Sabudana (Sago) Dosa Recipe
An Alternative to Rise Dosas
Saudana dosas, also known as sago dosas, are soft, thin and crispy pancakes that are very delicious. They are also easy to make, healthy, filling and naturally gluten-free. They make a nice alternative to regular rice dosas, and they go well with chutney or sambar.
Sabudana is also called sago pearls or tapioca pearls. These are a good sources of carbohydrates.
Cook Time
Prep time | Cook time | Ready in | Yields |
---|---|---|---|
5 hours 5 min | 10 min | 5 hours 15 min | 2 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 cup dosa rice (or any type of rice)
- 1/2 cup sabudana (sago or tapioca pearls), washed and soaked
- 2 to 3 cups water, for soaking and grinding
- 1 to 2 strings fresh curry leaves
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 to 2 green chilies, or to taste
- salt, to taste
- 1 to 2 teaspoons ghee, to sprinkle on dosas
Instructions
Step 1: Soak the Rice and Sabudana
- In a bowl or vessel, take 1 cup of dosa rice and 1/2 cup of sabudana or sago pearls. Rinse well 2 to 3 times, add about 2 cups of water, cover and soak for 5 hours or overnight.
Step 2: Grind the Dosa Batter
- After the rice and sabudana have soaked, transfer them to a mixer jar (the sabudana will have absorbed most of the water and become swollen). You can discard the excess water if any.
- Add the curry leaves, cumin seeds, green chilies and salt to taste.
- Grind to a fine paste. Add more water if required. The consistency of the batter should be medium. Transfer the batter to the bowl or vessel.
Step 3: Cook the Dosas
- Heat a tawa over medium heat. Add a ladleful of batter on the center of the tawa and spread gently in a circular motion to make thin dosas. Sprinkle some drops of ghee on the dosa (optional).
- Cover and cook for 1 minute. (You may also choose to roast the dosas. For this, additional cook time is needed.)
- When the dosas are cooked properly, transfer them to a serving plate. Do not cook the dosas on both sides.
- Repeat the same procedure for the remaining batter.
- Serve sabudana dosa with chutney or sambar of your choice.

Transfer this mixture to a mixer jar along with enough water to grind (you can use sabudana-rice soaked water only). But don't add too much water as it can make the batter too watery.

Add 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds, 1-2 strings of fresh curry leaves, 1-2 green chilies and salt to taste.

Pour a ladleful of batter in the center of the pan. Gently spread the batter in a circular motion, forming a thin dosa.

Smear a few drops of ghee on the dosa. Cover and cook on medium to low heat for about 1 minute or till it has cooked properly.

When the dosa is done, transfer it to a serving platter (add more cooking time for roast dosa). Repeat the same procedure with the remaining batter.
Notes
- When making dosas, always keep the tawa at medium-low heat. You can not spread the batter in a round circle if tawa is too hot.
- Don't make a thick batter. The dosas will not spread on the hot tawa if the batter is too thick. For best results, prepare a medium-consistency batter.
- You can skip sprinkling ghee over the dosas, but adding ghee increases the flavor.
- You can prepare these dosas only with sabudana and rice, skipping the other ingredients altogether. I have added other ingredients, like curry leaves to increase the flavor and taste.