The Dosa Fiasco

Imagine, super thin “flatbreads”, crisped up to perfect flakiness (always ask to make it crisp) with a lot of buttery goodness, the most unique condiments and weird fillings. Combos that shouldn’t work but they absolutely do because all you want after eating one, is a Dosa (In my case, it is a Rawa dosa – made with semolina instead of the usual rice flour batter, just tastes more supreme in my opinion). 

When you do think about something like that, usually the French Crepes (if crepes were crispy) come to mind but oh no no no (in the sassiest way), these are so much better. As a kid born with a “fantastic flavour palette”, I love Dosas, to the point where I can eat one for breakfast everyday. A place close to my old house makes GOD tier dosas. Every year, visiting my family, I know what my breakfast is going to be but sadly my parents moved further south of India to a hill station close to Mumbai called Lonavala. So, no more Delhi and now my house is not so close to that place. Although worry not, we will find the best dosa in Lonavala. 

Just for the context, Dosas suck where I live. So, going back home and smashing a ton of them is always of utmost importance. (Sorry Porto, I love you but in someways you just cannot satisfy me.)

When I got to Lonavala (recently) my parents told me, ‘Dosas here are just not like the ones in Delhi’. The Sambhar (one of the most important accompaniments made with lentils and tomatoes, spicy and tangy) is extremely different, super sweet and basically tastes like ketchup (bad sign) and there is no ‘Rawa’ option (are you trying to depress me DAD?!). Also, they just wanted me to stuff myself with my mom’s food first.

So, the search for the best dosa did get on hold for a while but what is more important for Indian parents than their kids? Their kids’ well to do first cousin and he loves dosas. He was arriving soon and wanted one as soon as he got to Lonavala. Guess what? Now, it is important to find a good dosa place because “Uncle Sharma’s son” likes them:

Place 1 (I genuinely don’t remember the name of this place, people just know it by it’s different style of dosa)

An extremely crowded Indian market, more cows and cars than people, small street food stalls selling great food and hordes of people waiting to get their filling. Amidst those stalls, a 3×4 tiny shop with a griddle in the front and some skilled hands to work with. This place I genuinely loved, they don’t sell the kind of dosas I like but they have their own takeaway style of dosa called ‘The Cut Dosa’. They make a thin dosa but not so crispy, stuffed with a more tomato forward filling, folded several times and then cut into pieces. These are super good for when you are in a rush and crave something reminiscent of a dosa but we needed to head to other places to get the OG thing.

Place 2 (Now, I cannot go naming all the not-so-good places just because they make something that is not according to my taste.)

So, there were a few places like the second one. Either the food was not good or the place couldn’t do it but not to get this boring, I will just skip to the rest where something memorable happened.

Are you claustrophobic? If you aren’t, good, but you might be after visiting this place. Usually, tight knit joints like this one are the ones to go for, you smell the food and others. In all honesty, I like small restaurants but this place was just not it. I was squished between the wall and my mom, the true challenge was not getting a messed up elbow. There were quite a bit of people eating there and that too in big groups, I couldn’t ask for their secret and had to leave the place.

About 2 places and 2 days later

Place 5 (the place that was ruined by my brother – Udupi)

The cousin now with us and after already suffering at 2 places, we ended up at this restaurant on the highway, so not even close to our house. It has decent reviews but it was time to give up on getting my fill. Then I saw it on the menu, in golden, the dosa I love, ‘Rawa dosa’. Everyone excitedly ordered their choices but my elder brother blessed us with his presence this time, he is a bit of a health freak and asked for no oil/butter in his dosa. How the f*** can you make a dosa without some sort of fat? Anyway, I was shocked when he asked for it and the waiter got confused as well. After waiting 30 mins, the first dosa arrived and my god was it bad. When everyone got their plates and started eating, the realisation that the cook made all the dosas without butter, struck me. I was extremely hungry that I just ate the condiments. Traumatised, I saw my brother happily enjoying his “Sahara dry” dosa (don’t know how people do this). I didn’t have the power to wait for another one and everyone after being let down decided to go home. Honestly, after eating that I just didn’t want more dosas. 

See, dosa is a great dish but a really complicated one at that. It doesn’t even work as a dish until all the accompaniments work themselves into the perfect harmony. Crispy dosa with the tangy Sambhar and the refreshing coconut chutney can be a divine bite, but, alas, all our running around didn’t come to fruition, my cousin left and I gave up on finding a dosa that I could enjoy in Lonavala. 

Rama Krishna and the unknown food corner

Every time that I visit home there is one extremely crowded place my family avoids and that is ‘Rama Krishna’. This place, at times is the sole reason of traffic in the area. Mostly there is waiting and you wouldn’t want to be around here on weekends. My dad went there a couple of times and didn’t enjoy it, so he declared it overrated. It is a place that just never crossed my mind to check because of my family actively avoiding it. One morning, after a hike we decided to have some filter coffee (In my opinion, the best way of making coffee if milk is involved) and ended up at Rama Krishna, it was really early, just a couple of tables occupied. I was glancing through the menu and saw the ‘Rawa dosa’ and hesitantly ordered one. As it left the kitchen and I laid my eyes upon it, I knew it, it was the dosa I was waiting for. It looked exactly like the one I grew up eating. Though the sambhar was not at par, the dosa itself with the coconut chutney was everything I wanted. After loving every bite, I did have a talk with my dad for making me not go there. Although, I was so happy with it, I was not pissed off, it was worth all the wait. 

One of the days, strolling through the market, content with my dosa cravings, I stumbled upon the inauguration of a new food stall. Again, this place was extremely small and only served a few dishes, one of them being dosa. Now, the dosa was alright but the sambhar was perfect! it was even better than the one I had loved all my life. Now the dish was complete. I instantly got some packed and went straight to Rama Krishna, got a dosa packed, went to the car and had one of the best breakfasts of my life. 

I was two weeks away from leaving but I was able to get my hands on the food I actively sought for 4 months. Yes, I did eat that as much as I could, basically to the point where I couldn’t eat more of it, my family was really surprised.

Now, I know and you know where I would be heading for breakfast as soon as I get home.