A friend of mine emailed me this photograph of a mini-dosa from a desi restaurant’s lunch buffet in Davis Square:
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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?
Both of these videos were beautiful. I’m surprised that NFAK was singing in Punjabi, for I thought it was Urdu. Regarding boliyans, bhangra, and giddha, do Pakistanis enjoy these activities, or is this only confined to India’s Punjab?
197 · Amitabh said
This food fight is interesting. Anyway the Woodlands in Chatsworth/LA is not “the” Woodlands. I went there to get my visa for India (this Woodlands plaza is the LA Gandhi Nagar so many things Indian can be got here including the visa). Paid for one, got ten. Good deal I’d say.
You gluttonous, hungry, ill-fed SM readers. 202 comments just at the sight of of food !
But on a serious note
when cooking traditional food (a) is not a four hour marathon ( unless the entire gang of people contribute ) (b) when the cooker has ample technological and labour resources to not clean the elaborate utensils required for cooking (c) when you can exploit traditional food and its looks as a business commodity to maximize profits and create a brand
‘Tainun akhiyan udeekdiyan, dil vaajan maarda’…pure Punjabi…all his best qavaalis are in Punjabi. He himself was from Faisalabad (formerly Lyallpur). Check out this one.
This song (which is NOT NFAK) is pretty hot these days. I listen to it a lot.
Various monikers from Madras
Hindi kar (Hindi wallah)/Hindi Karan (Hindi Man) Seth/Sedu (Money lender) Singh (sardar ji, Truck drivers)
You get eyebrow raises followed by choiciest tamil abuses, when an unsuspecting out of the train/plane north indian starts talking in hindi at the railway station/airport.
The airport security check folks talk in Hindi at the MADRAS airport (cos they are from Central industrial Security Force) – annoying, am sure they would speak english if I was a gora
This happened on a state transport bus somewhere near Vellore (100 Km from Madras), we (unrelated S/w engineers_ were stranded from an accident between our private Bus and another lorry in the routine Bangalore to Madras weekend Soujourn and a handful of us who had slept through the commotion (wee hours) woke up at sunrise and decided to hail a state transport bus to the nearest town – Vellore, to figure out a way to Chennai.
There was a saradarji, another guy from Orissa (both we had just met) and two of us from Madras that worked for the same firm, we climb into this local bus and I buy my ticket from the tamil speaking conductor and look over to the Sardarji if he needs any help. He was talking to us in English and with no warning switched to tamil and bought his ticket from the conductor. The conductor goes loudly “enna sir singh tamizh pesararu?” ( what gives, sardarji talks tamil) – I am sure he din’t even realize/intend to use “singh” derogatorily, but I can see how Madrasi can piss off non Madrasis i.e. people not from chennai
eyebrows raised when the (unsuspecting Fresh off the Gaadi) hindi speaking traveller accosts locals in Hindi; Not seen any fuss when people talk among themselves in other languages. The usual response –
would get a reply back in English or broken hindi, if the accosted is not in a mood for fight If it were a porter/taxi driver/auto driver, might get a hindi reply with under the breath tamil swearing or no repsonse
Everybody is in a mood to fight and are indignant as ever in Chennai, I suspect the temperature, humidity and acute water problem as cause for the permanently foul bile.
What do you guys think of certain folks in the US who always insist on english in public places even when talking specifically with a group that understands a different tongue?
NVM, I apologize if I wasn’t clear (hasty posting) — I wasn’t trying to indicate that nutritionism has led to high food prices. I’m using nutritionism sloppily; i.e., not in the strictly “nutrients” sense that Michael Pollan refers to. I was trying to explain why a hyper-awareness of food/diet in the U.S. could also lead to limited portion sizes (a la Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, etc., etc.). I know this has much less of an explanation on why restaurants would be serving smaller amounts of food relative to the incredibly steep rising costs of basic grains.
206 · madrasi said
Right, because the poor guys who subsist are the ones who is going to learn hindi to make life easier for the esteemed you. I bet you are the same guy who would spend a $100 on learning spanish or italian or french if visiting one of those countries. But oh, no. A poor guy in TN does not know hindi. Those bastards.
Madrasi — I too had to hear the same kind ofclueless nonsense from a Northie a couple of weeks ago.
I mean are we still debating this Hindi issue. If they could take the trouble of teaching their own people to read and write Hindi — the naional literacy average would look better than it is now.
Top marks to Kerala for raising the bar..
Sil, how did you make that inference from my post – am bewildered. if anything I’d have expected the opposite ” The airport security check folks talk in Hindi at the MADRAS airport (cos they are from Central industrial Security Force) – annoying “
Frankly I don’t see anything wrong in learning professionally any language especially a foreign one that maybe useful but one that is not accessible where I live except in a class room (japanese/French…..) I picked up Hindi thanks to the Doordarshan’s state sponsored/tax-rupee paid hindi agenda and market dominance of Bollywood and I like speaking it. I tried picking up Kannada on the street when I lived in bangalore because it was accessible and not that alien. I personally feel sore about explaining myself when I take no stand, annoyed at you for the reckless fling.
