Dosa making take 1 (or 2 perhaps)

This morning, before heading off to watch the NY Marathon, I started on the path to making Dosas. Knowing that this would likely not work well, I used only a small amount of ingredients. The directions I found online where to mix 1 part Urad Dal, 2 parts rice (short grained), and 1/4 part Channa Dal, plus some Metha (Fennigreek) seeds. You wash them and then soak them in water for at least 6 hours. Then you blend them to a course batter in a blender. I did this. In my first attempt at actually cooking the Dosa I used a large cast iron skillet with some oil, and poured the batter into the middle, then used my pouring cup to spread the batter. Unfortunately, the batter was too thick and didn't spread. It also didn't cook that well. I ate the creation with some of my indian/bangladeshi greenbeans I made earlier, but it was not particularly good.
With this failure under my belt I figured I should add a little more water and let the batter continue to ferment. I did this for about 3 more hours an then just a few minutes ago made another Dosa. This time the batter spread better, and it cooked better. However, it still seemed a little to course and in my opinion there has not been enough fermentation. I still have some of the batter left, so my plan is to let it ferment over night, and then blend again in the morning and try once more.
This exercise in Dosa making today reminds me of my first Dosa attempt about a year or so ago. My friend Evan and I decided to apply for an NYU iron chef type contest. The application was to design a breakfast menu. I had the idea of making Dosas. There was a problem though. Most importantly you only had an hour to prep and make the breakfast. Secondly, they didn't have the right types of lentils. Still, I persevered and figured that ingredients and time are only in the mind (a common act of hubris I suffer from). So, I took my lentils and my rice and threw it in the blender with some water. Sure enough I got a nice paste which looked kind of like Dosa batter. The only issue was that when I tried to cook it, IT TASTED and FELT HORRIBLE. It was all gritty and I'm pretty sure my body was unable to make anything of the protein locked deep inside of the ingredients. An utter failure, I just tossed the mix. In retrospect I should have just let it ferment for a day and then tried again.