Honey, who shrunk the dosa?

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A friend of mine emailed me this photograph of a mini-dosa from a desi restaurant’s lunch buffet in Davis Square:

It’s not the size of the dosa that counts, it’s the flavour of the filling

From a restauranteur’s perspective, this innovation makes perfect sense. You can’t serve everybody a dosa, it’s too large. And you can’t serve dosa slices either. Enter the mini-dosa, everybody gets dosaed, the restaurant has less waste, everybody goes home happy right?

And while we’re on the topic of alternadosas, how about totally American fillings like “Grilled Chicken with Goat Cheese, Spinach and Roasted Tomatoes” or “Tuna with Cilantro Chutney Dressing, Avacado, Arugala & Tomato“?

Are these reasonable innovations or travesties wrought by American commerce on the fine traditions of Madrasi South Indian cooking? In other words, is it a shanda like the bagel stick with the cream cheese inside, AKA the bagel Twinkie?

Ever toast, spread cream cheese on, and eat a bagel, and be like, damn, this is taking too long? Kraft’s Bagelfuls, essentially, a bagel Twinkie, are for you. A “Bagelful” is a frozen bagel tube with cream cheese inside. They’re kept in the refrigerator and then toasted, microwaved, or even eaten straight from the box. [Link]

How do we tell when a departure from beloved tradition is actually progress?

245 thoughts on “Honey, who shrunk the dosa?”

  1. If it becomes a hit, it is progress. If it fails, it was somebody’s stupid idea.

    Floridian, that sounds like Bush quoting JFK 馃槢

  2. 95 脗路 Rahul said

    Maybe he’s just hoping you’re indeed his long lost cousin, who was separated from him at birth right before the child marriage ceremony, and he yearns for his wonk-eyed Lalita Pawar Mrs. Gomes nanny to reunite the two of you by singing your favority lullaby/love-song.

    you may be right; he can be a kinky bastard.

  3. ‘Shrunken’ dosas are are pretty common in India. I’ve lived my entire life in North India

    I don’t think “Madrasis” condone shrinkage.

  4. 92 脗路 bess said

    To think I missed the subtle transfer of glory.
    And enough about you already back to me! (Unless “G” in G-man represents a certain talent for …um….accuracy.) A dosa by any other name would taste as sweet and buttery?

    Oh dear… my subtle sense of humour has quite passed you by. Is that why you’re called Bess, because you always came last?

  5. My Potohari-Pakistani father refers to South Indians as either Malabaries or Madrasis. This has to be a historical legacy because the man doesn’t have a mean bone in his body.

    I love dosas …

    Which is I guess plays a part in why I love South Indian/Sri Lankan women .. hehe

    and I’ve had “mini” homemade dosas before. Didn’t think it was an innovation!

  6. I’ve seen many UP people identifying themselves as being Punjabi. Here in Boston, a NI will obfuscate their origins and simply state they are from Delhi. Believe me, I know the differences between Delhi/NewDelhi. I realize that ND had a lot of “real” Punjabis from Pakistan in ’47. However, “Guptas” are not Punjabis and neither are Hindu “Singhs”. They should be proud of whom they are.

    Now, to be fair to the good people of UP, I know a girl here surnamed as “Mishra”, and we all know that this is a Bihari/Orissan name. Yet, she’s very ashamed of this fact, and she claims that she’s not Bihari/Orissan. Instead, she’s a Uttar Pradeshi. Her very mature younger brother has no problem identifying himself as a Bihari, and he’s proud of his “law-breaker” persona, even though he’s a sweet, smart, and cultured man.

    My point is: No matter what state/language/ethnic demonym that we are, we should be proud of who we are. We shouldn’t be ashamed of our darkness, and we shouldn’t allow ourselves to be divided. Moreover, we should try to be more culturally sensitive. I do get the feeling that North Indians are more culturally sensitive towards Pakistanis than they are to South Indians.

