Medha Imam: If you're in New York looking for
an authentic South India dosa,
venture out to the Ganesh Temple in Queens.
In the basement of this Hindu temple,
they're dishing out three meals every day,
and a total of about 20 varieties of dosas.
New York Magazine, Zagat, and The New York Times
have all dubbed the Temple Canteen's dosas
some of the best in the city,
and some esteemed visitors, like Anthony Bourdain
and Padma Lakshmi, have stopped by to savor the dish.
Urvashi Urti: This is a 40-minute ride for us to the temple,
and I do it every Tuesday because I love the food.
And visiting God is the excuse I give my family.
(laughs)
Customer: Everybody from India, they like
this South Indian food.
Medha: Hey guys, I'm Medha.
Abby Narishkin: And I'm Abby.
Medha: And we're here at the Hindu Temple Society
of North America in Queens,
and we're about to try some dosas.
Abby: I'm pumped, I have never had dosas before in my life,
and I've seen these on Instagram and they look delicious.
Medha: So, which one are you excited to try out?
Abby: I'm excited to try out the one that's, like,
the length of the arm, that I've seen all over the internet.
Medha: And what's so cool about this temple canteen
is that there are a variety of dosas,
they sell so many kinds,
and it's hidden inside a basement.
Abby: So let's go find it!
Medha: The Hindu Temple Society of North America,
also known as the Ganesh Temple, was founded in 1970.
The Temple Canteen soon followed
in the basement of the temple, in 1993.
At first, the Canteen prepared only Naivedyam,
or food offerings, to Hindu deities.
Medha: Eventually, it began dishing out its iconic dosas
for temple-goers and visitors alike.
Dr. Uma Mysorekar: Even in the temple,
everybody is invited to come,
so why would we differentiate in the Canteen?
I'll tell you, food anywhere will bring people together.
(laughs)
Medha: The Canteen caters
to a strict Hindu vegetarian diet,
so the dosas are filled with ingredients like
potatoes, onions, and Indian spices called masala.
The origins of Indian food in America
are complicated.
But many agree the cuisine likely showed up
on the West Coast in the early 1900s.
According to NYU professor Krishnendu Ray,
who's been studying the cuisine's rise
for almost two decades,
advertisements for Indian restaurants appeared
in New York City's white newspapers in about the 1920s.
But it wasn't until the 1980s
that foods like naan and tikka masala
became more common.
South Indian food, however, didn't often show up on menus.
Today, of the roughly 400 Indian restaurants
in New York City,
Ray says only about 50 of them serve South Indian cuisine.
And the one dish that's keeping South Indian food alive?
The dosa.
Dr. Mysorekar: Oh, everybody knows what dosa is,
what idli is, what vada is, everything.
But, in the beginning, going back 20, 30 years ago,
it was almost unknown, practically unknown.
And it was only being made in the homes, really,
and maybe in some big restaurants
if you go down to the city,
where you pay arm and a leg for that.
So here, when we started this,
and it's not only for our community,
and the local people started coming.
So once they come, they have a taste,
it just brings them back here again.
Medha: The Temple Canteen still sits humbly,
as it always has, in the temple basement,
complete with folding chairs, paper plates,
and some really good dosas.
Urvashi: This gets as close to Mom's food
back in India as it can.
Medha: Dosas are traditionally vegetarian,
made from rice flour and lentils.
Chefs ladle the batter onto the grill,
spread on vegetarian toppings,
and fold the dosas into a triangle,
cone, or cylinder shape.
We decided to try the three most popular dosa varieties:
the Pondicherry masala, a triangular dosa
stuffed with onions, green chilies,
a spicy mixture, and a potato masala;
the rava dosa, made with cream of wheat,
as well as onions, green chilies,
and coriander mixed right in the batter;
and the paper dosa, a giant, crispy version
of the dosa that is just the batter
cooked up with ghee.
All of the dosas come with two dipping sauces:
sambar, a spicy lentil-and-vegetable gravy
cooked with a special curry powder;
and a green chutney made from ground coconut,
ginger, and green chilies.
Abby: Ay-oh!
Medha: Thank you.
Abby: When you're eating a really good dosa,
what does it taste like?
What does it feel like?
Medha: There's so much that's involved in a dosa,
and, coming together, all the flavors just
really pop in your mouth.
It's super, super flavorful.
So that's what you have to look forward to.
Mm.
Abby: Mm.
Medha: This definitely has a kick to it.
So, on a scale of one to 10,
I would say this is
a five? Abby: Five, yeah.
Medha: Yeah, a five in spice level, which is good
because it's not overpowering the dosa at all.
Abby: No, yeah.
Medha: You can still taste the interior of the dosa,
which consists of onions, corn, potatoes,
so many different vegetables inside of here.
Now that I've done a second dip into the sambar,
the spice level has definitely kicked in to, like, a seven.
Abby: Now it's in the back of my mouth.
Medha: Yep.
Abby: Yeah, but it dissipated pretty quickly.
Medha: If you do not like spices,
then chutney is the way to go
because it will definitely, like, soften it up,
make it easier,
if you don't have a spice-tolerance level that's very high.
Abby: So you always eat it with your hands?
Medha: Yeah, because most Indian food
you don't really need forks or spoons.
Like, it's very traditional to eat it with your hands
and just dip it into the sauce.
Abby: How lucky am I that this is my
first experience with dosas?
Medha: You're pretty lucky, Abby,
because I don't think anyone has
these many dosas when they Abby: Really?
try it out the first time.
'Cause what if you are someone who likes
the Pondicherry masala dosa, and you wanted
a filling dosa, you know, a dosa with a lot of filling,
and you ordered the paper dosa?
It's very different.
So, each one of these items is very different.
Abby: And you would think, eating this food
and how good it is,
that this is all this place does.
But this is, this is not even why
this building is here. Medha: Mm-hmm.
Abby: And that's amazing.
Urvashi: It gives you a feel of nostalgia.
Like, it's almost like visiting Mom every Tuesday.