Shalabh Prasad's Blog
November 10, 2020
An Ode to Dosa
Continuing with the series of extracts from the book, FoodSutra: A Memoir of the Foods of India
There are dosa fanatics all over India. I am one of them, even if an unlikely one, given that I was born and brought up in the east of the country. As a true fan, I’ve never eaten a bad dosa: in my experience, all dosas are either good or excellent. In a restaurant review a few years ago, I read masala dosa being described as ‘this is what heaven looks like when fashioned from carbohydrate’. My feelings exactly! It is one dish that I get cravings for regularly. The great thing is that because of its popularity, it has not been difficult to find a dosa restaurant near home in the cities that I’ve lived in, in India and outside India. In fact, for a number of years, our home in London was a short driving distance to not one but three south Indian restaurants, each serving multiple varieties of dosa. Bliss! One of those even did home delivery. This was the same south Indian restaurant that I had convinced to make aloo parathas for me, on the sound principle that I could get both my food fixes from one place. My current vendor is a Keralan restaurant. When I call to place a takeaway order for lunch, on hearing my voice the manager straightaway responds, “One masala dosa, sir?”.
My love for dosa is reflected in the book – the dish gets mentioned many times across multiple chapters.
Extract from the Chapter 6 Tamil Nadu: Idli, Dosa, Sambar and beyond
Dosa, also spelt dosai or dose, is a made from a fermented batter of rice and urad daal (black gram or lentil). The batter takes time to prepare and ferment; the rice and daal need to be soaked before being ground into a thick paste and then the paste needs to be left to ferment for at least eight to twelve hours. So, dosa is definitely not an ‘on-demand’ dish at home. When the batter is ready, a scoopful is evenly spread into a thin circular shape over a hot tawa or griddle and cooked in oil or ghee. The cooked dish is like a crepe in appearance, cooked to a semi-crisp and golden finish. The finish is a key element of quality in dosa. It should be in between a roti and a papad in crispiness. If it cracks off like a papad, it’s not good; nor should it feel too soft and rubbery.
The basic dosa, without any stuffing inside, is called a Plain dosa. The most common stuffed dosa is called Masala dosa. It is stuffed with a spicy potato and onion mix, which is prepared separately and added to the dosa in the final stages of cooking. Here ‘masala’ refers to the potato stuffing, which can be misleading as the word masala generally refers to a mix of spices. Dosa is served folded over in halves or thirds, sometimes in cones, with the stuffing inside. It is always served with at least a coconut chutney and, in Tamil Nadu, with Sambar, another staple of south Indian food, which is described later.
There are many different types of dosas. You can add almost any fried food as a stuffing inside the dosa. The traditional varieties are all vegetarian and include onion dosa, paneer dosa, ghee dosa, ghee masala dosa, rava dosa, paper dosa, podi dosa, Mysore masala dosa, set dosa, neer dosa, etc. Most are named after the stuffing, but some need a bit more description.
Rava dosa is made of a batter of rava (another name for sooji or semolina) with rice and maida. Unlike the rice and lentil batter, the rava dosa batter does not need to be fermented; this makes it the go-to-choice when dosa needs to be made on a short notice. Rava dosa looks different from the regular dosa. It is not as smooth and golden in appearance and has minute holes. It can be made plain or with stuffing. When the stuffing is similar to the mix used for masala dosa, you get rava masala dosa.
A visually striking type is Paper dosa. Its name denotes its thinness and, as if to compensate, it is spread into a very large size, 50 – 60 cm in diameter. It is always a sight when brought to the table from the kitchen, at home or in a restaurant. I always feel a bit embarrassed when I order a paper dosa as it invariably draws everyone’s attention to what you are eating. A plus point is that it is easily shared. In my college days, it was not uncommon to see courting couples sharing a paper dosa by eating from each end. You do strange things when you are young.