    99 脗路 Pagal_Aadmi_for_debauchery said

    There’s a good reason why many S.Indians (SI) refer to NI as “Punjabis”. The reason is that many NI identify themselves as being Punjabis even when they are not! I can give you some examples: I knew a guy surnamed as “Gupta”, and he identified himself as being a Punjabi. However, behind close doors, without telling me that his family was from the UP, he’d lament on the “UP bhaya” perception inherent in all Indians. Another case: I was at an Indian friend’s wedding 4 years ago, and at my table were 2 American-born NI kids. The girl was a 21 year old girl surnamed as “Singh”, but she was Hindu. The boy was an American born ‘Uttar Pradeshi’ as well, and the 2 were family friends. I remember that this girl was teaching/convincing him that they were Punjabis, and this boy, who was like 12, was confused, and he told her that both of their family was from UP and not Punjabi. For some reason, this girl really didn’t want to be identified as a UP girl, but as a Punjabi, and she was trying to convince that young boy the same thing. Finally, I’ve noticed that a Uttar Pradeshi is happy with being labeled as a Punjabi, and from my 2 examples above, they even seem to advocate this. This is especially true amongst people from Delhi (aka “Doabi”), as even the people who’ve had nothing to do with Punjab in historical times all of a sudden claim that they are Punjabis. This is because all NI films/Bollywood have Punjabi actors/actresses playing the rolls of Punjabis. Even the light-skinned SIs, like Ash Rai, plays a “Grewal” (Jatt Sikh Punjabi), but none of her rolls allow her to play a “Nayyar” or a “Reddy”. So, implicitly, the movie industry will have us believe that being a UP is not good enough and SI is surely not good enough. Oh yeah, if you read the Wikipedia article on Gujarat or of the castes within Gujarat, you’ll get the impression that they, too, are dying to be included into the Punjabi/Scythian/Georgian/Kazakhstan fold. I’m not kidding you one bit. They try and create a common link between themselves and Punjabis, but they don’t want to include the possibility that they have *GASP* Dravidian genetics. That is the most ridiculous thing I have heard on SM. Btw, have you ever been to Delhi? New Delhi is majority Punjabi. Speaking of UP, I have NEVER heard anybody refer to themselves as Punjabis. People in Western UP are mostly jatts and they dont refer to themselves as Punjabis but as Jatts, Gujjurs whatever.

  7. I’ve always thought that a lot of non-Punjabi North Indians looked down on Punjabis for being loud, unsophisticated and “country”? Sorta like how New Yorkers feel about the South…but now they’re pretending to be them?

    Say it ain’t so. Be you!

  8. son, i let my parents know at every opportunity that my liberal arts education wasn’t a complete vaste of time. cuz i classy like that.

    Oh. You didn’t tell me your parents are reading. Sorry uncle and aunty. I’ll play nicely. 馃檪

  9. Boston Mahesh,

    I think once again the issue may be the people in your immediate circle and how they identify themselves. I have friends who are Gupta and whose families are from Punjab and they identify themselves as Punjabis and I don’t think there is antyhing wrong with that. I have a lot of family from UP; Muradabad, Agra, Merrut, Barreily, Lucknow and I can go on and I have never met people from UP who would rather identify themselves as Punjabis for reasons you state.

    Deemz,

    I have heard Malbari being used in a lot of Pakistani plays and thought it applied to people from Hyderabad, thanks for the perspective.

  10. 109 脗路 umber desi said

    I have heard Malbari being used in a lot of Pakistani plays and thought it applied to people from Hyderabad, thanks for the perspective.

    Errr… the city of Hyderabad in in the state of Andhra Pradesh is in the south of India. So Deemz’s point didn’t really give you a change in perspective. The Malabar coast is in Kerala and you need to try and call all Malayalis Malabaris and see what happens then!

