While South Indian food is much beyond dosas and idlis, it is these few food items that have left an indelible mark on our minds which have made it difficult for us, North Indians to un-picture them. Dosa, for the unversed, is a South Indian crepe made with rice flour batter and served with coconut chutney and sambhar. It can be stuffed with potatoes, vegetables and other spices or be eaten alone too. The size of the dosa may vary from place to place. At home, the dosa my mother makes looks exactly like crepes, small in size and rectangular parcel-like in shape. This is different from the dosa we get in restaurants outside. They are made on huge tawas and generally have a conical shape.
Like all the food items on our palate which have undergone experimentation, dosa cannot be left behind either. People love to fuse indo and western flavours together to bring something new on the table. This tends to grab more eyeballs as well as adds certain newness to the food. Take, the chocolate momo, for instance. The idea sounds quite bizarre but you’ll find many takers of it the market. Similarly, I picked the cheese dosa from the menu of a South Indian restaurant in Delhi this one time and I haven’t gone back to it since then. The plate arrived with the dosa, oozing of cheese, on a banana leaf. Not only was it stuffed with cheese on the inside, it also had grated cheese all over the dosa.
However, there are certain fusion dosas which are quite popular and you might like some of them too. Here are some fusion dosas that you shouldn’t miss out on.
1. Pizza Dosa
Love pizza? Then this a green signal for you to give this experiment a try. The flavours of the Italian dish are indianised to suit the dosa dish. Just like a pizza, you’ll find all your choice of toppings in it, from finely chopped bell peppers, onions and tomatoes to oodles of cheese. This filling in stuffed in an open dosa, which is rolled together and sliced into smaller rectangular pieces. The bite-sized mini dosas may not resemble a pizza but definitely give you the taste of one.
2. Chocolate Dosa
To satiate the cravings of sweet lovers, chocolate dosa has made an entry into the world of dosas. While crepes can be sweet and savoury, dosas are hardly ever known to be sweet. However, that’s what experimentation is all about. Tempered chocolate is spread on a sheet of dosa which is then garnished with some grated cheese and folded to be tossed on a pan. Buttery and crispy outer layers are balanced well with a thick and gooey chocolate filling on the inside.
3. Spring Roll Dosa
Want to give a Chinese touch to your regular dosa? Try this spring roll dosa, filled with cabbage, beans, carrots and more. The vegetables are tossed in a tangy soy sauce and filled in the dosa roll. Finish it with some grated cheese and enjoy.
4. Schezwan Masala Dosa
When south meets foreign flavours, we get something like schezwan dosa. This spicy dosa is a fusion of South Indian and Chinese tastes wherein the vegetables and sauces used in Chinese cooking are used for stuffing the dosa.