Jillu, Yeah I don’t object to Hindi as the common language in a small gang but strongly object to the objections when it is not i.e. some “Madrasi” is clueless, its his/her constitutional and legislatively reaffirmed right. I am also ok when people converse in an alien tongue amidst others who do not, when the content is irrelevant – gives you a chance to pick that language up 🙂
brown’s me, mis type
i dont know vy the angst. chillax machang. besides everyone knows even the dogs in desh know angrezi. “Sit Ceezar. Sit. Good bvai.”
Yum. I could go for some dosas & samsosas now. I haven’t had Indian food in a while.
i just came back from a nice uthappam-sambar-chutney lunch, followed by some filter coffee. been a stressful few days – surprisingly, this meal helped. just thought i’d share 🙂
Nothing like a “maddu Breaker” eh? any IIT Mumbai folks wanna elaborate?
214 · ak on April 15, 2008 01:59 PM · Direct link · “Quoteâ€(?) i just came back from a nice uthappam-sambar-chutney lunch, followed by some filter coffee. been a stressful few days – surprisingly, this meal helped. just thought i’d share 🙂
anybody remember a “GOTU” from ICH (india coffee house)
GOTU – ghee, onion, tomato uthappam
Speaking of Indian food: There are no Indian restaurants in the Boston area which are so good that I lose focus. However, in Framingham, which is 25 miles west of Boston, there is an Indian grocery store – the India Bazaar (I believe) – that serves South Indian food in the back where they make it. The amazing thing is that the food is prepared by North Indian Sikhs! We have South Indian restaurants as well, but these North Indians do a better job.
217 · boston_mahesh said
Such a racist! Haha. The only south indian food I like is dosas. I need to go to Udupi Palace (Chicago..in Devon) so I could get dosas now.
Pshh… out here in toronto, tamils* cook everything from biryani to linguini.
*sri lankan tamil emigres have this amazing network in the local resto scene and have grwn into this niche. you’ll find them in varied kitchens out here – ‘ethnic’ or mainstream . desi must work. respect.
I’ve been to 2 Tamil restaurants, one in Toronto area, and the other in NYC. One was Sri Lankan Tamil owned, maybe both. Tey were amazing restaurants. Clean and nice.
219 · khoofia said
there are lots of mom and pop eateries but few that openly advertise thmselves as tamil. hmm… did you go to rashnaa in cabbagetown (part of toronto)? it usually gets good reviews. ironically, their dosai is horrid, but it could just be my bad luc because their cook was on leave that day [so i found out later].
boston_mahesh, the india bazaar place in framingham is okay but there are a few worthy places to note in boston area, mostly around burlington and lowell if you’re into driving a bit north….kashmir in boston is also reasonably decent, but no dosas as far as i remember. for the dosas stick with the udipi bhavan, think it’s over in ashalnd, ma or something. usually the best dosa places i’ve been at are found around central nj and jackson heights.
People love this restaurant. Have you heard about Dakshin restaurant close by? It was closed because the Hindus there were praying to Ganesha’s little Mickey Mouse buddy too much:
“FRAMINGHAM — Owners of the Dakshin restaurant will meet with town health officials this morning, days after the business was closed because town inspections found more than a dozen critical health violations at the Waverley Street eatery.”
I wish that we could all contribute to recipes on this forum.
222 · tikki mirchi said
151 · chachaji said
chachaji, i’ve noticed several times your tendency to recognize well-written and informed comments. i think you should compile chacha’s choice — a list of awards for mutineers who excel in various categories. like:
choicest put-downs prize al gore prize for pedantic pontification mae west prize for outrageous flirting old chap award for most effort expended in joining the old boys club most knowledge of obscure performance artistes most irrelevant anecdotes most baseless generalization based on n=1 william safire award for serial misuse of apostrophes bill nye the science guy most number of posts while under the influence of controlled substances most misogyny under the guise of ‘keeping it real’ sexy librarian award “gratuitous” “use” “of” “scare” “quotes” most mutable supertroll latte-swilling-stinky-cheese-consuming-frog-loving-uber-liberal uma bharti saffron award ayn rand freedom award for vociferous protest against free lunches pinko award for consistent support of communism and the homosexual agenda swadeshi prize for recognizing that everything, in fact, originated in india howard stern award for the best post on thappals anthony bourdain prize for the yuckiest, most hideous condiment complement multi culti award for painful political correctness michelle malkin prize for shrill antagonization the secret hindu award christopher hitchens cup for the most annoying atheist cheney prize for the most promising republican john lennon memorial prize for the poster most optimistic about india’s ‘superpower’ status
gah. don’t any of you know that real dosais are never stuffed? That monstrosity called “masala dosai” is not authetic cuisine.
The first Chacha’s Choice Award: portmanteau as Comedienne et Humoriste Extraordinaire.
Citation: For her consistent, outrageous, (and outrageously subtle) but ever funny commentary at SM, which runs rings around all bloggers who take themselves too seriously. (and her French blog-handle).
Fishing from your own port, Port?
