Keep it simple

This ten month-old dosa joint in Oshiwara offers plenty of variety but we suggest you stick to the plain fare

If you're looking for a few fast and varied options of the humble dosa the next time you're in the 'burbs, Shree Balaji Dosa Hut is an option.

Cheek to jowl with frankie and falafel joints, the hut is in fact, a 3 ft x 3 ft steel stall that stands in front of a photo studio.

The compact stall has a stove and a monster tawa that can cook at least three dosas at a time.

Kiran Gowda, a Kannadiga who moved to Mumbai to set up the stall 10 months ago, won't tell you this but the best thing on his menu is the Sada Dosa or the Masala Dosa.



Why would you choose Gowda's dosa over the rest of the Udipis in the area? The fact that the chutney and sambar are not sweet are reason enough, but it's the place to go to if you're in the mood for some adventure.

If you order a Maysore (Mysore) Sada (Rs 25) hoping to get the divine variant of the dosa smeared with Mozhaga Podi (idli powder) that Matunga's Ramashray is famous for, you've just ordered yourself a mad surprise.

Gowda mashes up freshly chopped tomato, capsicum, beet root with some onion chutney for his version Maysore Sada.

It tastes like a cross between a dosa and a pav bhaji with some excess chaat masala making it a little too salty for our taste buds.

If you love experimenting, it can't get more inventive than the Dilkush Dosa (Rs 50) with onion, capsicum, cabbage, spring onion, chilli sauce and soya but we'd recommend the ordinary dosas minus all the frills, anytime.

Shree Balaji Dosa Hut also does a mean idli-sambar and vada-sambar (Rs 15 each) breakfast. Take our word: no matter how insane your eating habits are, the Chopsey Dosa (chopsey noodles, all the Chinese sauces, cabbage and tomato mashed into a dosa for Rs 45) at 9.30 am (which is when Gowda opens shop) is a bad idea.

AT: Shree Balaji Dosa Hut, Shop No 12, Green Villa Building, next to Cafe Coffee Day, Oshiwara, Lokhandwala, Andheri (W);
CALL: 9022329057/9833467422
Shree Balaji Dosa Hut didn't know we were there. THE GUIDE reviews anonymously and pays for its meals