Food for me was a connecting link to my grandmother, to my childhood, to my past. And what I found out is that for everybody, food is a connector to their roots, to their past in different ways. It gives you security; it gives you a profile of who you are, where you come from”- Lidia Matticchio, an American chef.
What Lidia says holds true for Dosa (Dosai in Tamil), the wafer-thin and oversized crepes indigenous to South India! It has been passed on from one generation to another and is best described as the mother of all crepes. Dosa has its roots in Udupi, and has been mentioned in Tamil Sangam Literature circa 6th century AD. Having been a ‘CEO’ designated ‘home-maker’ of a demanding family for several years; I have tried several breakfast recipes with a vengeance. I find my ‘wet-grinder’ to be my faithful companion, without which I am totally at a loss for the menu of the ‘three sessions’ each day for the entire week! It is my stock of batter, both idli and dosa, that keeps me going!
What Lidia says holds true for Dosa (Dosai in Tamil), the wafer-thin and oversized crepes indigenous to South India! It has been passed on from one generation to another and is best described as the mother of all crepes. Dosa has its roots in Udupi, and has been mentioned in Tamil Sangam Literature circa 6th century AD. Having been a ‘CEO’ designated ‘home-maker’ of a demanding family for several years; I have tried several breakfast recipes with a vengeance. I find my ‘wet-grinder’ to be my faithful companion, without which I am totally at a loss for the menu of the ‘three sessions’ each day for the entire week! It is my stock of batter, both idli and dosa, that keeps me going!
The making of dosa is reminiscent of my childhood as I still can get a ‘whiff’ of the mildly steaming, pimpled and golden complexioned dosas, whenever our relatives dropped into our house unannounced at any time of the day! ‘Dosa batter’ was our rescuer! My Ma, in a jiffy, served dosas in various forms depending on the age of the batter ─ either one day or two days or three days! Do keep in mind that those were fridge less days! If it was day-1 it was bland dosa; on day-2, the batter was at its best and relatives were served with wafer-thin paper roast; on day- 3 it was Oothappam, made from sour dough mixed with rice flour, finely cut onions, green chilies and curry leaves, a popular demand of our family; finally, the left over dosas were made into small pieces known as ‘pitchu dosa’. This ‘Dosa’ fanfare ended with filter coffee!! The most sought after accompaniments for dosa include sambar or chutney, but for the unannounced visitor which was the norm those days, it was ‘dosa chilli powder- (dosai milagai podi in Tamil)’ or the fiery ‘gun powder’! Several are the things that I miss now and one such thing is that of my Ma carrying on interesting conversation with me, while deftly flipping the dosai to make it a ‘roast’, which is my favorite even today. When I make dosai, the same aroma which emanated from my mom’s kitchen floats in my kitchen too as this is no doubt my mom’s quintessential dosa, made in its purest and most minimalist form with lot of love, which I have enjoyed in my childhood days.
Right from the traditional plain roast to masala dosai to rava dosai to the trendy pizza and noodles dosai, dosas are conceived to flatter gourmets of different age groups. These days several eateries have come up with umpteen varieties of dosas with innumerable varieties of fillings, which were totally unheard in the past. Among the varieties available are paneer dosa, Mysore dosa, potato and cauliflower, mixed dosa, Mysore set dosa, mushroom, chocolate, channa – it would be impossible to mention all the varieties in one go.
The crispy ubiquitous dosa comes dressed up with splendid stuffing which include tomato, cabbage ,cheese, vegetable noodles, palak, mixed fruit jam, eggs… the list is endless. In addition to all this are creative stuffs like California dosa, Guacamole dosa and Ayurvedic dosas, which are for the health-conscious!
Sitting leisurely on the bench in a roadside creperie in Paris at the Champs Ellyses Avenue during my Europe tour I was fascinated to see young and old alike busy eating hot crepes laced with chocolate and almonds, oozing with chocolate sauce and strawberry fillings .While digging into my crepe filled with dark chocolate and dollops of whipped cream, I was thinking about our Indian dosa- How similar are our dosas to these crepes?
Foreigners are acquiring an insatiable appetite for this traditional South Indian delicacy which is deliciously savory and seemingly innocuous. Dosa has found a place on the international map with Dosa huts and Dosa carts mushrooming in several countries. For a special treat, we find dosa folded around fresh-herbed scrambled eggs, chopped smoked salmon, chicken, seafood etc. With imagination taking on wings, the scrumptious possibilities of making varieties of dosas are endless. Dosa seems to be the all time favorite of several people and any time seems to be dosa time!
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