Perfection: Uthappam at House of Dosas
The mixed vegetable Uthappam at House of Dosas in Hicksvile features onion, tomato, coriander, chilis and peas in a griddled rice-and-lentil pancake. Newsday photo / Erica Marcus (May 11, 2011) Credit: Newsday/Erica Marcus
It’s an all-too-rare pleasure: being served a perfect dish. But last night at House of Dosas in Hicksville, the gods looked down kindly at me.
An uthappam is a relative of the dosa. Both are savory South Indian pancakes but the dosa, made from a rice batter, is thin, crisp and can approach the diameter of a manhole cover. The uthappam, made from a batter of rice and lentil, more closely approximates the size of a dinner plate and, while it’s crispy on the bottom, the top is tender and spongy. The flavorings are embedded in this tender top surface. The specimen pictured above, “mixed-vegetable uthappam,” featured red onion, tomato, sliced chilis, coriander and peas. A perfectly harmonious blend of savory and spicy, fresh and toasty. It was served with two coconut chutneys, one faintly green and one faintly pink, and sambar, a sort of vegetable stew-soup-dip. Best of all, you eat uthappam with your hands.
House of Dosas, one of LI’s top vegetarian restaurants, is at 416 S. Broadway, Hicksville, 516-938-7517. If you are heading south on Broadway, make a right turn, just before the restaurant, on Boehme Street for access to the parking area.
