What's a dosa- you ask?

South Indian cuisine is known for its varying and vibrant use of rice, lentils, coconut and a multitude of aromatic spices and oils. One of the first dishes to come to mind when one thinks of this land is the dosa. The dosa is a thin, savory crepe made from a fermented batter of ground black gram and rice. Its beginnings can be traced back more than a 1000 years to references in Tamil Sangam and Kannada literature around 8th and 9th century. The batter is thinly spread out on a griddle, and is cooked with a little oil spread around its edges until it is crispy and golden brown at its edges, leaving the center of the dosa slightly soft.

Dosas are served hot, often with sides of chutney, sambar, masala and gunpowder. The dosa gets dipped into sambar for flavoring; once you finish your dosa, you drink up the rest of the soup. Eating dosa with sambar is a practice that originated in Tamil Nadu, but has since become a standard operating procedure throughout India.

Masala dosas are stuffed with a spicy mash of sauteed potato, onion, tomato; plain dosas are hollow; rava dosas are made from semolina; and some new-age variants get creative with fillings such as paneer (cottage cheese) or mixed vegetables.

Uttapam are made with a batter of fermented rice and lentils. Chopped tomato, onion, chillies, carrot, coconut and other toppings are then sprinkled on. The result is a fluffy, porous, delicious uttapam, softer than a dosa, and tastes great with chutneys or without.

Sambar: A spicy, chunky, aromatic stew whose primary ingredients include lentils (pigeon peas), vegetables like eggplant, drumstick, okra and carrots, tamarind, curry leaves and a tempering (tadka) of mustard seeds, curry leaves, and chili.

Gunpowder: A popular South Indian seasoning powder with a red chili base and ground dry lentils for crunch

Chutney: Coconut chutney is a south Indian staple as a side-dish or a condiment. The condiment is made with coconut pulp ground with other ingredients such as green chillies, roasted gram lentils, ginger, tamarind, salt, coriander and water. Coconut chutney is made with both red chillies or green chillies.

Masala: A savory dish of boiled potatoes mashed with onions, mustard seeds, curry leaves, turmeric, and green chilies. Masala is used as a filling in the dosa to produce a masala dosa

Reviews

What guests say about the dosa doc

The dosas were a huge hit at our party! Fresh, crispy, and made right before our eyes. Everyone kept asking for seconds.

Maya R.

Austin TX

Booking the dosa doc was the best decision for our family reunion. The live cooking added a fun vibe and the flavors were authentic and delicious.

Raj P.

Seattle WA

★★★★★

★★★★★