Dosa Kitchen in jesmond has launched a new menu. savour writer Deile Purvis tries out the south indian dishes on offer
Dosa Kitchen originally started life as a pop-up in Newcastle’s west end. But since opening its doors as a restaurant in Osborne Road, Jesmond back in 2017, owners Mathen Ganesan and Sudharsan Murugavel have never looked back.
Serving up dishes inspired by the Tamil Nadu area of South India, Dosa Kitchen has become a firm favourite of foodies and celebrities, including Hairy Biker Si King and A Place in the Sun’s Jonnie Irwin – who recently raved about it on social media.
“Southern Indian cuisine is very different to what most people’s experience of Indian food is. It tends to be much healthier as we don’t cook with lots of butter or cream, but instead, it’s all about the spicing,” said Sudharsan, who has just launched a new menu at the restaurant.
Visitors can enjoy small plates including dishes such as Chicken 65, a classic recipe which features chunks of spiced chicken breast served with a special dip, with a cauliflower version available as a vegetarian option.
The Dosas?
The name of the restaurant comes from its signature dish the dosa. A dosa is a thin pancake in South Indian cuisine made from a fermented batter of ground rice, and dal and lentils are commonly stuffed with a savoury filling. While the dosas may only take around 30 seconds to cook, preparing the batter takes around 48 hours.
Eight different dosas are available on the menu: including potato masala, paneer, onion and egg – or you can experience it plain. We opted for the ghee roast dosa, accompanied by sambhar (like a stew made of vegetables, lentils and spices), and coconut chutney and tomato chutney. The dosas are extremely light and fluffy, a little like savoury crepes, and dunked in the fresh chutneys and sambhar and absolutely delicious.
Dosa Kitchen Small Plates and Starters
Sudharsan recommend we try a selection of starters, and they didn’t disappoint.
The Chicken 65 features succulent bites of fried chicken with hints of garlic and ginger – and the chef’s special sauce. Prawn Varuval – marinated battered king prawns – were considerably lighter than the usual tempura prawns you’d find elsewhere and had the perfect hit of spice.
The Onion Ragi Pakora is a unique take on onion fritters that resembles a deconstructed onion bhaji. They’re made with Millet flour, green chillies and coriander and are very flavoursome.
We also tried the Gobi 65, cauliflower fried in chef’s secret batter that was crispy and packed full of flavour.
Dosa Kitchen Curries
Dosa Kitchen’s menu is split into ‘small plates and dosas’, ‘curries, Biriani rice and kothu parotta’ which is shredded flatbread mixed with a number of ingredients and spices.
The Prawn Thengapal Kozhambu was loaded with juicy king prawns in a smooth ginger and coconut sauce and the Lamb Nilgiri Kuruma is made with coconut, coriander, mint and curry leaves. The lamb was extremely tender and the dish itself has a real kick to it. It’s definitely one for lovers of spice.
We washed the dishes down with a number of drinks, including a Sling is King cocktail and a Mango Lassi. This refreshing yoghurt-based drink is normally ordered when having spicy food to cool the palate. Dosa Kitchen has also teamed up with Newcastle’s Wylam Brewery which has produced a Chola Kings beer for the venue.
On Sundays, Dosa Kitchen offers its famous Sapaads. Sapaad translates from Tamil as meal. This is a complete meal that includes starters, sides, mains and desserts which change on a weekly basis. The A La Carte menu is set aside on Sundays and the chefs create their own inventive dishes, which often feature old family favourites.
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