Paper Roast!

You sit at the restaurant table and pop the question, “What is today’s special?” Pat comes the answer, “Paper Roast sir!”

The term “Paper Roast” has become such an integral part of the South Indian culinary vocabulary that it hardly strikes you as an English phrase! Paper Roast is not just another “dosa”.  It has an added aura- it is paper-thin and roasted to the point where it looks like burnished gold! It is wafer-crisp and with each bite, you can feel it crackle as it melts in the mouth!

The restaurant kitchen looks like the boiler of a Steam Engine! An array of pans, a battalion of burners, smoke wafting all over, and through all that haze, you can see the dosas in various stages of metamorphosis!

The magician is at work, as though endowed with a dozen arms. He works in a frenzy- scoops out the batter, spreads it in a circle, squirts some oil and very soon, the dosas sizzle to life. He is all over, moving from pan to pan, scraping and scooping and before you know plates upon plates are ready with Paper Roast! He steps to the far end and gives a stir to the cauldron of sambar! The air is redolent with a fragrance that makes you all the more hungry! 

Paper Roasts come in all shapes- some are circular, others are folded in a triangle, while some stand up conical! It is a visual treat as the golden dosas are laid upon the green of the plantain leaf. Tucked with the Paper Roast is a cup of steaming sambar and beside that, the textured white of the coconut chutney!

As the bearer steps out the kitchen, Paper Roast is a head-turner. You roll up your sleeves expectantly, only to find that it is headed to a different table! A series of such false starts fills you with a mild sense of irritation, but you know the wait will be worthwhile!

Now, the bearer carries one enormous Paper Roast, spanning several feet and rolled like a carpet! You wonder whether this dish was meant for the giants at Brobdingnag that Gulliver stepped into! An entire table erupts in excitement as the item is gently anchored.

Your reverie on how this is going to be consumed is cut short. The Paper Roast is now at your table. It looks delectable, topped with a generous globule of butter. Like an ice-berg in the sun, the butter melts leaving tiny rivulets that trickle down the sides of the Paper Roast! You cannot wait anymore. You dive into it with gusto. The contentment is supreme- all is well with yourself, the world and all that’s in it!