Dosa from Davangere

As big as a room, this place is always swarming with people who come here to get a taste of butter dosa. Davangere Benne Dosa is a small dosa place in Chamarajpet, near Uma Theatre. It was started eight years ago by H B Shivakumar, who hails from Davangere. The place is so small that the kitchen forms a part of the sitting area and you can see the dosas being made right in front of your eyes. It almost makes you feel as if you have reached your home kitchen to get your breakfast or an afternoon snack.

With the City filled with eateries where you can get tasty dosa, what is it that makes this place special? “It is the butter,” says Sudhakar, the owner’s brother. “The dosas are cooked in pure white butter which we get from Davangere. We don’t use butter from Bangalore,” he says. And once you have a bite of dosa, you know what he is talking about. The dosa has a distinct buttery flavour when you put it in your mouth which will instantly catch your attention. It is crisp yet soft. The dosa is served with some unspiced coconut chutney and plain mashed potatoes. The thing that stands out is the way they serve the food. It is pure and not spiced up with chillies, which is a refreshing change and also keeps the taste intact.

Rajesh, a regular customer, says, “The benne dosa from Davangere is famous and that is the reason I come here to eat. I have been visiting this place for eight years now,” he says.

The menu is simple and consists of only five kinds of dosa, namely butter dosa, masala dosa, open dosa, butter masala dosa and butter khaali dosa and also paddu. “There is already so much crowd for the few items, we don’t want to increase it,” says the owner. Recently though, they have added Madhur Vada and Jamun to the menu, for the customers with a sweet tooth. “They have also added Mallige idli which I really like,” adds Rajesh.

Another special thing about the place is the ‘Day’s special’ which is served at a price of Rs 18. And the thing that makes this dish special is the powder that is used in it. The special powder is made out of 18 ingredients including Senga (groundnut), Bellulli (garlic), batani (green peas), Shunti (ginger) among others. And with all the effort, the ‘Day’s special’ is quite a favourite.

 So the next time you crave for some really crispy butter dosa, you know where to go.