Mumbai Food: Vile Parle stall serves dosas with a twist

A Bright white light hangs over the heads of five staffers as they ladle dosa batter on five coal-fired stoves holding black metal tawas, lined up on a long table next to a pavement.

Owner L Varghese makes five dosas at one go at Sai Samarth Dosa Centre

Entranced, we watch them in a dosa dance - in swift flicks, cabbage, onion and coriander make their way on top of one dosa while another sizzles with fiery red sauces, finished off with a dollop of butter and oodles of grated cheese. Unable to bear the heat from the stoves, we move away, melting into a crowd gathered at Sai Samarth Dosa Centre, a stall that is part of the popular Bajaj Road khau galli, outside Vile Parle (W) station.

Jhanak Jhanak Payal Dosa

From Surat to Mumbai
Started by Kerala-born L Varghese, the foodie haunt was set up on the Vile Parle footpath in 1985. "My elder brother started a stall in Surat in 1974 and later, we also opened a branch in Ahmedabad. Both have now shut down. Then, we shifted to Mumbai. When we started here, there was only a sandwich stall beside us," says Varghese, who now competes with frankie, chaat and juice stalls lined next to him.

Dilkhush Dosa

However, there is never a dearth of hungry guests in the neighbourhood. A favourite with students, young couples and families, the dosa centre sees a flurry of crowd through the day, which reaches a crescendo during the weekends. While most patrons don't mind standing on the road, balancing plates in their hands and bearing the incessant honking from passing vehicles, some cross over and plonk themselves on stools on the pavement across the road.

Khakhra Dosa

Cool and quirky
In its early days, Varghese only offered Sada Dosa, Onion Uttapam and Mysore Masala, all priced under '30. Now, he has over 50 varieties, where everything from pasta to pizza toppings, manchurian, chop suey, Maggi, sweet corn, bhaji (of pav bhaji) and even palak paneer gravy are laid over the South Indian speciality. The price starts from '50 (for a Sada Dosa) and goes on to '150 (with extra cheese and butter).

The stall sells over 50 varieties

The latest addition is a Chocolate, and Khakhra Dosa - the softer layer of the dosa is scraped off while cooking and what appears is the crispy bottom layer, a khakra-like texture, dripping with butter. "You can refrigerate it for a week, it won't go bad," informs Varghese.

Jini Dosa. Pics/Prabhanjan Dhanu

We order the most oddball-sounding varieties on offer - Jhanak Jhanak Payal Dosa ('140), Dilkhush ('120) and Jini ('120). "We were the first ones in the area to come up with such unique names, thought of by my younger staffers," he adds.

With a medley of palak paneer, diced potato and onion gravy, peas and other veggies cooked over the dosa and served on the side, Jhanak Jhanak Payal Dosa is a heavenly rendition, which makes for a meal by itself. Dilkhush, featuring cabbage-onion-coriander troika, spiced with red chillies and garam masala, and topped off with cashews and grated cheese, is a heart-warmer for its clean flavours.

Placed on the plate as scrolls, Jini gets its sweet-and-sour flavours from various sauces (ketchup, schezwan, chilli) cooked with veggies and cheese. Now, who would have thought one could get so creative with dosas, right?

Time 11.30 am to 11.30 pm (all days)
At Shop No 4, near Somaiya Sadan, Bajaj Road Corner, Vile Parle (W).
Call 9769052496
(they take party orders)