Panpolos in Konkani or Neeru dose in Kannada are one of the yummiest variety of dosas. Though eating it is very easy due to its soft and melt in the mouth texture, making it perfectly is not at all easy. Atleast for me, it took many years to get this dosa right.

My mom made the best panpolos ever and I cannot match her taste. When I was pregnant with my daughter, she used to stand with her walker leaning against the kitchen slab and make almost 20 panpolos for me ( even more sometimes). It was my topmost pregnancy craving and my dad was fed up eating panpolos every other day for breakfast.

Then when my daughter was an year old, Amma came here to Qatar and taught me how to make perfect panpolos. She stood beside me and showed me the batter consistency and how I should pour it. After that, I too learned the art of making panpolos and now I can say I make them perfectly.

Panpolos taste the best with Amma’s Tomato chutney and I love the combination very much.

Amma can no longer walk using her walker and uses wheel chair for movement. She is sad that she cannot cook like before. But Amma, whatever you have taught me, it will always remain with me and will be passed on to the next generation.

Here’s sharing the recipe. The main ingredient always will be Love. Make them with love and they will come out right. Happy and healthy cooking!

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

2 1/2 Cups Raw white rice (any variety of white rice works)

1 Cup grated Coconut (fresh/ desiccated)

Salt to taste

Step by step recipe:

1. Wash well and soak the rice for 4 hours.

2. Drain and add the soaked rice along with coconut and salt to a mixer.

3. Grind with water as required (do not add a lot of water) to a smooth paste.

4. Remove in a vessel and add more water to make a thin batter. The batter should be thinner than regular dosa batter and should be free flowing. (Be careful while adding water though. Prepare a dosa and check if it is coming out well. Excess water in the batter makes dosas sticky.)

5. The first dosa shows whether your batter texture is perfect or not. If the dosa comes out thick and less holes, you need to add more water to the batter.

6. Heat a flat bottomed dosa pan and when it becomes hot, pour the dosa batter. Just add one or two ladles of the batter on the hot pan in one single layer. This dosa does not have the round shape of regular dosas.

7. Cover and cook for couple of minutes till the surface cooks well.

8. Fold the dosa as shown into half.

9. Fold again resembling a triangle.

10. Remove and serve hot with a chutney of your choice. I have served with my Amma’s Tomato Chutney.

Notes:

* The main point while making these dosas is the batter consistency. It takes some trials to get the perfect texture. If the batter is too thick, the dosas don’t come out as soft. You will know that when you pour the dosa. Check the difference here.

* You can also add coconut water while grinding for a delicious flavor to the dosa.

* This dosa can be had with honey, grated coconut with powdered jaggery, tomato chutney or any chutney of your choice.

* Leftover batter can be refrigerated and used later. I sometimes grind at night and refrigerate for breakfast next day.

* Make sure to grind the batter smoothly and not coarse. Coarse batter makes hard dosas.

*The dosa batter should NOT be fermented like regular dosas. The batter is ready to use as soon as ground.

*This dosa cooks only on one side. Do NOT flip and cook the dosa.

All these tips were taught to me by my mother, Rekha Shenoy and I am ever grateful to her for that. If I know to make perfect panpolos, it’s because of her. 🙏

If any doubts, do message me on my Facebook page Healthy cooking with mitha or on my Instagram handle and I would be happy to help. Happy cooking!

Edited to add: Have got many doubts with Panpolo making after I posted this recipe . One of them is-

Q: My panpolos stick to the pan each time I make it and the dosas turn sticky. What is the reason?

My answer:

Oh that’s so sad. There can be many reasons for that. I have faced it as well.
The first reason is that the batter is more watery than it should be. To solve this, grind the batter smoothly and add less water while doing so. Make the first dosa. It will turn thick but it will not stick to the pan. Then add little by little water to the batter if required.
Second reason is never ferment panpolo batter. Even if it stays in room temperature for few hours, it tends to get sticky. Always use it as soon as you grind the batter or refrigerate till use.
Third reason is the pan is not hot enough. For panpolos, the pan should be very hot. Only then pour the batter.
Hope you get your panpolos right this time.