Tomato Dosa | Instant Thakkali Dosai

Instant Tomato dosa is a crispy and delicious South Indian crepe / dosai made with rice and fresh tomatoes. The best part about this thakkali dosai is that it does not require fermentation.

Being a South Indian, Dosai is one of our staple breakfast, tiffin and dinner recipes. Everyone loves dosa in our house (my husband will say differently as Idli is his favorite). This tomato dosai is a very unique recipe and so delicious made with rice and fresh tomatoes.

If you are like me and have loads of fresh tomatoes harvested from the garden, then this thakkali dosai will be the perfect recipe to use them for. We picked tons of green tomatoes this season and they are all slowly ripening. I have been thinking of all different ways to use the tomatoes.

Instant Tomato dosa?

We can call this thakkali dosai as instant dosa as there is no ferementation required. The typical idli / dosai we make needs the batter to be feremented before we use them. This dosai though can be made right after we grind the batter.

This means that it is the perfect recipe for someone like me who is very bad in pre planning for dinner or brunch. This tomato dosai is an instant dosai but not that instant. We still need to soak the rice and dal for a few hours. I soak them any where between 3 to 8 hours depending on when I have to make the dosa.

Why add tomatoes to dosai?

Adding tomatoes gives the dosa a nice vibrant color. It adds a beautiful tanginess to the dosai which works great in the non feremented dosa. Adding tomato also adds a healthy benefit of a vegetable. A great option if you have a picky eater.

My son was not too enthusiastic when he asked me what is for dinner. But that sure changed the minute he took his first bite. He said that it was not much different from the regular dosai and had a subtle hint of sourness from the tomatoes.

The color of the instant tomato dosa was beautiful. I have to say, out tomatoes are extremely flavorful and sour this year. This dosa is the perfect recipe to use them. If you need more ideas to use your tomatoes, check these recipes.

• Thakkali Pachadi / Tomato Raita

• Instant Andhra style tomato pickle

• Instant pot tomato Biriyani

• Tomato rice / Thakkali sadam

The addition of ginger works really well, so I would highly suggest that you do not omit that. If you are making this for breakfast, you could soak the rice and the dal overnight and grind them in the morning.

Why make this tomato dosa?

• It is healthy and delicious.
• Great way to add vegetable in a dosa recipe.
• Perfect way to use up excess tomatoes (during peak harvest season).
• Gluten free and vegan recipe.
• And there is no fermentation time.

Ingredients needed

Check the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact measurements and printable detailed recipes.

Rice - I use raw rice to make thakkali dosa. We use sona masoori rice at home and that is what I used for the dosa.

Lentil - I use a little toor dal / tuvaram paruppu and a little urad dal / ullutham paruppu. Amma gave me the quantities for the tomato dosa batter and I have been using this all along.

Tomatoes - Use any kind of tomato. I have used a mix of what we harvested from our garden.

Red chilies - Since the dosai is pinkinsh / red in color, I used dry red chilies in the batter. You could use green chilies as well.

Ginger - Highly recommend the ginger as it adds to the flavor and also helps in digestion.

Salt

Oil - I use Nalennai or Indian Gingelly oil to cook the dosa. Use any oil of your choice and if you like very crispy dosa, use ghee instead.

Step by step process

• Wash and soak the dal and rice for at least 3-4 hrs. Soak it for a minimum of 3 hours. If making it for breakfast, soak it overnight. I also added a little methi / fenugreek seed this time.

• Grind the soaked mixture in the blender along with tomatoes, red chili, ginger and salt.

Tip - To make a smooth batter, make sure to drain the water from the soaked rice and lentil. Add cubed tomatoes along with the soaked mixture and grind. This way the batter will be smooth. Adding too much water in the beginning will make it hard to grind the batter smooth.

• The consistency of the batter should be on the thinner side. It should pour freely when poured from ladle.

• Heat a tawa / Dosa pan / griddle on medium high and when hot pour a ladle of batter in the center of the pan and using circular motions push the batter towards the outer edge and form a dosa.

• You can make the dosa as thin or thick. If they are spread thinner, they would cook quicker and also be more crispier. Thicker dosai might need a little long time to cook

• Add about a teaspoon of oil surrounding the dosa when cooking.

• Let the tomato dosai cook until it is golden brown and then flip over to the other side. Let it cook on the other side too and then remove it from the pan. Repeat with the rest of the batter.

• Serve with chutney or sambar of your choice. I served my instant tomato dosai last night with peanut chutney.

Serving options

Dosai can be served with chutney, sambar or gothsu. Some of my favorites are

• Masoor Dal chutney

• Ullundhu chutney / urad dal chutney

• Ginger chutney / Allam pachadi

• Puli Inji / Ginger pickle with tamarind

• Tiffin gothsu

Expert tips

• Grind the dosai batter smooth for thin and crispy dosai.

• Always cook the dosai in low to medium flame. The dosai will not cook properly in high heat and will remain chewy.

• Cast iron pan yields the best crispy dosai.

• Wiping the dosa pan with a drop of oil smeared in a paper towel helps to keep the pan non stick and prevents the dosai to stick to the pan.

Frequently asked questions

More Dosa recipes

Recipe