# Masala dosa, crisp outside, soft inside

Source: https://howtomakedosa.com/masala-dosa/
Updated: 2026-09-25

A plain dosa with a spiced potato filling folded inside. The dosa is the recipe you already know. The work is in the masala: dry enough not to steam the shell, loose enough to spread.

## At a glance

| | |
|---|---|
| Filling | 850 g |
| Masala dosas | 10 |
| Filling | 35 min |
| Filling per dosa | 80 g |

## What goes in

The filling for 10 dosas. You also need about **800 ml** of fermented [plain dosa batter](https://howtomakedosa.com/), roughly half a batch.

| Ingredient | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Potatoes | 600 g | Waxy or all-purpose (Yukon Gold, Maris Piper). Floury russets turn to paste. |
| Onion | 200 g | One large onion, halved and sliced 3 mm thin. |
| Oil | 30 ml | Sunflower, or coconut oil for a Kerala-style masala. |
| Black mustard seeds | 4 g | About 1 teaspoon. |
| Urad dal | 5 g | For crunch in the tempering. |
| Chana dal | 8 g | Same. Skip both dals and you lose the texture that marks a good masala. |
| Curry leaves | 20 leaves | Fresh. Frozen works; dried does not. |
| Green chillies | 2 | Slit lengthwise. Seeds in for heat. |
| Ginger | 10 g | Grated fine. |
| Asafoetida | 0.5 g | A large pinch. |
| Ground turmeric | 1.5 g | About ½ teaspoon. This is where the yellow comes from. |
| Salt | 7 g | Fine. |
| Hot water | 100 ml | Loosens the masala at the end. |
| Coriander leaves | 10 g | Chopped. |
| Lemon juice | 10 ml | Optional. Added off the heat. |

**Weight check:** Boiled, peeled and crumbled, 600 g of potatoes gives about 550 g. With onions and water the finished masala weighs about 850 g, which is 80 g for each of 10 dosas.

## Making the masala

About 35 minutes, most of it boiling potatoes. Make it before you heat the tawa. It holds for an hour at room temperature.

### 1. Boil the potatoes whole

Boil the potatoes whole, in their skins, in salted water. Whole potatoes absorb less water, and a watery potato means a soggy dosa.

- Simmer: **20–25 min** from the boil, depending on size
- Cool: **10 min**, until you can handle them

**Ready when:** A knife slides to the centre with no resistance. Peel them warm, then break them by hand into 1–2 cm pieces. Do not mash; you want pieces, some crumbs, no paste.

### 2. Temper the spices

Heat the 30 ml of oil in a heavy pan until it shimmers. Add the mustard seeds and wait for them to pop. Then add the urad dal and chana dal and stir until they turn light gold.

- Oil temperature: about **170 °C** (340 °F), shimmering but not smoking
- Mustard seeds: pop within **20–30 s**
- Dals: light gold in **30–45 s**. Dark brown tastes bitter

Add the curry leaves, green chillies, ginger and asafoetida together. Stand back: the leaves spit. Stir for **20 seconds**.

### 3. Soften the onions

Add the sliced onion and a pinch of the salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring every minute, until the onion is soft and translucent.

- Time: **5–6 min**
- Colour: translucent, **not browned**. Browned onion makes the masala taste of fried onion, not potato

### 4. Add turmeric, potato and water

Stir in the turmeric for **15 seconds**, until it smells toasted. Add the potatoes, the rest of the salt and the 100 ml of hot water. Fold, pressing a few pieces against the pan to break them down.

Cook for **3–4 minutes** until the water is absorbed. Take it off the heat, then stir in the coriander and lemon juice.

**Ready when:** A spoonful holds its shape when you drop it on a plate, with no liquid pooling around it. If it runs, cook it for another minute. If it looks dry and cracked, add 20 ml of hot water.

## Filling and folding

Every step up to the pour is the [plain dosa method](https://howtomakedosa.com/#cooking): thin the batter, heat the tawa to 200–215 °C, season it with an oiled onion, bring it down to 190–200 °C with a sprinkle of water.

### 1. Pour and spread

Pour **80 ml** of batter and spread it in a spiral to **22–25 cm** in 10–15 seconds. Drizzle 1 teaspoon of oil or ghee around the rim.

### 2. Fill at 75 seconds, not before

Wait until the top is dry and the underside is light gold, about **75 seconds**. Filling a dosa while the top is still wet makes it steam and turn limp.

Spoon **80 g** of masala in a line down the centre, about 8 cm wide. Do not spread it to the edges.

- Fill at: **75 s**, top dry, underside light gold
- Masala: **80 g**, one heaped serving spoon
- Masala temperature: warm or room temperature. Straight from the fridge it chills the dosa and stops it browning

### 3. Fold and lift

Leave it for another **30–45 seconds** so the underside turns fully golden. Fold one side over the masala, then the other, and slide it off with a flat spatula.

**Serve:** Immediately, seam side down, with [coconut chutney](https://howtomakedosa.com/coconut-chutney/) and [sambar](https://howtomakedosa.com/sambar/). A masala dosa loses its crispness in about 5 minutes.

## When it goes wrong

| Problem | Cause and fix |
|---|---|
| Dosa goes limp after filling | Filled too early, or the masala was wet. Wait until the top is dry, and cook the masala until it holds its shape. |
| Masala tastes bland | Too little salt, or the tempering was not cooked long enough to toast the dals. 7 g of salt for 600 g of potatoes is the minimum. |
| Masala is gluey | Floury potatoes, or mashed instead of broken. Use waxy potatoes and break them by hand. |
| Filling spills out when folding | More than 80 g, or spread too wide. Keep it in an 8 cm strip down the centre. |

### Can I make the potato masala in advance?

Yes. It keeps 2 days in the fridge. Warm it in a pan with 20 ml of water per 250 g before filling, because cold masala stops the dosa browning.

### What is the difference between masala dosa and Mysore masala dosa?

A Mysore masala dosa has a spicy red chutney, made from dried red chillies, garlic and shallots, spread over the inside of the dosa before the potato goes in.

### Can I use store-bought dosa batter for masala dosa?

Yes. Thin it to the same pouring consistency, which is 40 ml of water per 500 g of batter, and use the same pan temperatures.

## Keep going

- [Coconut chutney](https://howtomakedosa.com/coconut-chutney/): Fresh, frozen or desiccated coconut, in grams, with a tempering that takes 60 seconds.
- [Sambar](https://howtomakedosa.com/sambar/): Tiffin sambar: toor dal, tamarind and shallots in grams, thinner than the sambar you eat with rice.
- [Ghee roast dosa](https://howtomakedosa.com/ghee-roast-dosa/): The same batter spread thinner and roasted slower in ghee until it snaps.
- [Dosa sticking to the pan](https://howtomakedosa.com/dosa-sticking-to-pan/): Heat, seasoning and batter checks, plus how to re-season a cast iron tawa that has stopped releasing.