 | |
| Type | Pancake, crepe |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | India |
| Region or state | Southern India |
| Serving temperature | Hot |
| Main ingredients | Rice and black gram |
| Variations | Masala dosa, rava dosa, ghee roast dosa, podi dosa, paneer dosa, plain dosa, and many more |
A dosa, dose, dosai, or dosha is a thin, savoury crepe in Indian cuisine made from a fermented batter of ground black gram and rice. Dosas are served hot, often with chutney and sambar (a lentil-based vegetable stew). Dosas are a common food in South India.
The dosa originated in South India, but its precise geographical origins are unknown. According to food historian K. T. Achaya, references in the Sangam literature suggest that dosa was already in use in the ancient Tamil country around the first century CE. [1] However, according to historian P. Thankappan Nair, dosa originated in the town of Udupi in present-day Karnataka. [2] Achaya states that the earliest written mention of dosa appears in the eighth-century literature of present-day Tamil Nadu, while the earliest mention of dosa in Kannada literature appears a century later. [3]
In popular tradition outside of Southern India, the origin of the dosa is linked to Udupi, probably because of the dish's association with Udupi restaurants. [3] The Tamil dosa is traditionally softer and thicker; the thinner and crispier version of dosa was first made in present-day Karnataka. [4] A recipe for dosa can be found in Manasollasa , a 12th-century Sanskrit encyclopedia compiled by Someshvara III, who ruled from present-day Karnataka. [5]
The dosa arrived in Mumbai with the opening of Udupi restaurants in the 1930s. [6] After India's independence in 1947, South Indian cuisine became gradually popular in North India. In New Delhi, the Madras Hotel in Connaught Place became one of the first restaurants to serve South Indian cuisine. [7] [8]
Dosas, like many other dishes of South Indian cuisine, were introduced in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) by South Indian emigrants during British rule. [9] [10] Tirunelveli and Tuticorin merchants who settled there were instrumental in the spreading of South Indian cookery across the island by opening restaurants (vegetarian hotels) to meet initially the needs of the emigrant population. [11] [12] Dosa has found its way into the culinary habits of the Sri Lankan people, where it has evolved into an island-specific version which is quite distinct from the Indian dosa. In both forms, it is called those (තෝසේ or [t̪oːse] ) or thosai (தோசை or [t̪oːsaɪ̯] ) in Sinhala and in Sri Lankan Tamil.
Apart from these countries, dosa was introduced far abroad since the early 18th century, by the migration of the Tamil diaspora to Southeast Asia and later in the Western World, and through the worldwide popularisation of Indian and South Indian cuisines since the second half of the 20th century.
Dosa is the anglicised name of a variety of South Indian names for the dish, for example, dosai in Tamil, dosey in Kannada, and dosha in Malayalam.
The standard transliterations and pronunciations of the word in various South Indian languages are:
| Language | Transliteration | Pronunciation (IPA) |
|---|---|---|
| Tamil : தோசை | dōsai | [d̪oːsaɪ̯] |
| Kannada : ದೋಸೆ | dōse | [d̪oːse] |
| Malayalam : ദോശ | dōśha | [d̪oːʃa] |
| Telugu : దోశ [13] | dōsa | [d̪oːsa] |
Dosa is high in carbohydrates and contains no added sugars. As its key ingredients are rice and black gram, it is a good source of protein. [14] A typical homemade plain dosa without oil contains about 112 calories, of which 84% is carbohydrate and 16% is protein. [15] The fermentation process increases the vitamin B and vitamin C content. [16]
A mixture of rice and white gram that has been soaked in water for at least 4–5 hours is ground finely to form a batter. Some add a bit of soaked fenugreek seeds while grinding the batter. The proportion of rice to lentils is generally 3:1 or 4:1. After adding salt, the batter is allowed to ferment overnight, before being mixed with water to get the desired consistency. The batter is then ladled onto a hot tava or griddle greased with oil or ghee . It is spread out with the base of a ladle or a bowl to form a pancake. It can be made either thick like a pancake, or thin and crispy. A dosa is served hot, either folded in half or rolled like a wrap. It is usually served with chutney and sambar. The mixture of white grams and rice can be replaced with highly refined wheat flour or semolina.
