00:00We're here in Mumbai, in Dadar, one of the oldest colonies in Mumbai, and we're at
00:10Muttu Ana Dosa corner right behind me. A dosa is a savory lentil and rice crepe that's fermented,
00:17it's delicious, and this guy behind me is supposed to be one of the best.
00:21Anna, what's the first step?
00:24First step, the first step is the first step.
00:26So the number one step here is the cleaning of the flattop, and this is really important
00:32because he wants to both season it, clean it, and make it nonstick at the same time.
00:38What he's doing with the water is essentially making sure that all the oil that's on the
00:43surface of the griddle comes up and gets scraped off, so you get a perfect seasoning and a perfect
00:47nonstick surface, but it's not oily, and that's critical for getting that crisp dosa batter.
00:56The prep is happening fresh. That cutting block that he's cutting on has probably been
01:00done for 40 years, give or take. He can just open the cutting block. What's incredible is
01:05the speed. All the preps are done fresh every day, and that's why, you know, people ask me
01:10all the time, street food, how do you feel about it? I'm like, if you see them prepping, if you
01:14see it happening fresh, you're probably going to be just fine. He's just decimating. I mean,
01:18the knife skills are insane. Chef's knife, India style. That's it. Right now, they're borrowing
01:24power from the shop behind him and hooking it up so that we can get the lights and the
01:28fan going, and then I'm sure the shop benefits from the crowds that are going to be gathering
01:32here pretty soon, and it's a win-win for both situations. There's no permits, but here's
01:37the permit that's actually a universal permit. You're good. You're so good that everybody wants
01:42you here. The neighborhood wants you here. The cops want you here. When you're that good,
01:46you don't need to say, I want to be here. They tell you, you have to be here. He's doing
01:50his first tester. If this is good, this will not be eaten. This first one is given to the
01:55gods as a gift before you start the service every single time.
02:08This batter is rice and urad dal, a type of lentil that's been soaked overnight. At least
02:14five hours minimum, chef says, usually done overnight, and then the next day it's ground
02:18in a stone-on-stone grinder. What's happening here is the fluffing of the batter, as we'll
02:22call it, basically making sure that the heavy bits that fell to the bottom got fully turned
02:27around and mixed up, and he's aerating it to keep the batter super light, make sure it
02:30doesn't get too dense. It might sort of gross the Westerners out, but he's putting his hand
02:34in there because he's trying to keep the active bacterias going in the batter, and you know,
02:39putting his hand and bringing it out makes sure that there's a constant introduction of natural
02:43bacteria into the batter, and it's important. When you're trying to make bread at home,
02:47it's so important to knead with your hands. The fact that you're actually using your hands
02:50to knead the dough with is introducing a lot of that bacteria from your hand into the dough,
02:54helping with the yeast activation, helping with the rise. The same thing is happening
02:58in here right now. This technique dates back probably two, three thousand years in terms
03:03of this kind of batter making. This 28-year-old charcoal brazier is charcoal fired. He buys charcoal
03:19from the shop. I mean, this is a pain in the ass. He's got to light it. He's got to manage
03:23it. We didn't see him light it because this whole cart got wheeled in. So they went, loaded it up, lit it
03:28somewhere else, let it get to temp, and then brought the cart in. He's modulating the heat of the flat
03:33top by raising and lowering it over the life fire. So when it gets too hot, he puts these little metal
03:38inserts so you can raise the griddle up a little bit, get a little bit more airflow underneath it,
03:42and then when it cools down, he drops it down again. It's just brilliant. So this is the classic masala
03:48that goes inside of a masala dosa. Typically, the masala is mounted in the middle and the dosa sort of wrapped
03:53around it, but because it's sort of a street version of it, he's spreading the masala all over it.
03:57It's potatoes that have been cooked with popped mustard seeds, curry leaves,
04:01a little bit of urad dal in it, a little bit of haldi, a little bit of turmeric,
04:09chili powder, and of course lots of salt. And the idea is to give a contrast of the soft, mushy,
04:15warm potato texture with the crispy, crunchy crepe on the outset. I mean, no different than a French classic
04:20French crepe with, you know, some sort of stuffing like bananas on the inside,
04:24this is the savory version of it.
04:34So this vati is both the dipper, it's the portion control, and it's what he uses to spread with.
04:39I mean, you can buy this at any little kitchenware shop around here, and this is the size that he's using,
04:45that he's mastered his art with. It's specific to the size of the flat top.
04:49So this technique of the way he's spreading the batter to make it absolutely paper thin,
04:55it takes so much time, so much energy. I mean, just look at this.
04:58Look at this. I mean, this is a flex here, that he's got five on the flat top,
05:02and he's managing five at the same time. Getting that perfect thinness is what makes a true dosa master know what the heck they're doing.
05:09It's, I can't explain to you how hard it is to do this without the dosa tearing or getting too thick.
05:15As the batter is cooking on the flat top, it's becoming porous. So when he puts the butter on,
05:20it's seeping through the pores and essentially caramelizing the bottom.
05:24Oh, this is the maesur masala special.
05:27Yes, maesur masala.
05:28That's special. What's been thrown across only for the maesur masala is some of the tomato chutney,
05:32just to add extra flavor, extra spice to the whole thing.
05:35So this is a special technique. We're just going to use a little masher,
05:39is the only way to describe it, to essentially turn it into almost a kebab bhaji.
05:43There he goes, there he goes.
05:44And the potato masala on top, a little squeeze of fresh lime.