  11. 105 脗路 deemz said

    My Potohari-Pakistani father refers to South Indians as either Malabaries or Madrasis. This has to be a historical legacy because the man doesn’t have a mean bone in his body.

    The older generation is has complete diplomatic immunity. They had a reason. The venom being flung around generously here is for the benefit of the Wikipedia generation.

  12. I prefer to piss off North Indians by being dumb and calling them Biharis. I recommend all pissed off “Madrasis” to start calling North Indians “Biharis”. That would be major fun.

  13. I think once again the issue may be the people in your immediate circle and how they identify themselves. I have friends who are Gupta and whose families are from Punjab and they identify themselves as Punjabis and I don’t think there is antyhing wrong with that. I have a lot of family from UP; Muradabad, Agra, Merrut, Barreily, Lucknow and I can go on and I have never met people from UP who would rather identify themselves as Punjabis for reasons you state.

    I agree. Boston_Mahesh hangs out with weird people. Also I have a lot of family in UP/Delhi and no Urdu speaking Muslim would ever refer to himself as a Punjabi. Punjabis are a source of derision and ridicule in the Urdu speaking community generally and are considered uncouth and uncultured. That attitude of course is unhealthy and wrong but is a far cry from Mahesh’s claim about people from UP referring to themselves as Punjabis.

  14. G-Man,

    I think you should check this before about Hyderabad and Pakistan, I conceded I was wrong about my understanding of the usage of Malabari, here is how Malabari is used in Pakistan.

  15. I prefer to piss off North Indians by being dumb and calling them Biharis. I recommend all pissed off “Madrasis” to start calling North Indians “Biharis”. That would be major fun.

    You can call me whatever you want, just don’t call me late for dinner.

  16. 114 脗路 umber desi said

    G-Man, I think you should check this before about Hyderabad and Pakistan, I conceded I was wrong about my understanding of the usage of Malabari, here is how Malabari is used in Pakistan.

    Oh, a thousand. I didn’t realise we were talking about Pakistan – my mistake.

  17. in response to some previous misinformation that went unchallenged….of the 29 districts that comprise karnataka, only three were ever in the madras presidency…seven were in the bombay presidency, another four in the nizam’s dominion, and the remainder being princely states like the kingdom of mysore…three of 29…i think its fair to say that it is absolute ignorance to conflate kannadiga identity with madras…i’m sure that people of telengana would feel the same, and their region is not small at all. infact, cultural historians and geographers consider pennisular india north of the krishna-tungabhadhra basin to be part of the deccan heartland along with the marathwada region of maharashtra. typically, in the dry interiors of the deccan, hard millets and wheat are cultivated. dosas and idlys are not home food but have been introduced through udupi hotels or bangalore style “darshinis”…

  18. i think its fair to say that it is absolute ignorance to conflate kannadiga identity with madras…

    In fact, movie theaters are periodically destroyed and buses regularly burnt to make this point.

    people in their homes do not have thawa to make a large dosa, and is the size of an uthapam or little larger than paratha.

    A dosa is far better than a paratha can ever be. And y’all know fully well what I mean when I say that.

  20. 70 脗路 chachaji said

    OK, a certain amount of historical perspective seems to be missing from the discussion here. Let’s beat up on prejudice in any form, especially ethno-geographic, linguistic or racial. But let’s not completely forget history.

    Please see my post #48 above. I had referred to this ‘historical perspective’.

  21. 114 脗路 umber desi said

    here is how Malabari is used in Pakistan.

    Thanks for the link umber desi. This Malabari (South Indian, also Madrasi on occasion) really has learnt something today! This is fascinating. The unsung victims of the partition.

  22. In all this fighting about North and South, the east of India gets left out… again. Bengal, for some reason, isn’t a “Northie” place. And further east… any representatives from the Seven Sister States? NE India is often forgotten in conversations such as these…

  23. Rahul , think you are mistaken…

    My sources indicate that,in fact, buses are periodically destroyed and moview theaters are regularly burnt to make this point.

