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Being a North Indian from a Punjabi background, I have always loved my rajma chawal and butter chicken. However, often times, when we are in the mood for change, my family dines at a South Indian restaurant in Delhi. To be honest, all of us equally enjoy the South Indian spread as much as we enjoy North Indian. It generally comprises of uttapam, idli, vada and dosa along with hoards of sambhar and coconut chutney. This one time, my father ordered a South Indian thali for himself and the flavours of the different subzis was quite good.
Based on our limited interaction and common sense understanding of the South Indian culture and cuisine (like me), we tend to look at it from a skewed perspective. Take the dosa, for instance. As a kid, all I knew was a masala dosa until I grew up and started exploring food. The basic idea of dosa for most North Indians today (you may have a better understanding) is a thin and crispy crepe, stuffed with a spicy potato filling. While the former is partially true, it is the latter that differs. For the uninitiated, dosas are like soft pancakes that are usually made from rice flour, with or without a filling and usually served with sambhar and chutney.
A trip to South India might be an eye-opener for you. The vast diversity of dosas that are on offer in the region would take you by surprise. In fact, not just dosas, even the sambhar is quite distinct in taste. Did you know that dosa is known by a variety of names in different parts of South India? From the dosai of Tamil where it considered to be mentioned for the first time in a 1st century text to the dosha of Kerala and dose of Karnataka, the Indian crepe has come a long way.
A popular breakfast dish across the Indian sub-continent today, dosa can be spruced up in a variety of ways. Here are some interesting dosas eaten in their homeland.
1. Davangere Benne Dosa
The name of this dosa is quite self-explanatory. The rich and crispy texture of the dosa comes from benne i.e. butter in Kannada. The origins of this dosa lie in Davangere, a district in Karnataka. This is a specialty of the region which is loaded with rich homemade butter. The goodness of freshly churned butter makes the benne dosa popular across the entire region of Karnataka and requires no filling.
2. Uppbu Huli Dosa
While the North Indian side of the country relishes dosas that are generally light brown to medium brown in colour, the Uppu Huli boasts of a dark reddish hue. This colour can be attributed to the use of tamarind and red chillies which are mixed in the batter and spread into a dosa on the pan. The interplay of sweet, sour and spicy flavours brings out a mélange of flavours in this dosa. This variety is quite popular in Mangalore and Udupi.
3. Perasattu Dosa
Did you ever think that upma could be a filling? Well, in case of Perasattu dosa, it is possible. The crunchy dosa made from a moong dal batter is stuffed with a bowlful of upma along with coconut chutney on the side. The crispy South Indian pancake is a usual suspect on the breakfast table in Andhra Pradesh, popularly known as MLA dosa.
4. Neer Dosa
Can you make a quick guess about this dosa just by reading the name? Well, yes you’re right, it has something to do with water. Neer refers to water and this Dakshin Kannada specialty is prepared with a watery batter of rice flour. This water dosa is a good snack option since fermentation is not needed for the batter and the texture is also quite chewy, pairing well with jaggery and coconut chutney. The pure white dosa is extremely soft and soothing for the taste buds and works well with fish curries too.
5. Set Dosa
According to common sense understanding, set means a combo or collection of things that are put together as a combo. That concept applies to these soft dosas of South India that come together as a trio. There are three soft and fluffy dosas in the set that are smaller in size compared to a regular dosa and do not have any filling. The circular-shaped dosas are steamed and accompanied by a potato curry (saagu) and the coconut chutney. With minimum use of oil, these open dosas are quite healthy too.
