Sacrilege or a seduction? Chocolate Dosa!
The other day wandering in the pleasurable desi by-lanes of Jackson Heights, admiring the mounds of mangoes, lychees and papayas, I stopped at Dosa Delight, a small family-type vegetarian eatery. There along with the traditional idli, medhu vada and Pondicherry Dosa was – Chocolate Dosa!
Now this is not a gourmet city restaurant but a tried and tested homey Southern outpost. So how did something as contrary as Chocolate Dosa find its way here? And could I have a taste?
According to Rajesh Gopinath, the manager, Dosa Delight is probably the only Indian restaurant in NYC with chocolate dosas although they seem to be quite common in India. Google the words ‘chocolate dosas’ and you’ll find them in all sorts of restaurants and cooking blogs, with mouth-watering pictures. Yet this seems to be the only restaurant in New York to offer this delicacy.
Gopinath says he first spotted chocolate dosas in a TV program on a Malayalam channel about a resort in Kerala and decided to introduce them to his restaurant. While Indians have not gone over-crazy for the chocolate dosa, it’s been a definite hit with Americans who are calling for it for their kids and as a dessert. And they don’t blink at the $7.99 price.
While I needed to eat my regular masala dosa for lunch, I also tried a slice of chocolate dosa for dessert, along with my Madras coffee. I found it an intriguing taste – like a chocolate layered pancake, embedded with cashews. It’s a regular dosa smeared with chocolate cream. It’s crunchy and crispy on the outside and has this unexpected melted chocolate and nutty taste in the inside. Makes you feel like a playful kid, having fun you shouldn’t be.
Gopinath restores the adult perspective, taking the spicy, tangy and sweet tango a step further by serving chocolate dosas with unexpected red, green and tamarind chutneys. Sweet and salty – mind-blowing!