    ….suffering from major dostarvation….

  25. You go into these small towns in UP and, like a lot of small towns in the Punjab, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to Johnny Walker or religion or antipathy toward madrasis or anti-dosa sentiment or anti-globalization sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

  26. I know a girl here surnamed as “Mishra”, and we all know that this is a Bihari/Orissan name. Yet, she’s very ashamed of this fact, and she claims that she’s not Bihari/Orissan.

    LOL!!! I dont even know where to begin on that comment #106, so all I am going to say is … LOL

    On serious topic, here’s Yahoo finance story about US food prices rising fastest in 17 years and UN Chief says food crisis is now emergency . This is serious situation folks. This needs major policy level changes or else major geo-political mess is possible.

  27. 118 脗路 Rahul said

    A dosa is far better than a paratha can ever be. And y’all know fully well what I mean when I say that.

    what, size matters? don’t underestimate the pleasures of the steaming parantha, smeared with that lubricious dollop of ghee, so it comes easy and smooth on the tongue.

  28. boston_mahesh : your comments are preposterous. I’ve lived in UP all my life, and have never met anyone who wants to be counted as a Punjabi rather than a ‘bhaiyya’. Your generalizations (based on 2-3 examples) are pathetic at best.

  29. 115 脗路 Ennis said

    I prefer to piss off North Indians by being dumb and calling them Biharis. I recommend all pissed off “Madrasis” to start calling North Indians “Biharis”. That would be major fun.
    You can call me whatever you want, just don’t call me late for dinner.

    Just not Bobby, right?

    For a second I thought you were going to go to: “You can call me Susan if it makes you happy” (First few seconds are relevant – the rest is to enjoy – Not suitable for work or parents, contains strong language and violence – otherwise perfectly suitable for a discussion on dosas – that’s good naturedly veered into Southies vs. Northies)

  30. 122 脗路 The G-Man said

    NE India is often forgotten in conversations such as these

    We can’t process things like North and East, facts just get in the way of healthy give and take. Now if they were willing to align themselves with the North or the South, we could include them. I call Bengal for the South.

  31. RC,

    I also read a report from the World Economic Forum about rising prices. The report stated that the price of Corn will rise 30% by 2010, I will link an electronic version tomorrow if I can find it.

  32. I should say, Rahul, we don’t do parathas very well in the South. I used to wonder why you’d want to eat a paratha with just chilli or ghee, until I had them in Delhi.

  33. Hate to bring the discussion back to the ongoing food crisis, but I think it really bothers the heck out of all us that more and more people are being driven towards hunger, na?

    I haven’t seen an analysis that talks about the relative weight of different factors though.

    Ennis, I haven’t seen one myself, but I just wrote a short and crude post on my blog about the reasons for the ongoing food crisis, and the possible short- and long-term solutions to alleviate the situation. The problem seems to be a multi-headed monster, with each one requiring a diffferent weapon. No easy solutions in sight 馃檨

  34. madrasi or malarky or south indian or whatever other name you have for me, the food is damn good. and most homemade dosas are that size, but i wanna know where the hell his chutney went!

  36. I should say, Rahul, we don’t do parathas very well in the South.

    I’ve never had a complaint about me from a paratha, personally.

  37. most homemade dosas are that size, but i wanna know where the hell his chutney went!

    I think we have a winner in the innuendo battle. All you other innuendonators, live and loin.

  38. Rahul, you are the most dangerous of all humans – a Madrasi with an insider’s knowledge of us Northies.

    #106 Boston_Mahesh Now, to be fair to the good people of UP, I know a girl here surnamed as “Mishra”, and we all know that this is a Bihari/Orissan name. Yet, she’s very ashamed of this fact, and she claims that she’s not Bihari/Orissan. Instead, she’s a Uttar Pradeshi. Her very mature younger brother has no problem identifying himself as a Bihari, and he’s proud of his “law-breaker” persona, even though he’s a sweet, smart, and cultured man.

