Ragi Singoda Wheat Dosa 4


Ragi Singoda Wheat DosaRagi singoda wheat dosa is a healthy, instant, multigrain dosa, perfect for those who want to reduce their rice consumption. Singoda flour is water chestnut flour, that is derived from the starchy seeds of the singoda vegetable. No more prior planning, soaking, grinding, cleaning up effort to make dosas, but with all the health and taste benefits and more!

This is a recipe, given to me my talented aunt, Girija Sukumar, who has enthusiastically been sending me a host of recipes, nicely typed out, to try out for the website!

Ingredients (makes around 12-15 medium sized dosas):

  • Ragi (nachni/finger millet) flour (3/4 cup)
  • Singoda (Indian water chestnut) flour (3/4 cup)
  • Wheat flour (3/4 cup)
  • Water (3 cups)
  • Salt (to taste)
  • Sour yogurt (1/2 cup) (optional, but recommended)
  • Green chillies (1 or more depending on your family’s taste, cut into pieces or slit)
  • Red chillies (1 or more depending on your family’s taste – broken into 2 pieces)
  • Ginger (small 1/2 inch sized piece, nicely minced)
  • Jeera (cumin) seeds (3/4 tsp)
  • Hing (asafetida) (1/4 tsp)
  • Ghee (1 tbsp)
  • Curry leaves (a sprig or even 4-5 leaves will do)
  • Oil (for making dosas)

Method:

  • Measure out 3/4th cup each of the flours and keep in a vessel. Add salt.
  • Add water (don’t add the 3 cups all at once) little by little, and keep mixing well until a dosa batter like consistency is reached. This is what the original recipe that my aunt gave me demanded. But, I would like to suggest a small change here. Instead of plain water, add yogurt into the flour mix first, and then slowly add water, little by little, stirring well using an egg beater or something similar to achieve a fine, non-grainy consistency. The addition of yogurt gives that slight sourness to the dish, which accentuates the taste considerably.

Ragi Singoda Wheat Dosa - Mixing Flours

  • Heat some ghee in a pan, add the jeera seeds, red chilly, green chilly, curry leaves, and hing. Keep stirring and switch off the flame, when the jeera seeds and red chilly turn darker (not burnt). Add this to the batter.

Ragi Singoda Wheat Dosa - Seasoning

  • Here is what the batter should look like. With this kind of dosa, the batter should be thinner than the usual rice dosa consistency. In fact, it should be pretty runny. The method of spreading the batter on the tava is also different. See below for details.

Ragi Singoda Wheat Dosa - Dough

  • Keep a tava (griddle) on medium heat and wait until the tava is hot enough. To check this, just sprinkle some water on the tava and if it sizzles and evaporates in a few seconds, it is hot enough. You may use a tissue to wipe out the tava before pouring the batter.
  • Spread the thin batter onto the griddle, in a circular motion, starting from outside to in. You will know if the tava is hot enough, if the batter creates holes in the dosa automatically as it falls on the griddle.
  • Pour drops of oil on the periphery and center of the dosa.
  • Lower the heat and cover the dosa.
  • In about a minute or so, you will see that the edges of the dosa will become slightly brown. Lift the cover and flip the dosa carefully. You will know if the heat was too high when the dosa turns too dark. Lower immediately and sprinkle water if this is the case.
  • Cook uncovered on medium to high heat for approximately 1 minute or so.

Ragi Singoda Wheat Dosa - Making of Dosa

  • Flip the dosa and check for golden brown marks to ensure that it is fully cooked on this side as well. If not, flip it again and cook uncovered for a few more seconds.
  • Serve the dosa with an accompaniment of your choice. It goes well with the chutneys on this website or any other chutney of your choice.

Ragi Singoda Wheat Dosa - Close up

  • Make the heat low to medium, sprinkle some water on the tava and wipe off with a tissue. Repeat the process of spreading the batter etc. to make more dosas.

Tastes (Rasa):

Sweet (ragi, singoda, wheat flours, ghee, oil), sour (yogurt), salty (salt), bitter (cumin, curry leaves), pungent (chillies, cumin, ginger), astringent (asafetida, ragi).

Doshic Influence:

Ragi (finger millet) is dry, light and heating. It is great for kaphas. Ragi is a great nutritional food for infants above 6 months of age, diabetics, people with high cholesterol and for people who are trying to lose weight. It has a high protein, calcium, iron and potassium content.  Singoda is Indian water chestnut – an aquatic vegetable that is grown on marshes, ponds, and lakes, not a nut. It is cooling, hence pitta pacifying. It is gluten free, promotes good hair growth, and is extensively used as an upvas/fasting food in certain parts of India. Wheat, with its sticky and heavy nature tends to be kapha aggravating, but the addition of pungent spices like ginger, chillies etc. in moderation should make this dish okay for kaphas also. Since it is hard to digest, wheat can pose some problems for vatas, but the addition of ghee, jeera, hing etc. is good to alleviate this problem. A balanced pitta’s digestive fire should be able to handle the wheat well. Also, the heavy, cold qualities of wheat help in balancing pitta’s light and hot qualities.

Ghee is clarified butter that eliminates the difficult to digest parts of milk. It is widely considered a medicine in Ayurveda and has numerous benefits, contrary to popular belief. Ghee is a nourishing food and builds tissue strength, it is easy to digest, is a great general health tonic for overall rejuvenation, is useful in detoxification and cleansing, and improves fat metabolism. Cumin is a great spice, which is mostly vata and kapha pacifying because of its hot, light, dry, bitter and pungent qualities. Other than being delicious to taste, cumin is a good digestive, helps to remove excess phlegm from the lungs and excess water retained in the body, is a great skin and blood cleanser, and is very useful for relieving cramps and reduces pain and inflammation. Hing (asafetida) is vata and kapha pacifying due to its hot, dry, bitter and pungent qualities. Hing is used for reducing flatulence (gas), is a great digestive aid, and destroys worms. Due to its antispasmodic properties, its useful in alleviating asthma, cough, colic and uterine spasms. Its warming properties break through blockages caused by kapha accumulation and are helpful in fertility problems in women caused by kapha excess. Overall, this recipe with its healthy balance of ingredients is tridoshic.

Effects on the Mind (Gunas):

Ragi singoda wheat dosa has all the qualities of sattva – nourishing, mild, calming, easy to digest. Addition of spices, although highly essential will make this dish rajasic if used in excess. It is ideal to make the batter for a one-time use and make the dosas to keep eliminate the tamas in the dish from increasing. But due to practical constraints, it should be okay to store the batter overnight in the refrigerator and use the next day.


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4 thoughts on “Ragi Singoda Wheat Dosa

  • Maya

    That was a wonderful recipe. Ragi helps a lot in reducing weight. It is rich in calcium and dietary fibres. Since Ragi is rich in calcium it is good for the bones. Babies and aged people will beth emost benifited. People who are planning to cut down your extra kilos can start using Ragi. It is also good for people suffering from Diabetes. Ragi reduces cholestrol and is a good source of Iron.

  • Lakshmi

    Happy to find your blog through a friend. Your review for each dish in ayurvedic way is excellent. Can I invite you to write a guest post on my blog? Let me know. Thanks. Lakshmi

  • Anushree Post author

    Hi Lakshmi, So glad that you enjoyed the Ayurvedic perspective on each dish! I will be happy to write a guest post on your blog. Thanks, Anushree