“Vanakam! Good morning, Ma’am! Had your breakfast, Ma’am?” is how the staff at school greet me nearly every day. They then ask, “What you had?” “Dosai!” I reply, which is always well received. Dosai (doe-sah/sigh) is an extremely popular breakfast and dinner food here in Vellore and across South India. It is not considered something that should be eaten for lunch (which mainly consists of rice dishes), but I sometimes eat it for lunch at home (Shhh! Our little secret.). Dosai is like a rice crepe or super thin, sour pancake that is great as an edible utensil for eating curries and other sauces. It is best served hot and crispy and eaten with your right hand. No utensils needed!
Dosai is easily my favorite food that I have tried since arriving in Tamil Nadu. People in Vellore describe dosai to me as something like a South Indian pancake, which is sort of true and still the best comparison I have found to anything I ate regularly in the U.S. Dosai is sort of like a pancake because it is round and made from batter cooked on a flat pan and then flipped before being served hot. However, dosai is much thinner than a pancake (more like a crepe) and is more sour than it is sweet.