    Ouch! First of all, Mishra is a Brahmin last name and a fairly common one in eastern UP as well. Therefore, the girl may not have been lying, though what social upgrade a Bihari might enjoy by posing as an Uttar Pradeshi is beyond me.

    I empathize with those fellow Biharis who have to disown their heritage in order to get equal social or professional status while striving for their “piece of the litti” in the more advanced parts of India. Biharis like me can pontificate from the poolside in Florida, but if I were a struggling Bihari software programmer working side by side with bright people from Mumbai and Delhi in a highly competitive environment, I might be a tad worried about getting stereotyped as a bumpkin, too. Would I then pretend not to be a Bihari? I don’t know.

    Ethnic stereotyping, in my opinion, is economy driven.

    Bihar’s law and order problem during Lalu’s 15 years is not what tarnished its reputation. Bihar’s lower economic achievement post-independence did. Biharis are hardly perceived as violent by the rest of the country. They sell milk in Mumbai, climb like little monkeys on twenty-story high bamboo scaffolding to build high rises in Gurgaon, drive their bosses Safaris and walk their babies and dogs. Biharis seldom engage in any activity requiring the use of arms or force. There are no great Bihari soldiers, wrestlers, athletes or gangsters. Biharis are perceived all over India as poor country bumpkins. The “bhaiya” label precedes Lalu’s lawlessness by 50 years.

    Whatever happened to the dosa thread?

  39. Is that why you’re called Bess, because you always came last?

    Saving the Bess for last!
    So “G” isn’t for “gentle”?

  41. First of all, the stereotype of Punjabis being country-bumpkins was “your father’s stereotype” – meaning that it is outdated. It’s somewhat akin to our friend, Deemz’s father referring to SI as “Malabaris” without any malice. This was the stereotype back then – about 30+ years ago. Punjabis are actually quite urban and refined. I believe that this stereotype stems from the Punjabi language, is without a doubt, more rustic than Hindi.

    If Punjabis are uncouth, then who is couth/cultured in India? Also, if given a choice, most Indians would rather be associated with an uncouth but light-skinned group than a dark-skinned and cultured group.

    But I actually know of 2 other cases where a guy from UP (American born/raised) and one Bihari (Indian born/Indian raised) said that they were Punjabis. The Bihari said that while we, as brothers, were partying together. It’s like me saying that “I’m a Palestinian” – when I hang out with my Palestinian friends.

    But without a doubt, many people from UP suggest/proclaim that they are Punjabis even when they are not, as they have an inferiority complex towards Punjabis, from my experience. I’ve seen this quite a bit. I also know of one Gujarati Rajput guy who never says that he’s Gujarati. Instead, he says that he’s Punjabi, and you’re right, he was an associate of one of my more weird friends.

    113 脗路 Pagal_Aadmi_for_debauchery said

    I think once again the issue may be the people in your immediate circle and how they identify themselves. I have friends who are Gupta and whose families are from Punjab and they identify themselves as Punjabis and I don’t think there is antyhing wrong with that. I have a lot of family from UP; Muradabad, Agra, Merrut, Barreily, Lucknow and I can go on and I have never met people from UP who would rather identify themselves as Punjabis for reasons you state. I agree. Boston_Mahesh hangs out with weird people. Also I have a lot of family in UP/Delhi and no Urdu speaking Muslim would ever refer to himself as a Punjabi. Punjabis are a source of derision and ridicule in the Urdu speaking community generally and are considered uncouth and uncultured. That attitude of course is unhealthy and wrong but is a far cry from Mahesh’s claim about people from UP referring to themselves as Punjabis.

  42. 138 脗路 Floridian said

    Whatever happened to the dosa thread?

    What dosa thread?

