Kerala vs Tamil Dosa; Who does it better?

Namaskaram! 🙏

Dosas are certainly the dish that put South India on the map. Thanks to migrating South Indians and Hotel Saravana Bhavan (largest vegetarian restaurant chain in the world). The main ingredient in Dosa is Rice.  Rice along with other ingredients is left to ferment. Thus making it super healthy with probiotics. Dosa resembles crepes and hence referred to as ‘Indian Crepe/ Pancake” by Non-Indians.

 

Image by Gilnisha

Its origin is a matter of debate. Historians claim the humble dosa have originated from the Indian state of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Both sides have a good amount of ancient literature to strengthen their claims. However traditional Tamil Nadu “Dosai” was thick and modern-day paper-thin crispy dosas originated from Karnataka known as “Dosaka”.

The difference – In Kerala we use soak Idli rice (alternatively you can use Basmati rice or rice flour) with Urad daal in 2:1 ratio where-as Tamilians soak rice with black gram 4:1. I see “Instagram chefs” adding mung beans, spinach, etc to the mixture but I can’t vouch for them. Buti its good to be different eh?

Once rice and daal are soaked, we grind it into fine mixture adding water to reach the desired consistency (Tip: Add a handful of cooked rice to make the dosas softer). Leave it to ferment up overnight; fermentation happens faster at warmer temperatures. Just before using the batter, we salt the batter as adding salt will reduce the shelf life.

Spread the dosa on to a nonstick pan or leave it as it is for pancake sized dosa’s. You can make a roll using the leftover vegetable dishes you have, for a hearty meal or follow a Masala dosa recipe to know how to make a superb potato filling.

There are two types of people – People who prefer Sambar (Vegetable stew) or Chutney as a side and people who prefer both. I am the latter, I mix both sambar and chutney for a different combination of flavour.

Question – Have you tried Dosa? What’s your favourite side dish for Dosas? Comment below!

Thank you for reading so far, You can view different types of Dosas and recipes below. Please take the time to subscribe to this blog (right). Have a good day ahead 🙏.

 

Suggested: Easy Papaya Side dish

Watch Sadhguru serving Gordan Ramsey (Yes, THE Gorden Ramsey) dosa here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7Fvt7TOaPQ

How to make Masala Dosa – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCab5oh0ZOc

How to make Sambar – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKR1moq92Pw

How to make Chutney – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xa5HHq7ep7c

Types of dosa (Credits: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dosa)

Name	Key ingredients
Benne dose	butter (‘benne’ in Kannada) Predominantly famous as “Davanagere benne dose” associated with Davanagere district in Karnataka.
Plain dosa	Dosa served with only chutney and sambar and no filling.
Pesarattu (green dosa)[19]	green gram[20]
Oats dosa	healthy, crisp and lacy instant dosa made with oats.
Amboli, ghavan, dhirde	In coastal parts of Maharashtra, variations known as amboli, ghavan and dhirde (or dhirade) exist. Amboli and ghavan (like dosa) are thin rice crêpes prepared with fermented batter, while dhirde is prepared with unfermented batter.
Palak dosa	layered with palak (spinach) paste inside the folds of dosa.
Ragi wheat dosa	Ragi, whole wheat flour[25]
Rava dosa	rava or sooji[26] (semolina)
Light white dosa	rice and coconut[21]
Kadapa karam dosa[22]	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 also occasionally topped with fried gram powder.[22]
Jaggery dosa	Rice flour, maida, grated coconut, jaggery
Mysore masala dosa[23]	rice, black gram, fenugreek seeds
Buttermilk dosa	Semolina, maida, buttermilk[27]
Onion rava dosa[24]	Semolina, rice flour
Mini soya dosa[17]	soya milk and wheat flour[18]
Paneer dosa	spiced paneer filling inside the dosa.
Masala dosa	spiced potatoes tucked inside the dosa with red chutney smeared over the dosa.
Set dosa	very spongy, soft and light, served in a set of 3 dosa per serving.[16]
Vodu dose or Kappa roti	Vodu dose or Kappa roti is made from rice, fenugreek seeds, grated coconut, thinly flattened rice and sometimes leftover cooked rice is also added. It is non fermented type of dosa. It is cooked on a earthen pan that has a rounded bottom. It is fluffy and appears like a bread. It is cooked without the use of oil.
Neer dosa	watery rice batter