Dosas can be stuffed with fillings of vegetables and sauces to make a quick meal. They are typically served with a vegetarian side dish, which varies according to regional and personal preferences. Common side items are:
Masala dosa is a roasted dosa served with potato curry, chutney, and sambar, while saada (plain) dosa is prepared with a lighter texture; paper dosa is a thin and crisp version. Rava dosa is made crispier using semolina. [17] Newer versions include Chinese dosa, cheese dosa, paneer dosa, and pizza dosa. [18]
Though dosa is typically made with rice and lentils, other versions exist. [19]
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Uttapam | A highly popular variety of dosa is much thicker and softer and served with vegetable toppings. It also uses less oil, hence is considered healthier than the typical dosa. On the flipside, though, it takes more time to prepare than a regular dosa. Both surfaces may be baked. They are again eaten like a regular dosa with servings of sambhar and chutney. Its history is as old as the dosa, featuring in Sangam literature. It is closely related to both the dosa and the appam. |
| Masala dosa | Roasted and crispy dosa, served with potato curry, chutney and sambar |
| Oats dosa | Healthy, crisp and lacy instant dosa made with oats |
| Wheat dosa | Dosa made with wheat flour batter, a typical wheat dosa may consume more oil and takes longer to prepare than a regular dosa. Instead of oil, ghee or butter may be used. |
| Set dosa | Smaller, spongy, soft and light, served in a set of 2-3 dosa per serving |
| Red rice dosa | A healthier variant of the regular dosa, it uses red rice instead of white rice, though the batter may also involve a mixture of the two rice varieties, too. |
| Plain dosa | Dosa has light texture and can be crispy. |
| Kal dosai | A thicker, softer, and spongier variant of a plain dosa, it also uses a stone tawa instead of the regular iron tawa for other dosas. |
| Tandoori dosa | A variety of dosa that uses a tandoor to prepare it instead of a tawa |
| Ghee roast | (Nei dosai in Tamil) Plain dosa cooked with ghee instead of oil and usually with no filling |
| Paper roast/Plain roast dosa | A large, plain dosa known for its thin layer and crispiness resulting from making a very thin layer of batter and the addition of extra oil compared to plain dosa |
| Egg dosa | (Muttai dosai in Tamil) A thicker base of dosa topped with beaten egg, or beaten egg is added to batter before cooking. |
| Kari dosai | A Tamil Nadu specialty with a dosa of thicker base topped with cooked meat, usually chicken or mutton: Dosas topped with vegetables or vegetable curry are also sometimes referred to as kari dosai. |
| Madurai Kari dosai | A famous variant of kari dosai is the Madurai kari dosai. This has a vegetarian and a non-vegetarian variant. The latter consists of non-vegetarian toppings of a mix of omlette, minced meat, and without vegetables, while the former has a fully vegetarian topping of vegetable curry. |
| Pori dosa/Puffed rice dosa | Uses some puffed rice alongside raw rice and some lentils in the batter |
| Paneer dosa | Spiced, flavorful paneer filling inside the dosa |
| Palak dosa | Layered with palak (spinach) paste inside the folds of dosa |
| Pizza dosa | A fusion of the traditional dosa and a regular pizza, it comes in many subvariants. It primarily uses toppings that resemble those of a regular pizza. |
| Spring Roll dosa | A fusion of the traditional plain dosa and the spring roll, it has vegetarian and non-vegetarian variants. It uses the same stuffing as in the spring roll and is usually cut and served rolled up as a spring roll. It is also notably spicy (piquant). |
| Jini dosa | A famous variety of dosa from Mumbai, Indiam , it is a crispy, cheesy dosa stuffed with a spicy mix of vegetables such as cabbage, carrots, and capsicum in addition to a tangy sauce. |
| Schezwan dosa | A type of dosa with stuffing of a mix of cooked vegetables and Schezwan sauce |
| Mini soya dosa [20] | Soya milk and wheat flour [21] |
| Pesarattu (green dosa) [22] | Made with green gram. [23] It is served with Allam Pachadi. (Ginger chutney) |
| Adai dosa | From Tamil Nadu, it is a dosa-like dish prepared from a combination of toor dal, rice, curry leaves, red chillies, and asafoetida. The batter is not fermented, and is usually eaten with jaggery or aviyal . |
| Light white dosa | Rice and coconut [24] |
| Kadapa Neyyi karam dosa [25] | Rice flour fermented overnight and mixed with sodium carbonate. The topping is a mixture of onion and chili paste (called yerra karam) and a chutney made with tomato and flour made in a gravy of curd. It is roasted in Ghee. It is also occasionally topped with fried gram powder. [25] |