Podi dosa is somewhat less well known outside the southern states. It gets its name from podi chutney which is applied to the dosa as it is being cooked. This chutney, also called idli podi, is often served as a separate chutney with idli. Its main ingredient is red chilli, though coconut and tamarind give it a more complex taste than a plain red chilli paste. But make no mistake, it can be sharp and this dosa mostly appeals to people who can handle the heat.
There are dosa fanatics all over India. I am one of them, even if an unlikely one, given that I was born and brought up in the east of the country. As a true fan, I’ve never eaten a bad dosa: in my experience, all dosas are either good or excellent. In a restaurant review a few years ago, I read masala dosa being described as ‘this is what heaven looks like when fashioned from carbohydrate’. My feelings exactly! It is one dish that I get cravings for regularly. The great thing is that because of its popularity, it has not been difficult to find a dosa restaurant near home in the cities that I’ve lived in, in India and outside India. In fact, for a number of years, our home in London was a short driving distance to not one but three south Indian restaurants, each serving multiple varieties of dosa. Bliss! One of those even did home delivery. This was the same south Indian restaurant that I had convinced to make aloo parathas for me, on the sound principle that I could get both my food fixes from one place. My current vendor is a Keralan restaurant. When I call to place a takeaway order for lunch, on hearing my voice the manager straightaway responds, “One masala dosa, sir?”.
My love for dosa is reflected in the book – the dish gets mentioned many times across multiple chapters.
Extract from the Chapter 6 Tamil Nadu: Idli, Dosa, Sambar and beyond
Dosa, also spelt dosai or dose, is a made from a fermented batter of rice and urad daal (black gram or lentil). The batter takes time to prepare and ferment; the rice and daal need to be soaked before being ground into a thick paste and then the paste needs to be left to ferment for at least eight to twelve hours. So, dosa is definitely not an ‘on-demand’ dish at home. When the batter is ready, a scoopful is evenly spread into a thin circular shape over a hot tawa or griddle and cooked in oil or ghee. The cooked dish is like a crepe in appearance, cooked to a semi-crisp and golden finish. The finish is a key element of quality in dosa. It should be in between a roti and a papad in crispiness. If it cracks off like a papad, it’s not good; nor should it feel too soft and rubbery.
The basic dosa, without any stuffing inside, is called a Plain dosa. The most common stuffed dosa is called Masala dosa. It is stuffed with a spicy potato and onion mix, which is prepared separately and added to the dosa in the final stages of cooking. Here ‘masala’ refers to the potato stuffing, which can be misleading as the word masala generally refers to a mix of spices. Dosa is served folded over in halves or thirds, sometimes in cones, with the stuffing inside. It is always served with at least a coconut chutney and, in Tamil Nadu, with Sambar, another staple of south Indian food, which is described later.
There are many different types of dosas. You can add almost any fried food as a stuffing inside the dosa. The traditional varieties are all vegetarian and include onion dosa, paneer dosa, ghee dosa, ghee masala dosa, rava dosa, paper dosa, podi dosa, Mysore masala dosa, set dosa, neer dosa, etc. Most are named after the stuffing, but some need a bit more description.
Rava dosa is made of a batter of rava (another name for sooji or semolina) with rice and maida. Unlike the rice and lentil batter, the rava dosa batter does not need to be fermented; this makes it the go-to-choice when dosa needs to be made on a short notice. Rava dosa looks different from the regular dosa. It is not as smooth and golden in appearance and has minute holes. It can be made plain or with stuffing. When the stuffing is similar to the mix used for masala dosa, you get rava masala dosa.
A visually striking type is Paper dosa. Its name denotes its thinness and, as if to compensate, it is spread into a very large size, 50 – 60 cm in diameter. It is always a sight when brought to the table from the kitchen, at home or in a restaurant. I always feel a bit embarrassed when I order a paper dosa as it invariably draws everyone’s attention to what you are eating. A plus point is that it is easily shared. In my college days, it was not uncommon to see courting couples sharing a paper dosa by eating from each end. You do strange things when you are young.
