Golden bites from heaven

The masala dosa has finally found its place as the national dish of India and while that surprises no-one in our city, it sure is a good time to re-celebrate our favourite snack

The masala dosa has finally found its place as the national dish of India and while that surprises no-one in our city, it sure is a good time to re-celebrate our favourite snack

The humble dosa has come a long way, from the meek homes of some ancient home in South India, to a more glorified present as the snack that India loves to eat. A recent survey by a well-established weekly has shocked many of its readers with the results of its National Dish of India poll. The contenders were huge in their own respective ways, but the masala dosa fought tough competition to beat several favourites including the quintessential biriyani and much-confused curry to win the nations heart.

Down south, nobody was surprised and why should anyone be? The dosa has after all made its way into each of our lives in several of its many avatars. What might have initially begun as a method to save precious rice grain, and to use broken rice in a way that would be relished and healthy, has now evolved into a whole culinary art that requires as much perfection in the making as the French would pompom about the ratatouille.

The British called it the poor man's bread, the French called it a flat rice pancake and north Indians always assumed it was the unhealthiest form of a roti. They were all right in their own ways, but the simple poor man's food has had a flexibility that is almost incomparable with. It has been re-invented time and again, borrowed, made native and then made foreign so many times over that the original recipe is now quite the topic of contention. It is still however a winner.

History and cultural tradition claim the dosa evolved in modern day Tamilnadu, which is almost logically right as the Kaveri and Vaigai basins in central Tamilnadu have witnessed at least a thousand years of the cultivation of rice. The use of rice flour also seems to be a local tradition in the area and the flour is used to make food, decorate floors and walls and starch sarees among many other varied uses.

The dosa is called a dosai here, but then again as with everything in the south, this origin can be debated. Any Kannadiga worth his salt will claim it evolved in the town of Udipi and the presence of several forms of the dosa in this area bear witness to this possibility. The Udipi Brahmins ensured that the art of dosa making reached its zenith and the style of making the dosa in all its golden brown brilliance was perfected here. While the origin in Udipi can also be debated, the masala dosa, a more modern avatar most probably evolved within some kitchen in this pouranic town. The sheer magic of combining a readily available aloo gadde paliya (potato masala) with a crisp brown dosa, fried to perfection could have only been thought of in a place like this.u00a0 The dosa is called a dosu00e9 in these parts and the style of the Udipi dosa or its Davangere relative have created a niche in this ever growing food culture.

Keralites also claim the dosa as their own and the doshu00e9, while quite similar to its Tamil avatar, often has the added benefit of being thicker and richer. One must not be surprised when served doshu00e9s enhanced with coconut milk added to the batter, served with rich coconut chutneys, as this after all, is the land of coconuts.

This tradition of adding the auspicious and delicious coconut in several forms to the batter is also present further north on the same coast in its Konkani and Tulu avatars.

People from Andhra Pradesh never claim to have been the fathers of the food, but they sure have added to its rich plethora of offerings. Would dosas ever be that interesting without the presence of the Rayalaseema tomato dosa or the Pesarattu dosa from the heart of Andhra's river basins as choices?

The north has also contributed and today many households make supposedly 'healthier' godhumai dosais or godhi hittu dosu00e9s in several parts of Urban Tamilnadu and Karnataka. They're healthier thanks to the un-provable benefits of wheat flour over rice flour that many dieticians swear by. To the quintessential South Indian however dosas will always be what they always wereu00a0-- pure rice flour snacks and will always be the most important and unchallenged winner of South Indian breakfast snacks.

We've shortlisted a few of the best dosa hangouts in the city, where you can dig into some of the most authentic dosas in all its' delicious avatars:

Udipi Style: Mavalli Tiffin Roomsu00a0-- Mavalli, Call: 2223 0471; Vidyarthi Bhavanu00a0-- Basavangudi, Call: 2667 7588

Tamil Style: Adyar Ananda Bhavanu00a0-- Koramangala, Call: 4146 6299; India Coffee Houseu00a0-- Church Street, Call: 2220 1936
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Pesarattu and Tomato dosas are best tasted at home, but restaurants around the city offer quite passable versions including, Sri Krishna Bhavanu00a0-- Koramangala, Call: 2563 5221