8.6.09

Good Deals: Rockin' Dosai

I've been a huge fan of the South Indian dosa since I discovered them sometime during the last century. This regional staple is basically a rice and lentil crepe eaten plain or stuffed with some sort of spiced vegetable filling, served with sambar (a sort of spiced vegetable stew) and chutneys. I tend towards the popular Masala Dosa, filled with curried potatoes and onions, and if a place has a chilied-up version, I order it.

On Saturday I took my brother Kris for his first ever dosa in Curry Hill (the neighborhood filled with Indian restaurants and shops on Lexington Avenue in the high 20s). I was attracted to the offerings on the menu taped to the window of a place with a big Dosa Hut sign (102 Lexington Ave. between 27th and 28th). The official name of the place is a bit of a mystery to me, though, as the card I received says Tamil Nadu Bhavan, but some Internet research also yields a site for Saravana Bhavan Dosa Hut at the same address, with the same menu and press quotes. Weird.

Anyway, to the food... I spied what the guy at the table next to us had just received, and it looked beautiful. I asked what it was, then ordered it: a Mysore Rava Masala Dosa. It was crazy. The best dosa I've had so far. While the filling was the typical masala dosa filling, the crepe was unusually light, infused with fennel seeds and fresh cilantro leaves, and spiced up with a killer chili powder. Insane. I couldn't stop eating. I want to go back for one...right now...

I picked up some dosa mix at Kalustyan's while I was in the neighborhood, so I will report on my experiments.

1 comment:

Cathy Very Sad Hart said...

I could just cry, looking at that beautiful dosa. Two restaurants in Lancaster, neither serve dosas. The one had it on the menu and when i asked for one they said "we're out." Next visit, it was gone from the menu. I asked anyway. No dosa. I was DENIED.

If I leave now, I could be in NY by 8 p.m. Hmmmmmm.