A jostling crowd of the hungry with money salivate and wait impatiently. The men on the other side of the counter keep jabbering a hundred different orders to a cook who has no time to breathe.
The batter splashes on a hot dosa kal or whatever one may call it. The ghee, butter, oil, masala are favourites, but there are innumerable elements that make it on to the splashed and rounded batter. Finally it arrives on a plate with that special chutney. And, it vanishes swiftly with a slurp, leaving behind the desire for a large pot belly that can accommodate a few more.
You won’t get this kind of dosa anywhere, certainly not in a five star or even a well-known restaurant. These are not large fancy places, but ones that are off the street. Ask the dosa lover and they will vouch for these unknown venues.
The dosa now comes in many avatars… from the popular masala dosa, tomato dosa, chutney pudi dosa, chitranna dosa to the more exotic cheese dosa, pav bhaji dosa, Schezwan noodles dosa, chocolate cheese dosa, Singapore chilli dosa and many more.
When did this transformation happen? Pavandeep Singh, one of three founders of Love, Sex Aur Dosa, says it’s not surprising that dosa has become popular. “This has been a trend over the past three to four years. With the street food scene picking up and vendors offering never-before-seen varieties, it was expected,” he says.
Dosas, even the different varieties that are on offer, are easy to make. It is the same batter but the toppings may vary. “Dosa is the easiest dish to prepare fresh. It is popular as it is convenient, simple, and no nonsense for both the vendor and the customer,” he adds.
Love, Sex Aur Dosa, formed in July 2012, by Singh, George Seemon and Mario Jerome, has chronicled the dosa’s many avatars and seen how people are lapping it up.
From Janata Hotel, Vidyarthi Bhavan, Shri Sagar (still popularly known as CTR) and MTR, dosa lovers now also line up at 99 Varieties Dosa in Koramangala, Umesh Dosa Point in Seshadripuram and Jayanagar, Chikkanna Tiffin Room in Cubbon pete, and various food carts in Jewellers’ Street, Avenue Road and Food Street in V.V. Puram.
Shibaji Ghosh, co-founder of Oota Company, believes that the dosa, which has been a staple in south India, in its new avatar has been accepted, as people are now more open to experimentation. “It is a good thing that experimentation has resulted in the creation of varieties… some may stay, while some may just fizzle out over time.” Oota Company routinely takes people out on “Oota Walks” to popular and lesser known eateries. Each walk is dedicated to one kind of food. “The immense variety in dosas on offer is mind boggling… it is a different dish altogether with a different chutney. Change the sambar or bhaaji and the resultant dosa is another variant. These are also popular, as the dosa is a comfort food for many,” he adds.
Whatever the avatar, it seems that the humble dosa is here to stay and so is the experimentation. Four such “secret dosas” are uncovered for you.
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How about some chitranna?
Big, generous dollops of soft butter are added to fluffy dosas being readied on a hot tawa, while the creator and the customers wait in patience, oblivious to the hustle and bustle that surrounds them. As the dosa is lifted to a makeshift plate with two types of chutney, and the fragrance of buttery goodness wafts into the air, the nameless shop on Jewellers Street (off Commercial Street) suddenly gains prominence.
Naveen Kumar (40), who runs the shop with his brother and father Biduranarayana – who started the shop in 1975 – is as unassuming as the popular dosa stop. Doling out the favourites – bhath dosa (stuffed with chitranna) and semiya dosa, he says he has been making them since he was in class six.
No plans to move to a bigger place? They get nearly 200 customers in four hours flat (the shop is open from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.) after all. “We are happy with what we have,” he simply shrugs.
Regular customers, such as jeweller Raju Bohra and autorickshaw driver Ombalegowda, both of who have been eating these dosas for over a decade, are not complaining either.
By DEEPIKA CARIAPPA
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Not too fine a point
Within six months, a quaint little street behind the Reddy petrol bunk in Sheshadripuram has become famous, thanks to Umesh Dosa point. This joint, which opened in March this year, is famous for its pudi dosa and has already won hundreds of loyal patrons who have taken to various social networking sites to help their favourite joint grow.
From a small shop, eight people quickly pour oodles of ghee fresh from the packet and churn out around eight varieties of sinful dosas that is served with two chutneys.
Although popular for the dosas, their soft idlis and pudi chitranna too are a must try and will help battle restlessness as you wait for the dosas.
Managed by four partners who claim to have worked in the “dosa industry” for over two and half decades, Dakshayini Umesh, one of the partners patiently stands at the cash counter and helps customer resolve their biggest dilemma - which dosa to pick. She says that their future plans involve feeding hungry patrons in the morning on all days of the week.
The joint is open from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on all days and is open on Sundays from 8 a.m. to noon as well.
By TANU KULKARNI
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No half measures here
If you are in the vicinity of Hudson Circle early in the morning on any day, do not miss visiting Sidappa Hotel.
The trick is to time the visit perfectly or you will be left watching other people devour dosas that look delectable.
Dose Sidappa, as he is popularly known in the city, opens his shop promptly at 8.30 every morning. By 9 a.m. on most days, there is no more food left to serve. Located in a small shack between two trees, huge lines of customers, with some of them holding plates of their own, is a normal sight that greets visitors. Sidappa famously refuses to serve food in plates, instead there is a mix of newspaper and banana leaf.
If you manage to seat yourself in time, you can eat in relative peace; however, the long line ensures that no one loiters more than necessary.
With almost industrial precision, half dosas are served on the makeshift plates. “The half dosa is so that we can serve as many people as possible. It is not possible to increase the size of the tava we use,” says Sidappa who sits at the shop and handles accounts.
The menu changes frequently on Thursdays and Sundays and a dosa with chitranna wrapped within is the most popular dish according to visitors.
Location: Beside Hotel Geo near Hudson Circle.
AVINASH BHAT
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He can do magic!
If you have been to the narrow bylanes of Nagarthpet only during the day, then you are missing one of the best chutney pudi dosas available in the city. Not just one of the best, the chutneypudi dosa recipe was probably introduced to the city here around 45 years ago, by Lakshmidevamma in a push cart.
Now her son Nagaraj is well known as Dose Nagaraj in the foodie circles of the city.
Every night, the narrow bylane is packed with hundreds of foodies coming from far off places such as Yelahanka, Kengeri and Rajajinagar with families to savour the ghee roast chatnipudi dosa of Nagaraj. Nagarthpet offers a variety of other food stalls as well. But nothing can beat the dosa here. The dosa doesn’t even use a drop of oil, only ghee! It is a mouth watering sight to behold — to see Nagaraj use a pin-holed ghee packet for dosas. What is also key is the variety of dosas at the pushcart stall. Chutney pudi plain to masala dosas aside, two secret recipes are the USP of the stall – pudi rice bath dosa and magic dosa.
Magic dosa has dosa with chutney pudi and raw onions fried in ghee that adds a quirky taste to the plain dosa. One of the other specialities of Nagaraj is the chutney pudi rice bath — rice, raw onions and chutney pudi fried on a tava with ghee. This is one non-dosa recipe you have to savour here. The pudi rice bath dosa makes for an ideal dosa version of this. The chutneypudi rice bath is used as the stuffing for the dosa instead of the regular potato masala.
While the combination of chutneypudi instead of a masala has its roots in the street food of Salem, the rest of the recipes are Lakshmidevamma’s. “My mother-in-law was from Salem where I saw molagaipudi being used for dosa which triggered this enterprise,” she says.
In her times, the dosas used to be served with five kinds of chutneys, which have been brought down to two now. The joint is open from 7 p.m. to midnight.
K.V. ADITYA BHARADWAJA
