Vegetarian, vegan, kosher? Dosa Hut’s got it covered.
New eatery specializes in Southern India fare
Vegetarians, vegans and those who keep kosher, as well as any lover of Indian food, have a new place to enjoy. Dosa Hut, which opened in late February in Rocky Hill, specializes in food of Southern India. Its huge menu has no meat dishes. Anything prepared with butter can be adjusted to become vegan.
Jai Kumar, who owns Dosa Hut with Mehul Shah and Nish Patel, does not have complicated objections to eating meat. His reason is simple. “I used to eat meat. Not anymore. I don’t like it,” he said.
Kumar, the chef, has filled his menu with more than 100 Indian and IndoChinese items — soups, salads, pakoras, samosas, chats, biryanis, uthappam, dosas, curries, breads, rice dishes — that eschew meat and dairy. A few items, which include paneer cheese, cannot be made vegan.
The signature item — seen in the name of the restaurant — is the dosa, a crepe of fermented rice flour or semolina, mixed with a variety of vegetables, herbs and spices, and a side of chutney.
Some dosas are so delicate they look almost like a sheet of lace. Othersarethickerand rolled, like Kumar’s Pondicherry dosas, which are stuffed with a variety of potatoes, paneer, lentils, chickpeas onions, garlic and semolina.
“In Connecticut, a handful of restaurants selectively offer these dosas, but not this manyonthemenu,” said Kumar, wholists 30varieties on his menu.
Kumar’s menu is similar to the one at his previous restaurant, Udib Bhavan in Middletown, which he sold several years ago. Shah, of Glastonbury, and Patel, of Rocky Hill, are making their first venture into the restaurant industry.
Kumar, a native of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, learned to cook at State Institute of Hotel Management near his hometown. He cooked at hotels in India and Europe, then worked at KBR Co., providing food to U.S. troops and their civilian staffs during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He did that for three years, working in Al Diwaniyah and Tikrit. Later, Kumar emigrated to the United States and now lives in Rocky Hill.
Kumar said he decided to locate in Rocky Hill because of its large Indian population. Both Indians and non-Indians have come in the restaurant’s first month of operation.
“Wetrustourfoodbecause everything is fresh and healthy and made to order,” hesaid.“Ithinkthat’sthekey.”
Find more information at dosahutct.com.