Podi dosa is somewhat less well known outside the southern states. It gets its name from podi chutney which is applied to the dosa as it is being cooked. This chutney, also called idli podi, is often served as a separate chutney with idli. Its main ingredient is red chilli, though coconut and tamarind give it a more complex taste than a plain red chilli paste. But make no mistake, it can be sharp and this dosa mostly appeals to people who can handle the heat.
October 9, 2020
FoodSutra Review in MidWest Book Review
“Should be required reading before any Indian cookbook is chosen”
Reviewer: Diane Donovan
Foodsutra: A Memoir of the Foods of India celebrates India's unique regional cuisines and departs from the usual Indian cookbook by profiling India's regional flavors and how they differ. This means that the book's organization is different, featuring destinations, specialties, and a subtitle that connects Indian culture and cuisine, as in the chapter on 'Mumbai: Food That Inspires Bollywood Masala Films' or 'Goa: Konkan and Portuguese Simmered Together.' There are no pages of recipes here, but plenty of discussion about how food is created, paired, and seasoned according to regional influences, differences, and tastes.
Readers learn a good deal about India's culture and geography; not just the origins of its classic recipes. This helps those relatively unfamiliar with the country gain a basic working knowledge of India's culinary history, an essential ingredient in helping define, utilize, and understand not just recipes, but India's food traditions as a whole, from their history to their modern incarnations.
Many Indian cookbooks are published each year. Most offer some of this information in only the briefest of introductions to each recipe. Foodsutra presents the opportunity for a deeper understanding and celebration of Indian cuisine than most of its competitors.
From its color photos throughout to discussions of how dishes are spiced and served, accompanying Shalabh Prasad's travelogue of his journeys through the country and its foods, readers receive much more than a cookbook. Prasad's ability to tackle familiar dishes and deconstruct their culinary and cultural roots is simply outstanding. His approach presumes a basic interest in Indian cuisine, but not an in-depth knowledge—though at least a basic familiarity with some of its classic dishes will add appreciation for Foodsutra's unique approach.
Foodsutra is an essential guide to understanding how Indian cuisine differs—sometimes radically—from region to region. Its discussions of modern twists, common misconceptions (such as confusing the chilla flatbread with its cousin the dosa), and cultural and food differences makes for a choice that should be required reading before any Indian cookbook is chosen.
From
MBR Bookwatch: September 2020
http://www.midwestbookreview.com/mbw/...
and
http://donovansliteraryservices.com/s...
Reviewer: Diane Donovan
Foodsutra: A Memoir of the Foods of India celebrates India's unique regional cuisines and departs from the usual Indian cookbook by profiling India's regional flavors and how they differ. This means that the book's organization is different, featuring destinations, specialties, and a subtitle that connects Indian culture and cuisine, as in the chapter on 'Mumbai: Food That Inspires Bollywood Masala Films' or 'Goa: Konkan and Portuguese Simmered Together.' There are no pages of recipes here, but plenty of discussion about how food is created, paired, and seasoned according to regional influences, differences, and tastes.
Readers learn a good deal about India's culture and geography; not just the origins of its classic recipes. This helps those relatively unfamiliar with the country gain a basic working knowledge of India's culinary history, an essential ingredient in helping define, utilize, and understand not just recipes, but India's food traditions as a whole, from their history to their modern incarnations.
Many Indian cookbooks are published each year. Most offer some of this information in only the briefest of introductions to each recipe. Foodsutra presents the opportunity for a deeper understanding and celebration of Indian cuisine than most of its competitors.
From its color photos throughout to discussions of how dishes are spiced and served, accompanying Shalabh Prasad's travelogue of his journeys through the country and its foods, readers receive much more than a cookbook. Prasad's ability to tackle familiar dishes and deconstruct their culinary and cultural roots is simply outstanding. His approach presumes a basic interest in Indian cuisine, but not an in-depth knowledge—though at least a basic familiarity with some of its classic dishes will add appreciation for Foodsutra's unique approach.
