Rubbery Dosa: Why Your Dosa Batter Fails and How to Fix It
When your rubbery dosa, a flat, fermented rice-and-lentil crepe central to South Indian breakfasts turns out chewy instead of crisp, it’s not your fault—it’s usually the batter. A good dosa should be thin, lacy, and lightly browned with a slight crunch. A rubbery one? It’s dense, sticky, and clings to the pan like glue. This happens because of one of three things: wrong rice, bad fermentation, or too much water. The dosa batter, a fermented mix of rice and urad dal that creates the base for dosas and idlis needs balance. Too much urad dal makes it stretchy. Too little rice, and it won’t crisp up. And if the batter didn’t ferment right, it won’t puff or hold its shape.
The dosa rice, a short-grain, low-starch rice variety used specifically for dosa and idli batter is non-negotiable. Regular long-grain rice won’t work. You need something like idli rice or parboiled raw rice—these have just the right starch structure to create air pockets during fermentation. If you’re using regular rice, that’s your first mistake. Then there’s fermentation. In cold weather, batter takes 12–18 hours. In heat, it can be ready in 6. If you skip this step or rush it with baking powder, you get a flat, gummy result. And don’t over-blend. The batter should be slightly grainy, not smooth like a smoothie. Over-blending breaks down the starch too much, leading to rubbery texture.
Water ratio matters too. Too much water makes the batter thin, but it also weakens the structure. The batter should be thick enough to drip slowly off the spoon, not pour like milk. And don’t forget the salt. Add it after fermentation, not before—it slows down the good bacteria. If your dosa still sticks or feels chewy, try heating the tawa properly. A cold or unevenly heated pan won’t let the batter set fast enough, and that’s when it turns rubbery. Try a drop of oil around the edges as you pour—it helps lift the edges and creates crispness.
You’ll find posts here that break down exactly which rice to buy, how to tell if your batter fermented right, and what to do if you forgot to soak the lentils. Some explain why store-bought batter fails. Others show how to make dosa without fermentation when you’re in a hurry. There are tips for softening hard paneer, fixing watery chutney, and even why dal can make you gassy—but none of that matters if your dosa won’t crisp up. This collection is for anyone who’s ever stared at a sad, sticky dosa and wondered, What went wrong? The answers aren’t complicated. They’re simple. And they’re right here.
