less methi nd less fermentation will help...let me try it...hope it helps us both:)Couldn't stand the smell...And i had made vada curry:(