    The SM Comment Commandment: “After comment # 10, thou shalt digress from the original post. Where possible thou shall then digress again and again until thou cannot distinguish between thy joints and thy fleshy parts.” Or maybe that was “especially if thou cannot distinguish…”: I tend not to follow commandments very closely.

  44. Whatever happened to the dosa thread?

    just had masala crab, prawn kozhambu, and rabbit roast with dosa and idiappam at a chettinad restaurant. enjoyable food meal, yet while you guys are discussing dosas in N. America, i’m arguing slice joints with nyers in bangalore

  45. 141 脗路 boston_mahesh said

    But without a doubt, many people from UP suggest/proclaim that they are Punjabis even when they are not, as they have an inferiority complex towards Punjabis, from my experience.

    Your experience is pretty narrow I’d say, and your deductions are outright wrong.

  46. Regarding Mishras: You were right (and so am I). They can also be from UP..or Kansas. it doesn’t matter.

    Regarding Biharis: I personally think that they KICK BONDA. They are amazingly nice, fun, cultured, intelligent, and hard-working. Seriously! I have a very good opinion of them, and never forget that Bihar was the cultural capital of India for over a thousand years. It was only made poor within the last century (or maybe last 50 years) or so.

    #106 Boston_Mahesh Now, to be fair to the good people of UP, I know a girl here surnamed as “Mishra”, and we all know that this is a Bihari/Orissan name. Yet, she’s very ashamed of this fact, and she claims that she’s not Bihari/Orissan. Instead, she’s a Uttar Pradeshi. Her very mature younger brother has no problem identifying himself as a Bihari, and he’s proud of his “law-breaker” persona, even though he’s a sweet, smart, and cultured man.

    Ouch! First of all, Mishra is a Brahmin last name and a fairly common one in eastern UP as well. Therefore, the girl may not have been lying, though what social upgrade a Bihari might enjoy by posing as an Uttar Pradeshi is beyond me.

    I empathize with those fellow Biharis who have to disown their heritage in order to get equal social or professional status while striving for their “piece of the litti” in the more advanced parts of India. Biharis like me can pontificate from the poolside in Florida, but if I were a struggling Bihari software programmer working side by side with bright people from Mumbai and Delhi in a highly competitive environment, I might be a tad worried about getting stereotyped as a bumpkin, too. Would I then pretend not to be a Bihari? I don’t know.

    Ethnic stereotyping, in my opinion, is economy driven.

    Bihar’s law and order problem during Lalu’s 15 years is not what tarnished its reputation. Bihar’s lower economic achievement post-independence did. Biharis are hardly perceived as violent by the rest of the country. They sell milk in Mumbai, climb like little monkeys on twenty-story high bamboo scaffolding to build high rises in Gurgaon, drive their bosses Safaris and walk their babies and dogs. Biharis seldom engage in any activity requiring the use of arms or force. There are no great Bihari soldiers, wrestlers, athletes or gangsters. Biharis are perceived all over India as poor country bumpkins. The “bhaiya” label precedes Lalu’s lawlessness by 50 years.

    Whatever happened to the dosa thread?

  47. When eating dosas do you 1. Implode 2. Scoop 3. Dip

    or

    1. Pour
    2. Implode
    3. Scoop

    or

    1. Eat it like a burrito?
  48. If Punjabis are uncouth, then who is couth/cultured in India?

    Those who eat yogurt are more cultured than most, but you can also reduce the uncouth factor by watching theru-couthu and dancing a dappan-couthu.

  49. 143 脗路 Neale Madrasi? First Name Rahul?

    Yeah, you’re right. Rahul, come clean or else you will be formulated, sprawling on a pin, wriggling on the wall, with no idea how to begin to spit out all the butt-ends of your days and ways.

  50. When eating dosas do you 1. Implode 2. Scoop 3. Dip or 1. Pour 2. Implode 3. Scoop or 1. Eat it like a burrito?

    Rip, dip and down it!