Extra dosa-ge

It’s the perfect combination of sweet, sour and spice. A pancake of fermented rice and black lentils that is served alongside a piquant vegetable curry and creamy coconut sambar, dosa not only tastes fantastic, it’s rich in protein and carbohydrates, and is praised for sustaining a population.

Essentially a snack food served for breakfast and dinner throughout South India, (rice is served for lunch, the main meal of the day), dosa has been feeding generations for millennia. The first known references appeared during the 6^th century AD in the Sangam, a body of poems from Tamil Nadu. But its origins are as disputed as the number of varieties—from big, crispy and flat, to short, stout and fat. Some say dosas came from Tamil Nadu, the dry flat plains in the country’s south east. Others say Mysore, the old royal city in the state of Karnataka. Kerala, India’s lush south-west corner also lays claims the title.

Excerpt from the May issue of epicure.