Why Masala Dosa?

Just mention Masala Dosa, and you are hungry all of a sudden. A staple food that has its
presence in most Southern states of India. You can have this anytime, breakfast, lunch, as a
snack or even dinner time. It’s very much a wholesome meal and not too heavy on your wallet.

Primarily made up of rice and lentils - rice flour & urud dal in equal proportion, for the Dosa batter.
It’s usually served with a couple of chutneys (one usually coconut) and sambar. The stuffing is
potato, so there it is your carbs & proteins, all in one go.

There are different varieties of Masala Dosas, due to subtle variance in the recipe. These are
derived either from the proportion of the ingredients to make the batter or the finishing touches
given to the potato filling. A red chutney applied to the inner parts the dosa to impart tanginess
and spicy aroma.

This chutney is usually made of gram, red chillies, ginger, garlic and lime.
Then of course with or without butter, with butter called as benne-dosa. Bangalore has a gamut
of possibilities to sample this sumptuous stomach-filler. Right from the street food vendor- who is
open only from 6pm to 11pm or restaurants that are serve the whole day.

My early memories of having a Masala Dosa was during my schooling days.
For sports activities we travelled to other schools within Bangalore. After the
event was done, we would all head to the nearest restaurant and have a snack,
the famed Masala Dosa was my take all the time.

There are umpteen possibilities on how you can consume a Masala Dosa, which is

a pointer to your tastes. Some start from the sides. Some from the middle.

Some eat the potato filling at last, some early on. Some do not touch the chutneys

or sambar, while others savor it too.

  

Few of the famous joints that serve this famed dish are: MTR, one of the quintessential
manufacturer’s of Karnataka cuisine, usually as breakfast or evening snack. Maiya’s,
they add a dash of raagi in the dosa batter, this makes the Dosa softer. While at CTR
(in Malleswaram) the Dosa is much crispier (my nieces seem to prefer this variety).
Then we have these late night joints at Avenue Road, Raja market.

They are the food-truck kind of joints, and operate from 7pm to midnight. These roll in once the
garment establishments have downed their shutters, which Raja market is renowned for.
Or then at Sajaan Rao circle- famous for their street food. South Indian style and purely
vegetarian fare. On late night jaunts we usually visit Ramu’s Hotel.

This is a 3rd generation family owned Masala Dosa speciality eat out. You don’t sit,

you order for it and eat it while you stand on the road. Weekends its teeming with

crowd due to which the traffic is prohibited, while during weekdays the die-hard fans

go for their dinner there.

Go on and sample a Masala Dosa, am sure most you would have. But then what you gotta
do is keep checking various joints, hotels, restaurants and get invigorated by the endless
possibilities and tastes on offer.