Thiru Kumar, the Dosa man at Washington Square Park in downtown Manhattan, deserves an extra Vendy Award for letting Americans know there’s more to Indian cuisine than Tandoori Chicken, Mango Lassi and Garlic Naan.
A fixture at Washington Square Park for several years, Thiru has been peddling a variety of Dosas, Uttappams and assorted South Indian vegetarian fare from his food cart.
The fella is also a recipient of the Vendy Award.
Thiru is a Tamil from Sri Lanka, the island nation across the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Sri Lankan Tamils share a similar cuisine with their Tamil brethren from India.
What is a Dosa?
A Dosa is an Indian rice crepe (the plumper Uttappam is the Dosa’s second cousin) that sometimes includes a potato-onion curry filling.
Dosas come in several varieties.
The popular ones are the Masala Dosa, Rava Dosa and Ghee Dosa.
Besides South India, Dosas are popular in Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore.
Masala Dosa
I’ve made occasional trips to Thiru’s food cart for my cheap Dosa fix.
During my latest visit to Thiru’s Dosa cart, I had both the Masala Dosa ($5) and the Mixed Vegetable Uttappam ($6).
Cut into two pieces, Masala Dosa came daubed with Red Chutney paste and potato curry filling inside.
Sambar and Coconut Chutney were offered as sides to the Masala Dosa.
Masala Dosa was crisp as it ought to be. Man, it was tasty too.
Alas, the Potato curry filling inside the Masala Dosa was a tasteless monstrosity.
It was just boiled potato pieces with turmeric powder seasoning. Not in the least bit flavorful.
Usually the potato curry filling in Masala Dosa comes with onion, curry leaves, green chilly and mustard seeds seasoning.
Of the two sides, I liked the Coconut Chutney. It was medium thick, a bit spicy and tangy.
But the watery Sambar with red chilli powder floating on top was plain awful.
Sure it included vegetables like Beans, Italian Green Squash, Tomato and Carrot.
But the three key ingredients (Toor Dal, Tamarind and Sambar Spices) that give a nice flavor to the Sambar were lacking.
Mixed Vegetable Uttappam
The medium size Mixed Vegetable Uttappam came with Red Chutney on top and Sambar and Coconut Chutney on the side.
While I had no complaints with the Uttappam, the Red Chutney and Sambar turned out to be disappointments.
Red Chutney was not in the least bit spicy and the Sambar was horrid (see details above).
Besides several kinds of Dosas, NY Dosa Cart menu includes Jafna lunch, Idly lunch, Samosa, Roti Curry, Singapore Noodles, Veggie Rolls, Vegan Drumstick and a variety of sodas.
Caveat: Except the Dosas and Uttappams, the other items may not be available on all days.
Where to Eat
After picking up my Dosa boxes from Thiru, I headed inside the Washington Square Park where I found some empty chess tables.
The tablets are not that clean (hey, it’s a public park).
But since the Dosa and Uttappam were packed in styrofoam boxes, it was all right.
NY Dosa Cart is usually around at Washington Square Park on W.4th St, Mon-Sat from 12PM-4PM (or earlier if Thiru runs out of his Dosa batter).
Subway: A, B, C, D, E, F, M to W.4th St-Washington Square.