Ilam Dosai, spelt als E’lam Dosai is from the Chettinad Cuisine, Tamil Nadu. Ilam dosa is absolutely soft and can be folded like a handkerchief.
These soft naturally fermented dosa is light on the stomach and can be served for breakfast or dinner. Since its cooked on low flame, it hardly needs oil and is white in colour.
Only after clicking did I realize that I don’t have any other colour plates. Konda was saying I should get some black coloured plates. Every time I think about it, I decide to shop for it, and it again gets postponed.
Anyway coming to this recipe, this was part of the eight fermented batters that was made and the simplest of all. I is a tough letter to find and when I found masterchefmom site, I didn’t want to clarify or check if I already have it on the blog. Ilam means young, and it also can refer to soft. I was super excited to find this from the Chettinad Cuisine.
So for I, it is Ilam Dosai in the AtoZ Flatbread and more, where I am doing AtoZ Dosa Varieties. If you want to know what's I in AtoZ Indian Flatbreads, hop over!
A to Z Dosa Varieties
A for Alle Belle
B for Bele Dose
C for Chilro
D for Dhuska
E for Eylanchi
F for Faraali Dosa
G for Ghaaroda
H for Heerekai Dosa
PIN This for Later!
Step by Step Pictures for making ILam Dosai
ILam Dosai | Soft Dosai from Chettinad
How to make ILam Dosai
Grinding the Batter
Wash the rice, urad dal and methi seeds and soak them together for 4 hours.
Drain the water and grind everything together to a smooth batter using the soaked water.
Mix the batter well, keep it in a warm place overnight or at least for 8 hours to ferment.
The batter will rise up.
Mix salt and your batter is ready to be made into soft dosas.
If you are not using right away, you can refrigerate.
To make the dosa
Heat a nonstick tawa and spread 2 - 3 drops of cooking oil uniformly. You can wipe off the excess oil with a tissue paper.
When the tawa is just hot, pour a ladle full of batter in the center of the tawa and spread the batter from the center to the edges in a circular motion.
Cover and cook the dosa in low heat for a minute. This dosa doesn’t require to be flipped.
Remove the dosa using the spatula.
Repeat the same process for the rest of the batter.
Serve with Milagi Pori or Chutney of choice.
ILam Dosai | Soft Dosai from Chettinad
Ingredients
- 2 cups Rice Raw
- 1/2 cup Urad Dal / Husked black gram
- 1/2 tsp Fenugreek Seeds / Methi seeds
- 1 cup Water
- Salt to taste
- Cooking Oil for making Dosas
Instructions
How to make ILam Dosai | Soft Dosai from Chettinad
Grinding the batter
- Wash the rice, urad dal and methi seeds and soak them together for 4 hours.
- Drain the water and grind everything together to a smooth batter using the soaked water.
- Mix the batter well, keep it in a warm place overnight or at least for 8 hours to ferment.
- The batter will rise up.
- Mix salt and your batter is ready to be made into soft dosas.
- If you are not using right away, you can refrigerate.
To make the dosa
- Heat a nonstick tawa and spread 2 - 3 drops of cooking oil uniformly. You can wipe off the excess oil with a tissue paper.
- When the tawa is just hot, pour a ladle full of batter in the center of the tawa and spread the batter from the center to the edges in a circular motion.
- Cover and cook the dosa in low heat for a minute. This dosa doesn’t require to be flipped.
- Remove the dosa using the spatula.
- Repeat the same process for the rest of the batter.
- Serve with Milagi Pori or Chutney of choice.
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vaishalisabnani says
The Dosa sure looks soft , and wonder how you land on these sites to find the hardest alphabet recipes .
The Dosa would have definitely been highlighted on a dark plate , but I like the idea of white on white too .
Priya Suresh says
Ilam dosai, this is definitely a lovely find Valli, i was looking for some North Indian chillas like that for your I and here you are.. Ilam dosa, the name itself is very attractive you know.
Sowmya:) says
Such a soft dosai Valli...would have simply melted in your mouth. Such a unique find for 'I'
harini says
Good find, Valli. The white dosa reminds of appam 🙂 White on white has a unique charm , Valli .
gayathriraani says
Never heard of this dosa. Using just raw rice for the batter may be the reason for the softness. That is an amazing find Valli.
mayurisjikoni says
Haha Srivalli, I have plates that don't match, just a couple... I now buy only for photo clicks 🙂 I actually prefer soft dosas to the really crispy ones as with soft ones its easier to scoop up the sambhar or the sabji. Interesting to learn about the variety of dosas.
Annapurnaz says
These things really confuse me. I either use idli sooji or any rice available to make dosa or idli. Never knew that type of rice used results into different type of dosas. That's why sometimes my dosas are soft and sometimes crisp. Thanks for making things clear to me. Dosa looks quite soft.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
My husband love crispy dosai whereas I am a big lover of soft dosai. This is such a great recipe and I am going to try some soon.
Padmajha PJ says
Super selection for I! We tasted this once in a restaurant here and they had so many flavors of this dosa! But the plain one was so good! As for the plates, I have all single ones and nothing match!Need to go shopping for props...
code2cook says
you are crazy, you found I for Ilam dosa as well. hats off to your search. It was the difficult time for me and got stuck for few days. Dosa looks really soft and a great breakfast item.