MASALA DOSA, INDIA

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY By darmansjah

THE CLASSIC masala dosa is a paper-thin rice flour pancaks stuffed with a zesty curry of potatoes, onions and dried red chillies. Dosas can be had rolled, unrolled, stuffed, unstuffed, thick, thin, fermented, unfermented and even stacked in towers like American pancakes. All are served with a side order of coconut chutney and sambar – a fragrant dipping sauce flavoured with lentil dhal, tamarind and mustard seeds.

ORIGIN First mentioned in sixth-century Indian poems, dosas have been linked to the town of Udupi on the coast of Karnataka, which is famed for the rich vegetarian cuisine cooked in its Hindu monasteries. Legend has it that stuffing the dosa with spiced vegetables was a trick to hide the onions, which were said to inflame the passions and lead the faithful away from the path to enlightenment.

TASTING Dosas are eaten by hand, ripped into pieces and dipped into fiery crucibles of sambar and chutney. Start at the crispy extremities and eat your way to the yielding centre, where the sabji (vegetable curry) has soaked into the shell. The setting for your meal is often as vibrant a the spices found within it – street stalls, roadhouses and station platforms, all surrounded by vast crowds of people on the move. This is a dish to consume on the hoof – but do take a moment to observe the skill of the vendor, who swirls batter across the ghee-covered hotplate with the bottom of a steel bowl, like a potter preparing his wheel.

FINDING IT Every city south of Mumbai claims to offer the 'best dosas in India’-start your search at train station canteens and branches of restaurant chain Indian Coffee House (around US$0.50; indiancoffeehouse.com).