| Onion rava dosa [26] | Semolina, rice flour, onion |
| Ragi wheat dosa | Ragi, whole wheat flour [27] |
| Rava dosa | Made with rava or sooji (semolina), it is a healthier alternative to regular dosa. Rava dosa takes up more oil than a regular dosa and can stick to the tawa if enough oil is not used. It also takes more time to prepare than a regular dosa. |
| Benne dose | Made with butter (benne in Kannada, vennai in Tamil), it is predominantly famous as Davanagere benne dose associated with the Davanagere district in Karnataka. |
| Neer dosa | Made with a watery rice batter |
| Vodu dose or Kappa roti | Vodu dose or kappa roti is made from unfermented rice, fenugreek, grated coconut, thinly flattened rice, and sometimes leftover cooked rice. It is cooked on an earthen pan with a rounded bottom. It is fluffy and appears like a bread. It is cooked without the use of oil. |
| Amboli, ghavan, dhirde | In coastal parts of Maharashtra, variations known as amboli and ghavan are thin rice crêpes prepared with fermented batter, while dhirde is prepared with unfermented batter. |
| Buttermilk dosa | Semolina, maida, buttermilk [28] |
| Jaggery dosa | Rice flour, maida, grated coconut, jaggery. |
| Minapattu | Very similar to plain dosa, this version tends to be thicker and, compared to plain dosa, it has a greater ratio of urad dal to rice flour or, in some cases, idli rava. |
| Maida dosa | The maida dosa batter is made from maida (refined flour) by adding water to get dense consistency; chopped onion, chilli, coriander leaves, and salt are added for taste. Maida dosa is quickly made in many households of Karnataka state, India. |
On 16 November 2014, 29 chefs, at Hotel Daspalla in Hyderabad, India, created a dosa that was 16.68 m (54.7 ft) long and weighed 13.69 kg (30.2 lb), earning the Guinness World Record for the longest dosa. [29]
Indian cuisine consists of a variety of regional and traditional cuisines native to the Indian subcontinent. Given the diversity in soil, climate, culture, ethnic groups, and occupations, these cuisines vary substantially and use locally available spices, herbs, vegetables, and fruits.
Idli or idly or iddali or iddena is a type of savoury rice cake, originating from South India, popular as a breakfast food in Southern India and in Sri Lanka. The cakes are made by steaming a batter consisting of fermented de-husked black lentils and rice. The fermentation process breaks down the starches so that they are more readily metabolised by the body.
Sambar is a lentil-based vegetable stew, cooked with pigeon pea and tamarind broth. It originates in South Indian cuisine and is popular in large parts of India and beyond.
Pakora is a fritter originating from the Indian subcontinent. They are sold by street vendors and served in restaurants across South Asia. They often consist of vegetables such as potatoes and onions, which are coated in seasoned gram flour batter and deep-fried.
Upma, uppumavu, or uppittu is a dish of thick porridge from dry-roasted semolina or coarse rice flour. Upma originated from South India, and is most common in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and in Sri Lankan Tamil communities.. Often, depending on preference, it has various seasonings and/or vegetables added during cooking.
A papadam, also known as papad, is a snack that originated in the Indian subcontinent. Dough of black gram bean flour is either deep fried or cooked with dry heat until crunchy. Other flours made from lentils, chickpeas, rice, tapioca, millet or potato are also used. Papadam is typically served as an accompaniment to a meal in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Caribbean or as an appetizer, often with a dip such as chutneys, or toppings such as chopped onions and chili peppers, or it may be used as an ingredient in curries.
Tamil cuisine is a culinary style of Tamil people originating in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and neighboring Sri Lanka. Meats, along with rice, legumes, and lentils, are popular. Dairy products and tamarind are used to provide sour flavors. On special occasions, traditional Tamil dishes are served in a traditional manner, using banana leaves in place of utensils. After eating, the banana leaves are then used as a secondary food for cattle. A typical breakfast meal consists of idli or dosa with chutney. Lunch includes rice, sambar, curd, kuzhambu, and rasam.
Idiyappam, also known as indiappa, noolputtu, noolappam (நூலப்பம்/நூலாப்பம்), santhagai, or ottu shavige, is a string hopper dish originating from southern India. It consists of rice flour pressed into noodles, laid into a flat disc-like shape and steamed. The dish also spread to Southeast Asia, where it is called putu mayam in Malaysia and Singapore, and putu mayang in Indonesia.
