Difference Between Batter and Dough

Batter vs Dough

Dough is a commonly used word in household kitchens, and even in kitchens of restaurants where chefs make recipes using dough. Wheat is the most common ingredient for making dough for breads in most parts of the world, and the process can be very simple when dough is made mixing just water and kneading the paste to a consistency that is suitable to make round balls or to cut it into whatever shape one wants for his recipe. Batter is another word that is confused with dough because of the fact, that it is a mixture of a few ingredients. However, there are a lot of differences between dough and batter that will be discussed in this article.

For those who have no knowledge of a batter, it is a mixture of flour, egg, milk and water that is used in making cakes or to apply as a coating to foods before they are fried. If you are an Indian, you know how pakodi’s are made after dipping potato slices or onion slices into a batter made of besan powder in water. Besan is flour made of chickpeas. It is known as gram flour in the western world. Besan mixture in yoghurt is used in the Indian subcontinent by females as an exfoliant to have a glowing skin. However, this article is not about benefits of this special batter, but to tell how a batter is different from dough. Dough is thicker than batter. Batter is thin like a liquid so that the user can pour it from a pan to another. It can be taken in a spoon to be used for making cookies, while dough has a greater consistency and is like a soft ball in your hand. Thus, batter is more liquid than dough and can be poured, while dough can be kneaded with hands and any shape given, while making recipes.

To make a batter, one can use a blender while to make dough, it is necessary to make use of hands. Batter is poured into hot oil to fry to make some recipes, though a lot of recipes can be made by placing the droppings in a microwave oven. According to dictionaries, the word batter comes from French batter that literally means to beat. While making omlette, it is necessary to make the batter by a blender or by beating ingredients with hand. In Indian kitchens, especially south Indian, dosa and idli are two dishes that require making batter and then dropping it on the hot plate to prepare the delicious dosa (or keeping ingredients in a hot case to make idlis).