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The Changing Avtaars of the Dosa
This lentil-based pancake has journeyed through time and made a name for itself in the hallowed portals of culinary history. Read on…
Dosa, also known as dosai in Tamil is a rice and lentil-based salted pancake usually eaten with a spicy chutney or a thick lentil gravy called sambar. Though the origins of the dosa are not accurate but are mentioned in the early Sangam literature of Tamil Nadu.
A blend of rice and lentils soaked for more than 6 hours and later ground to a fine batter makes for a nutritious breakfast/lunch/dinner, accompanied by a spicy chutney or a coconut-based gravy. However, this popular snack once confined to the four walls of South Indian homes broke its shackles and found its way to Pune and Mumbai via Karnataka and Udupi.
Enterprising men from the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Udupi with sharp business acumen migrated from their villages in search of jobs to make it big in these cities which are now the top metropolitan cities of India.
In the late 70s and early 80s, when I was old enough to understand the world around me, I visited these joints with my parents and enjoyed these mouthwatering dosas served with piping hot sambar and chutney.
But the journey of this incredible Indian pancake was not an easy one as the deeply profound saying goes, ‘’A journey…