Foodsutra is an essential guide to understanding how Indian cuisine differs—sometimes radically—from region to region. Its discussions of modern twists, common misconceptions (such as confusing the chilla flatbread with its cousin the dosa), and cultural and food differences makes for a choice that should be required reading before any Indian cookbook is chosen.
From
MBR Bookwatch: September 2020
http://www.midwestbookreview.com/mbw/...
and
http://donovansliteraryservices.com/s...
September 8, 2020
How well do you know Indian food
A quiz to test your knowledge of Indian food. All from the book, FoodSutra - A Memoir of the Foods of India.
1. The name of a whole spices mix commonly used in Bengali cooking.
2. Small fried, crunchy drops of lentil and sesame seeds, eaten as a snack and an accompaniment to meals in Bihar.
3. Which oil is called ‘bitter’ oil in Hindi and widely used as a cooking medium?
4. A Bihari speciality called ‘the poor man’s protein’, now considered a healthy super-food.
5. An Indian sweet which resembles the Turkish baklava, but bigger.
6. Which famous north Indian/ Punjabi dish was first created as a way to use left over portions of another famous dish?
7. Daal is never complete without this addition of hot oil or ghee with spices.
8. Samosa filled with minced meat, a Hyderabadi speciality.
9. A way of cooking, believed to have started in Awadh during a famine.
10. A Mughlai dish, created by Shah Jahan’s chef and doctor working together, to counter the effects of flu.
11. A popular ingredient in all kinds of dishes for its tangy taste, this English name is derived from Arabic which translates to ‘date of India’.
12. The Tamil word from which the word ‘rice’ is probably derived.
13. Bheem of Mahabharat is believed to have created this Keralan mixed vegetable dish.
14. A thin, lacy dosa with ‘water’ in its name.
15. A type of hibiscus plant whose edible leaves are used extensively in Andhra food.
16. One of Mumbai’s famous street foods, a mild white pea curry with potato patties.
17. Egg bhujia, Parsi style.
18. A Maharashtrian dish which colloquially also means ‘arranged marriage’.
19. A popular, Gujarati flatbread with vegetables.
20. A vegetarian curry (with no vegetables!) with cooked besan pieces, found in Rajasthan.
From FoodSutra – A Memoir of the Foods of India
Answers at https://www.foodsutrabook.com/blog
FoodSutra: A Memoir of the Foods of India
1. The name of a whole spices mix commonly used in Bengali cooking.
2. Small fried, crunchy drops of lentil and sesame seeds, eaten as a snack and an accompaniment to meals in Bihar.
3. Which oil is called ‘bitter’ oil in Hindi and widely used as a cooking medium?
4. A Bihari speciality called ‘the poor man’s protein’, now considered a healthy super-food.
5. An Indian sweet which resembles the Turkish baklava, but bigger.
6. Which famous north Indian/ Punjabi dish was first created as a way to use left over portions of another famous dish?
7. Daal is never complete without this addition of hot oil or ghee with spices.
8. Samosa filled with minced meat, a Hyderabadi speciality.
9. A way of cooking, believed to have started in Awadh during a famine.
10. A Mughlai dish, created by Shah Jahan’s chef and doctor working together, to counter the effects of flu.
11. A popular ingredient in all kinds of dishes for its tangy taste, this English name is derived from Arabic which translates to ‘date of India’.
