Development and Process Standardization of Fermented Dosa Batter Incorporating Grain Amaranth (Amaranthus Spp.)

Grain amaranth offers an opportunity to diversify the ingredients used in traditional cereal–pulse foods, but its incorporation should retain acceptable product quality. This study evaluated grain amaranth incorporation, fermentation duration and soaking time for the development of naturally fermented dosa batter. Five formulations (grain amaranth: rice: black gram dhal) were prepared on a dry ingredient basis: 0:75:25 (control), 25:50:25, 37.5:37.5:25, 50:25:25 and 75:0:25. Ingredients were initially soaked for 8 h, ground and naturally fermented at room temperature for 6, 8, 10 and 12 h. Batter pH and titratable acidity were assessed and dosas were evaluated by 21 semi-trained panellists using a nine-point hedonic scale. Reducing sugars and batter volume rise were assessed at the selected 12 h fermentation endpoint. At 12 h, pH ranged from 5.16 in the control to 4.56 in the rice-free formulation, while batter volume rise increased from 41.67% to 85.56%. The 25% amaranth formulation had the highest overall acceptability among the amaranth-containing formulations (8.14), whereas the 50% formulation scored 7.72 and was selected to balance higher incorporation and acceptable sensory quality. Its pH, reducing sugar content and batter volume rise were 4.66, 9.61 g glucose equivalents/100 g and 75.56%, respectively. Subsequent soaking trials with this formulation yielded overall acceptability scores of 7.03, 7.72 and 7.81 after 6, 8 and 10 h soaking. The results support the 50:25:25 grain amaranth: rice: black gram dhal formulation with 8 h soaking and 12 h natural fermentation as a practical process under the conditions evaluated.