227 · pingpong said
I think bess is more than an adequate competitor for that one, ping, and dear chachaji, like Floridian said, you are far too charitable.
Bechara dosa too shrunken? Haven’t had any hot masala stuffing? Perhaps some herbal products via Agra might help.
and for my honey, may he never ever shrink:
the don juan medal for amassing a vast e-lingerie collection 😛
I’d relish that.
Chacha‘s choice better than Hobson’s and comments more detailed than a South Indian wedding sari.
Muttai Dosai,it’s variations, or sunny-side with idli thool and poondu thuvaiyal! Yummy! Dosai in all it’s variations is good!
Speaking of ethnicities and stereotypes, how about this? Called Bengalis, Malaysian Sikhs walk out of function! Looks like North Indians in Malaysia have been called Bengali for a long time since most came by ship from Calcutta during British rule.
well, i had the lunch buffet at chola in nyc a month or two ago… and they brought each of us a mini dosa with the usual potato and onion filling as an appetizer. i thought it was a great idea…
Thanks, Floridian: how interesting, although it does explain why the variety one sees in the assorted Woodlands,Udipis etc one sees across the US.
for the new yorkers, i just checked out tiffinwala last week – it was better than i had expected, and satisfied my sides-trifecta of chutney, sambar, and podi. but they gave me masala w/ my dosa, and for some reason i hate the masala with any dosa.
Gupta,
You are 100% correct. However, this “Northwesternization/Europeanization/Whitification” is not limited to Indians. Pakistanis do this as well, but with an Islamic bias.
I was just reading on Wikipedia the other day about some Brahmin communities: About Chitpavan Brahmins: “Chitpavans belonged to Berber(Egypt based Greeks) race.” Regarding Saraswat Brahmins: “The story of the migration of this community can be traced from Sintashta-Petrovka and Arkaim regions of modern Lower Central Russia near the border of Kazakhistan. NOTE: I wonder why they conveniently trace their origins to the proto-Indo-Iranian stage, but not, let’s say, the Out-Of-Africa period about 55,000 years prior. This would have the impact of increasing their antiquity. But oh yeah…it would create an association with Blacks, and this is a no-no.
When you see pictures of these communities, they look nothing like Greeks or Kazakh steppe nomads. So I wonder why they totally down-play their “indigenous Indian” (i.e. Adivasi/Dravidian/Mundic) roots?
178 · Gupta said
Boston,
I’ve wondered the same thing. When I visit my relatives in NW Pakistan, it is quite obvious that we have a heterogenous ethnic makeup. We range from blue eyed and fair skinned to black eyes, and dark skin, with most people being somewhere in between. My family has never shied away from their historical roots as Hindus, we know that’s what we once were and have pride in our “Jatt” hertiage, so we can at least admit that much. Yet if I am to read the history books about Pakistan, it’s as if only the “Aryan” (Indo-European) and later Middle Eastern/Central Asian parts of our heritage matter. There isn’t even speculation into the fact that we have some link to the “bedrock” aboriginal populations of India. But to me, when I look at my people’s faces, it’s undeniable. I figure the shame in admitting this is rooted in deap seated inferiority complexes that we share with other conquered peoples.
Look at this kid from Northern Pakistan, this can’t be all aryan-turkish-greek: http://sapir.ukc.ac.uk/SLyon/BhalotPics/pictures/mvc-006f_100.html
I travelled to North India (the “real North”, for many years Tirupati remained the Northern most part of India I visited) on my recent trip to India. There is not much of a difference in the average skin color between the common people I saw in the North versus the common people I saw in Chennai. I don’t think Mayawati can claim the Aryan-Turkish-Greek heritage.
Deemz,
That was amazing! From NWFP, and the kid looks like a Central Indian.
Kids from Uttarakhand Kids from Karnataka.
The two are indistinguishable.
235 · deemz said
Boston Mahesh,
With all due respect can you please quote the comments from other people in the beginning of your post instead of the end, it makes for easier reading in my opinion.
Ennis,
To your point of food shortage, interesting piece here.
Having trouble understanding how US subsidies for corn are having a huge effect on the price of rice in Bangladesh. Ethanol production is having an effect on first world food prices as farmers switch from other crops into corn, that’s true, and on third world corn / maize prices, like in Mexico. But rice seems to be a stretch.
These brahmins are ashamed to be seen as natives of India. Many sikhs and muslims are even worse. It is so stupid and spineless. Deemz is right:
Vyasa urf Gupta urf Prem urf Prema urf Satya, you need to modify your invective and change your style, not just your handle, if you do not want your trollery to be identified.
Ennis,
I didn’t mean to suggest that Corn quotas here are affecting price of rice, from what I have come across, the shortage in rice is due to shortage in production, export quotas from producing countries and drougths in Bangladesh. This article speaks to the point.
after the soggy dosa 2 nights ago, i’m now heading down to a wall st steakhouse for a bone-in rib-eye. charred on the outside, dead ass rare in the middle.
244 · Manju said
…’dead ass’ Mostly redundant anecdote when talking ’bout steak 🙂