12. The Tamil word from which the word ‘rice’ is probably derived.
13. Bheem of Mahabharat is believed to have created this Keralan mixed vegetable dish.
14. A thin, lacy dosa with ‘water’ in its name.
15. A type of hibiscus plant whose edible leaves are used extensively in Andhra food.
16. One of Mumbai’s famous street foods, a mild white pea curry with potato patties.
17. Egg bhujia, Parsi style.
18. A Maharashtrian dish which colloquially also means ‘arranged marriage’.
19. A popular, Gujarati flatbread with vegetables.
20. A vegetarian curry (with no vegetables!) with cooked besan pieces, found in Rajasthan.
From FoodSutra – A Memoir of the Foods of India
Answers at https://www.foodsutrabook.com/blog
FoodSutra: A Memoir of the Foods of India
August 5, 2020
Mushroom Masala and a Lesson in Humility
Extracts from FoodSutra: A Memoir of the Foods of India.
From Chapter 3 Punjab and Delhi: Familiar Stalwarts of North Indian Food
A summer camp in a village
One summer in college, I enrolled for a National Social Service (NSS) project. As part of the college curriculum, we were required to do 100 hours of either NSS or National Cadet Corps (NCC) activities. NCC was run on campus but required waking up very early on Saturday mornings continuously for a couple of years. NSS had greater flexibility. You could collect hours doing a number of different types of social service projects, including participation in adult education, rural development, health awareness and blood donation programs. The program I chose was a rural development one, requiring a couple of weeks’ stay in a village for a road building project, with the benefit of completing the 100 hours curriculum requirement in one go. The village was in Haryana, north of Delhi. Haryana used to be part of the larger Punjab state, before the state was divided into smaller states in the 1960s. The village was close to Punjab and the food there was mostly Punjabi.
*******
My first taste of Mushroom Masala
Most of the meals during our stay in the village were otherwise standard fare of roti, daal and vegetables. One new dish that I first tasted during this stay was Mushroom Masala. This is a recent addition to Punjabi food, fuelled by the uptake of mushroom farming in India’s northern states in the 1960s and 70s. Mushrooms were grown mainly for the cities and export markets then and were still considered an uncommon ingredient. The dish itself was a typical vegetable curry, button mushrooms cooked in a gravy of onions, tomatoes and spices.
And a lesson in humility
The reason we got to try the dish in the village was that the village headman, influenced by his entrepreneurial son, had switched some of his land to mushroom farming. I remember having an enlightening conversation with him about mushroom farming. He and his family were doing were very well from the switch to mushrooms and he was deservedly proud of his son, who handled commercial aspects from Delhi. When talking about his son, he let it drop that his son had recently bought a Japanese car. The Maruti Suzuki had only recently been launched in India, an Indian-made car produced in collaboration with Suzuki of Japan. Owning a car was at that time quite a prestigious thing, even in cities, so I was suitably impressed. Since he couldn’t remember the name, I helpfully (and with a bit of urban condescension) prompted, “You mean the Maruti?”. His response was a put-down to last a lifetime. “No, no. Maruti is an Indian car. I mean a Japanese one, something which is called Tyotta (Toyota) or something”.
From Chapter 3 Punjab and Delhi: Familiar Stalwarts of North Indian Food
A summer camp in a village
One summer in college, I enrolled for a National Social Service (NSS) project. As part of the college curriculum, we were required to do 100 hours of either NSS or National Cadet Corps (NCC) activities. NCC was run on campus but required waking up very early on Saturday mornings continuously for a couple of years. NSS had greater flexibility. You could collect hours doing a number of different types of social service projects, including participation in adult education, rural development, health awareness and blood donation programs. The program I chose was a rural development one, requiring a couple of weeks’ stay in a village for a road building project, with the benefit of completing the 100 hours curriculum requirement in one go. The village was in Haryana, north of Delhi. Haryana used to be part of the larger Punjab state, before the state was divided into smaller states in the 1960s. The village was close to Punjab and the food there was mostly Punjabi.
*******
My first taste of Mushroom Masala
Most of the meals during our stay in the village were otherwise standard fare of roti, daal and vegetables. One new dish that I first tasted during this stay was Mushroom Masala. This is a recent addition to Punjabi food, fuelled by the uptake of mushroom farming in India’s northern states in the 1960s and 70s. Mushrooms were grown mainly for the cities and export markets then and were still considered an uncommon ingredient. The dish itself was a typical vegetable curry, button mushrooms cooked in a gravy of onions, tomatoes and spices.
