Dakshin Blog

Appetizers are pappads and rice crackers, which are super-crispy and deceptively light. These are actually made with baking soda to make them really crispy, so you can accidentally fill up on them. On the other hand, they do help settle a stomach which, like mine, is having a little trouble adjusting to India. Accompanying them (right) are the traditional three chutneys of southern India: mint chutney, fresh coconut chutney, and spicy tomato chutney (pudina, chengai, and cigappu). These condiments will be served at every meal, including breakfast.

Since we ordered the full-course lunch, we got further appetizers, including a tiny banana pancake and some thing which is best described as a spicy abelskiver (mangalore bonda, I think). These were made by a show-cook on the restaurant floor. The green is a piece of pandan leaf, cut to fit the plate, as sort of a tribute to the traditional platters of pre-technological India.

This was followed by the very high-class version of a thali. I was amused to see that while the basic shape was unchanged, the thali was now sliver-plated. This tremendous bounty (I didn't finish half of it) on my thali included, clockwise from top, broiled spiced shrimp, mola kootal (coconut milk curry), green bean curry, rice cooked in broth with savory puffed rice, vada in egg curry, curd rice, noodles in sweet coconut milk and tapioca, fish curry and spiced braised fish. In the middle are puris (fried puffed flatbread) to use to scoop up the various foods; in India, there is no fork.

The mola kootal is normally eaten together with a delicate rice-flour bread called appam. This is made by pouring fermented rice batter into a wok-like pan and swirling it around, then flipping it out. It's crispy on the outside, spongy on the inside, absorbent and spectacular.

We certainly didn't need dessert after that, so they just gave us some betel nut. Which I passed on, having tasted it before. Don't see the appeal.

If you live in the SF Bay Area, you can find dosas and southern Indian food at Dosa in San Francisco (Mission), or in several restaurants on El Camino Real.