An appam or hoppers is a type of thin pancake originating from South India and Sri Lanka. It is made with fermented rice batter and coconut milk, traditionally cooked in an appachatti, a deep pan similar in shape to a wok. It is part of Tamil cuisine and Kerala cuisine found in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and in Sri Lanka. Appam is most frequently served for breakfast or dinner, often with a topping such as an egg.
Udupi cuisine is a cuisine of South India. It forms an important part of Tuluva cuisine and takes its name from Udupi, a city on the southwest coast of India in the Tulunadu region of the state of Karnataka.
An uttapam is a type of dosa from South India. Unlike a typical dosa, which is crisp and crepe-like, an uttapam is thicker, with toppings. The name is derived from the Tamil words appam and utthia or uttria, meaning "poured appam", because appam is cooked in a round-bottom pan, whereas utthia-appam is cooked on a flat skillet. Tamil ancient literature mentions it by name. The classic breakfast of Tamil residents consists of idli, dosas or uttappams mostly accompanied by sambar and chutney.
Indian breads are a wide variety of flatbreads and crêpes which are an integral part of Indian cuisine. Their variation reflects the diversity of Indian culture and food habits.
South Indian cuisine, also known as Dravidian cuisine, includes the cuisines of the five southern states of India—Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Telangana—and the union territories of Lakshadweep, and Pondicherry. There are typically vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes for all five states. Additionally, all regions have typical main dishes, snacks, light meals, desserts, and drinks that are well known in their respective region.
Andhra cuisine, culturally known as Telugu cuisine, is a cuisine of India native to the state of Andhra Pradesh and is the culinary style of Telugu people. It is generally known for its tangy, hot, and spicy taste.
Malaysian Indian cuisine, or the cooking of the ethnic Indian communities in Malaysia, consists of adaptations of authentic dishes from India, as well as original creations inspired by the diverse food culture of Malaysia. Because the vast majority of Malaysia's Indian community are of South Indian descent, and are mostly ethnic Tamils who are descendants of immigrants from a historical region which consists of the modern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka's Northern Province, much of Malaysian Indian cuisine is predominantly South Indian-inspired in character and taste. A typical Malaysian Indian dish is likely to be seasoned with curry leaves and whole and powdered spice, and to contain fresh coconut in various forms. Ghee is still widely used for cooking, although vegetable oils and refined palm oils are now commonplace in home kitchens. Before a meal it is customary to wash hands as cutlery is often not used while eating, with the exception of a serving spoon for each respective dish.
Street food, as in other areas of India, are popular in Chennai, despite the common belief in India that street food is unhealthy. The idly sambhar is a popular dish, which is served as breakfast or dinner. Apart from regular South Indian street food, the city's streets are also filled with several North Indian street food outlets, most of them established by North Indian migrants themselves. Gujarati and Burmese are also available. Street food in Chennai is so popular that a game had developed based on the TV show The Amazing Race where contestants have to follow clues to street-food spots in the city.
Masala dosa is a dish of South India originating in the town of Udupi, Karnataka. While there is variation in the recipe from town to town, the basic recipe typically starts with a fermented batter of parboiled rice, poha, and various legumes, and incorporates various spices for flavour, such as fenugreek and dry red chilli. Traditionally served with potato curry, chutneys, and sambar, it is a common breakfast item in South India, though it can also be found in many other parts of the country and overseas. One common variant is the paper masala dosa, which is made with a thinner batter, resulting in a crisper, almost paper-thin final product.
Vada, vadai, wada, bara, or bora is a category of savoury fried snacks native to India. Vadas can be described variously as fritters, cutlets, or dumplings. Vadas are sometimes stuffed with vegetables and traditionally served with chutneys and sambar.
Medu vada is a South Indian breakfast snack made from Vigna mungo. It is usually made in a doughnut shape, with a crispy exterior and soft interior. A popular food item in South Indian cuisine it is generally eaten as a breakfast or a snack.
Indian Indonesian cuisine is characterized by the mixture of Indian cuisine with local Indonesian-style. This cuisine consists of adaptations of authentic dishes from India, as well as original creations inspired by the diverse food culture of Indonesia. Indian influence can be observed in Indonesia as early as the 4th century. Following the spread of Islam to Indonesia and trading, Muslim Indian as well as Arab influences made their way into Indonesian cuisine. Examples include Indian biryani, murtabak, curry and paratha that influenced Acehnese, Minangkabau, Malay, Palembangese, Betawi and Javanese cuisine.
The ingredients for dosa preparation are not limited to just rice and black gram instead pure rice or a mixture of rice, wheat, sorghum, maize, or millets can also be used.
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