05:50So this is the specialty of this place, probably the most famous maesur masala noosa.
06:04Is this your recipe?
06:05Yes sir, it's famous either.
06:06And what kind of masala will you give this, baby?
06:08This is pav bhaji masala, milchi boudar, sour namal.
06:12And milchi, okay. And then a little bit of the tomato chutney.
06:15Tomato chutney, okay.
06:16To help make it wet.
06:17This is just the magic moment, where something that seems that it's glued to the flat top,
06:23separates itself out perfectly.
06:24Sir.
06:27Watch out for the flying dosa. Don't get hit by one.
06:30So there goes one saada dosa.
06:38Amazing.
06:39And this one he's doing last, because the pav bhaji has to cook.
06:43So he's taking his time.
06:51Incredible.
06:52A lifetime of just doing the same thing over and over again.
06:57And now he's deglazing the flat top to get all the oil off.
07:02Definitely an element of showmanship here in this whole operation.
07:06It's street food.
07:07There's got to be a component of street art to the street food.
07:10And he knows it.
07:14I mean, this is insane.
07:16There's a guy at the end.
07:17He knows, when he sees the potatoes go down, that it's a maestro masala dosa.
07:21And with a flick of his wrist, he's flinging a wet chutney straight onto the flat top.
07:26Unerring accuracy.
07:27I haven't seen him miss yet, but I'm keeping an eye.
07:32So this mashing is a classic pav bhaji technique, where onions, potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers
07:38were sort of mashed into a hash.
07:40And the idea being that he can mop it up with bread.
07:44Here he's doing it on the dosa, which is a first for me.
07:47I've never seen this technique used on a dosa before.
07:49Essentially, you're waiting for that perfect moment when the top is cooked, the vegetables are cooked,
07:54and the bottom is crispy golden.
07:56And this man is just, he could probably do it with his eyes closed.
07:59He's going to do it.
08:00He's going to do a spread with wine.
08:03Okay, eyes closed.
08:05No look.
08:07Perfect dosa, eyes closed.
08:18I mean, this is insane.
08:20This is just like mind blowing skill over here to do this.
08:24It's just showing off muscle memory.
08:27I mean, this one's a serious flex.
08:29He is just showing off at this point.
08:32Beautiful.
08:33That's the one he made with his eyes closed.
08:35That's about a perfect dosa.
08:37That one's in honor of me, so I'm going to go try it.
08:39Oh my God.
08:40I mean, perfectly golden even color.
08:44You can see the striations of where the hand was.
08:48I mean, this is just, I want to frame this and put it up on a wall in my restaurant.
08:52This thing's just absolutely perfect.
08:54Just look at it.
08:55It's just insane.
08:56Hello, friends.
08:57How are you?
08:58That is perfect dosa.
08:59This is pretty damn close to the perfect food.
09:05I'm loaded.
09:06I'm going to give myself a Maesor Masala Dosa.
09:08I know what I want.
09:09Make Maesor Masala Dosa.
09:11Make so?
09:12Yes.
09:13One third.
09:15All right.
09:16Got my ticket.
09:17Maesor?
09:18Yes.
09:21All right.
09:22And now we wait for magic to happen.
09:25Let's go over and watch him make Maesor Masala Dosa.
09:32And this move over here, I mean, I'm still trying to figure out, like, is this really the most efficient way to do it?
09:38But apparently it is.
09:40The vegetable comes here with a lime squeezer.
09:45Oh my God.
09:46I got the extra butter.
09:48This is going to be beautiful.
09:49First class.
09:50First class.
09:51First class.
09:52Yes.
09:53All right.
09:54Yes.
09:55I'm going to give you some cheese.
09:58Oh my God.
10:01My mouth's actually salivating right now.
10:03I'm so excited about this.
10:04Oh my, it smells absolutely fantastic.
10:11It's so savory.
10:12It's that perfect savory, you know, potatoes, tomatoes.
10:15The acid balance is incredible.
10:19It's just bursting with flavor.
10:22Just literally explosive flavor in your mouth.
10:24It's fantastic.
10:26Even though it's got all this soft sort of wet masala on the inside, there's still a nice crunch in the outside of the dosa to get that bite through.
10:33And just the tanginess of the tomatoes, the potatoes, a little bit of heat, herbaceous from the green chilies.
10:40It really is just an amazing bite.
10:42It kind of makes you want to keep coming back for more.
10:44It's almost meaty in its umami, even though it's purely vegetarian.
10:48I mean, it is an incredibly complex bite because, you know, it's easy to think that the dosa is just a wrapper, a tortilla, a hamburger bun.
10:58It's not.
10:59I mean, just that by itself, you could just eat it like a bag of chips because it's got so much flavor, tanginess, saltiness, the fermentation.
11:06You can taste the rice, you can taste the dal, but then when you put the stuffed vegetables on the inside and that butter and just a hint of that cheese.
11:13I mean, it's just atrocious how good this is.
11:16It's buttery, creamy.
11:24I mean, it's just a remarkable testament to how seriously we take food in India, how seriously this guy takes his craft and his art.
11:35And the crazy part is nobody here that's buying these dosas from him is taking that for granted.
11:39They know what has gone into making of this.
11:42I mean, it's really humbling, inspiring.
11:46This is what I love about the street food of India.
11:48This is what I love about Mumbai.
11:49And this particular spot, Dhadar, it's just this melting pot of cultures.
11:53And this guy is the real deal.
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