And a lesson in humility
The reason we got to try the dish in the village was that the village headman, influenced by his entrepreneurial son, had switched some of his land to mushroom farming. I remember having an enlightening conversation with him about mushroom farming. He and his family were doing were very well from the switch to mushrooms and he was deservedly proud of his son, who handled commercial aspects from Delhi. When talking about his son, he let it drop that his son had recently bought a Japanese car. The Maruti Suzuki had only recently been launched in India, an Indian-made car produced in collaboration with Suzuki of Japan. Owning a car was at that time quite a prestigious thing, even in cities, so I was suitably impressed. Since he couldn’t remember the name, I helpfully (and with a bit of urban condescension) prompted, “You mean the Maruti?”. His response was a put-down to last a lifetime. “No, no. Maruti is an Indian car. I mean a Japanese one, something which is called Tyotta (Toyota) or something”.
July 1, 2020
FoodSutra now on sale
FoodSutra - A Memoir of the Foods of India is now on sale!
Hardcover and eBook on most Amazon sites.
FoodSutra: A Memoir of the Foods of India
http://getbook.at/FoodSutrabook is the universal link to the book page on your local Amazon store.
Hardcover and eBook on most Amazon sites.
FoodSutra: A Memoir of the Foods of India
http://getbook.at/FoodSutrabook is the universal link to the book page on your local Amazon store.
June 28, 2020
FoodSutra now available for pre-order on Amazon
I am delighted that the ebook version of FoodSutra - A Memoir of the Foods of India is now available for pre-order on Amazon.
http://getbook.at/FoodSutrabook
I am using this handy link from Booklinker to link to the book's page on the local Amazon store in each country.
The hardcover is also on its way!
http://getbook.at/FoodSutrabook
I am using this handy link from Booklinker to link to the book's page on the local Amazon store in each country.
The hardcover is also on its way!
June 16, 2020
FoodSutra: A Memoir of the Foods of India
Coming soon
A comprehensive and entertaining exploration of the foods of India, told through a foodie’s experiences, with delightfully quirky facts and stories
Indian food is the aggregate of many regional cuisines. This wide-ranging account describes these regional cuisines and their main dishes, connected by the author’s travels, experiences, and memories over many decades. Over 400 dishes are covered, including not only ingredients and methods of cooking, but also associated interesting facts and anecdotes. For example: why a fish dish is called Bombay Duck; the misconception that Vindaloo means vinegar and potatoes; the special kabab created for an ageing and toothless nawab; how multiple elements in Chaat, the Indian street foods, combine to create a symphony of tastes; and many more.
With beautiful photographs, FoodSutra is an essential, easy-to-read reference on Indian food. It gives a comprehensive overview of the foods of this vast and complex country and will appeal to anyone who wants to know more about Indian food and its association with Indian culture.
A comprehensive and entertaining exploration of the foods of India, told through a foodie’s experiences, with delightfully quirky facts and stories
Indian food is the aggregate of many regional cuisines. This wide-ranging account describes these regional cuisines and their main dishes, connected by the author’s travels, experiences, and memories over many decades. Over 400 dishes are covered, including not only ingredients and methods of cooking, but also associated interesting facts and anecdotes. For example: why a fish dish is called Bombay Duck; the misconception that Vindaloo means vinegar and potatoes; the special kabab created for an ageing and toothless nawab; how multiple elements in Chaat, the Indian street foods, combine to create a symphony of tastes; and many more.
With beautiful photographs, FoodSutra is an essential, easy-to-read reference on Indian food. It gives a comprehensive overview of the foods of this vast and complex country and will appeal to anyone who wants to know more about Indian food and its association with Indian culture.
