JOIN USIn today’s world, fusion is the way of life and an integral part of culture — be
it in terms of music, dance or food.
Keeping this trend in mind, the traditional dosas have also experienced a transformation and now, one can add a little spice and mix it up with Szechwan sauce, palak
paneer or even manchurian for the more daring lot.
There used to be a time when a dosa tasted perfect with just sambar and chutney. But these days, quite a few customers enjoy testing the new varieties available in the market — and why not!
The options can go up to a whopping 100! According to the various restaurant owners, both small and big, this is purely based on the demand of the customer. Mallikarjun, who owns a 99 Variety Bombay Dosa cart near Sony World Signal in Koramangala, admits that it was a wise decision to switch from basic dosas to the fusion type.
“We get around 70-100 customers a day on weekdays and the numbers go up to
150-200 on weekends.
That’s not bad at all considering we are only open from 5 pm to 11 pm!” he says.
Asked which varieties are most popular, he shares, “Mysore masala, Chinese, palak paneer, paneer mushroom and pav bhaji dosas are the fast moving ones.
The price ranges from Rs 20 to Rs 70 and so, one can look at their budget and decide how many toppings they want. There are only 50 options that usually work on the menu.
But we’re capable of making all 99 varieties.”
Served with coconut chutney and palak pudina chutney, the cart, like many others of its kind, also offers dosas with gobi, baby corn, green peas, cabbage in a variety of sauces to choose from.
There are some who are a big fan of these variety dosas. “It’s a wonderful take on dosas with simple combinations of basic ingredients.
Nobody’s really done something like it before but it’s a very obvious idea that’s bound to work,” notes Jaideep, a regular at such dosa joints. “My personal favourites are cheese Szechwan and pav bhaji,” he adds.
But for others, the true dosa needs to be enjoyed in the conventional way. “Though the concept of fusion dosa sounded exciting, I was not so kicked about it
after I actually tried one.
I felt that the taste of the new arrivals in it — the paneer, corn, mushroom or even chocolate — overpowers the dosa itself. You then realise that you just ate a lot of
everything but the dosa itself.
I guess some things need to be kept the way they are supposed to be and in this case, it’s the classic masala dosa,” says George Seemon, one of the foodies who started ‘Love, Sex Aur Dosa – The Addiction’, an ongoing adventure to find the best dosa in Bangalore.