Red Matta Rice Pancakes "Sponge Dosa"

This is not your everyday pancake. It neither comes from a box nor can be made at the drop of the hat. Why? Cause it is made from "fermented rice batter". So the groundwork for the batter needs to be done at-least a day ahead.
So how does one ferment this batter? Start off by washing the rice and shelled "whole black gram"(Urad dhal). Now soak rice, black gram with a bit of fenugreek seeds in water for at-least 6-8 hours.Drain the water, but do not discard. Save it for use when grinding. FYI, the black gram and fenugreek seeds are added to the batter to draw the wild yeast from air which will ferment the batter.Scroll down for the entire procedure. MIL and mom are experts at making this. But I manage to mess it up every time I make it! At my hubby's insistence I made this last weekend after modifying this recipe. This is normally eaten with any hot chutney - Fiery Tomato Chutney or any of this Four season chutney.

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 Cups Red Matta Rice (Red Bhutanese Rice may be used instead)
• Option1=> (3/4 Cup Red Rice Flakes "Aval/Poha" + 1 Cup Sour Buttermilk)  Or Option2 => ( 1/2 Cup Flakes + 1/4 Cup Sago +  1/2 Cup Grated Coconut)
• 4 Tbsp shelled Whole Black Gram
• 3/4 tsp Fenugreek Seeds
• 1 Tsp Kosher Salt
• 1/8 Tsp Baking Soda

Procedure:

• Wash the Red Rice and Whole Black gram. Soak the washed red rice and whole black gram along with fenugreek seeds in water for 7-8 hours.

• Soak the rice flakes in the sour buttermilk for 3-4 hours if using Option1 or soak the flakes and sago separately in little water for 3-4 hours if using Option2

• Drain the rice-gram-seed mixture. Don't discard the water. Use a portion(read "Very little) of it to grind the mixture to a very thick batter.
• Grind the rice flakes to a smooth paste like consistency using the saved water.[ Do the same "if using" option2 along with the grated coconut].
• Mix the rice-batter and flake-paste together in a  high rimmed vessel. [Fermenting causes the batter to swell].
• Stir in the salt and baking soda with a ladle or a clean hand.
• Leave it in a warm spot(~ 80F) and let the batter ferment overnight. In colder places, its better to preheat the oven to 200F,warm the oven for 5-10 minutes, switch it off and place the batter inside the oven 5 minutes later.Make sure the oven isn't too hot. else the batter might get cooked. That is a disaster. If the batter is doubled in volume then it is fermented.

• Spoon a ladle-full of fermented batter over a hot oil-greased griddle.Spread it gently but don't overdo it.A nice thick pancake is what is desired!

• Add a little oil along the rim, cover it and let it cook for a minute in a low-medium flame.

• Flip it, cook the other side for half a minute more.

• Repeat the same for the remaining batter and serve hot with Fiery Tomato Chutney or any of this Four season chutney.

Makes 10-12 Pancakes/Sponge Dosa

Enjoy!