Thursday, June 27, 2013

Punjab cafe

Last Friday evening I crossed a couple of items off my to-do list in one hit - eating dosa for the first time and purchasing vegan takeaway food from my local suburb. I've been hankering to try dosas ever since reading about them on blogs and have considered attempting to make my own yet I thought it would be a good idea to try the real deal first.

We have lived in Clayton for almost 10 years and haven’t purchased takeaway food or dined at local restaurants for the past three years. Our more recent eating out experiences usually involve travelling to another suburb to eat at a restaurant we know has a variety of good vegan options. Clayton is home to several Indian restaurants as well as Chinese, Malaysian, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian and Japanese. In the midst of searching for the closest place to buy dosa, I was delighted to discover that Punjab cafe, one of our local Indian eateries, listed a variety of dosas on their menu. The man wasn't entirely keen on the sound of them and it took a couple of weeks of not-so-subtle hints for him to come around to the idea.

Punjab cafe is reminiscent of the other Indian eateries around Clayton, the decor is cheap and minimal, the clientele is mainly of Indian origin and the food is fairly inexpensive. After speaking with the waiter and chef to inform them of our dietary requirements we ordered a couple of masala dosas ($7.50 each), bindhi masala (okra curry - $7.50) and garlic naan ($2 each). I've been under the impression that naan dough usually contains yoghurt (as most recipes I've seen include it) but we were assured that there would be no yoghurt or other dairy products in the naan and that it could be topped with vegetable oil and garlic.


The man succumbed to the gorgeous aroma of garlic naan during our trip home, tearing off a few pieces to keep him satisfied until we could get stuck into the rest of the food. The masala dosa was as wonderful as I imagined it would be – a thin crispy pancake made with a fermented lentil and rice batter filled with spiced potatoes, accompanied by a tangy dal. I was expecting some chutneys to be included with our meal as I think they are usually served with dosas, perhaps they forgot to include them? The bindhi masalas I've eaten in the past have been served in a sauce/gravy so I was little surprised to find that this version was a dry curry. We ordered it to be hot and were pleased that it delivered on spiciness.

My first dosa experience was thoroughly enjoyable and has made me eager to try more dosas at other Indian restaurants for comparative purposes. I would also like have a go at making dosas at home although they will need to be a miniature versions as I don't own a frying pan large enough to make dosas bigger than our dinner plates!

143 Carinish Road, Clayton
9544 4218

12 comments:

  1. It's interesting to hear your dosa experience (and to know they can be vegan) - I have seen others have them in Indian restaurants and have always been intrigued, but never had the courage to risk ordering one when my Indian taste buds seem to be quite limited. From your description, I think I'd quite like these. If you replicate them at home I will follow your lead with some mini ones as a first effort!

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    1. It's my understanding that the dosa batter is usually vegan so it's just a matter of making sure they don't use ghee or butter to fry the dosas or in the potato masala. I recommended trying one in a restaurant if you get the chance!

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  2. I love masala dosa - we are lucky to have a local cafe in the mall where we visit occasionally - haven't had naan for a while - it is so good and always makes me feel better about any extra spicy meals

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    1. I'm sure it was one of your posts about masala dosa that got me intrigued to try it (as well as other vegmel bloggers). I hadn't eaten naan since going vegan - I must try making some now that I have soy yoghurt on hand.

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  3. Dosas are one of my favorite Indian dishes! The pillowy potatoes against the crisp thin dosa makes for a wonderful combination of textures. I bet you're right that they forgot to put the chutney in the bag. I prefer it with cilantro chutney, but it's often served with a coconut chutney (at least here in the States). Sometimes it also comes with a lentil soup called sambar.

    I'm so surprised that you were able to get vegan naan! Unless I've made it at home, that's not something I've ever been able to find in restaurants. We always have tandoori roti instead, which is still really delicious.

    That's amazing that you haven't dined at one of your local restaurants in three years! Our restaurant-going has definitely decreased since moving away from the vegan mecca of Los Angeles, but we still eat out at least once a week. Luckily, we do have one vegan restaurant in town. We also have an Indian restaurant that used to be vegetarian, but they started serving meat a year ago. They still have their vegan options clearly marked, but it makes me really sad to go and overhear people ordering loudly, "I'll have the lamb!" :(

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    1. The combination of textures in the masala dosa was wonderful, it would have been even better with the chutneys so I'll have to double check the bag next time. I was equally surprised when the chef suggested naan as I was sure they wouldn't be able to do a vegan version.

      We do eat regularly at another local place which I'll write about soon - it's not in my immediate set of shops which is walking distance from home but is only about 10 minutes drive. Most of the vegan/vegetarian places are on the other side of town which means at least a 30 minute trip each way.

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  4. There was a time when the only thing I'd order in restaurants was masala dosa. The bhindi masala is Desi's favorite. Your descriptions of the food have made me so hungry!

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    1. I can imagine that masala dosa would be tricky to make at home so I can understand why you would order it out. We have been loving okra curries lately, my mother in law has been making them regularly when we have family curry nights.

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  5. Oh crivens, I am a huge fan of dosas and seening this makes me want to get stuck in. The pancake, the potatoes... dribble.... I'm really impressed that they had vegan naan too - what a find!

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    1. There are so many dosa fans out there and I finally know why! I was blown away with the totally unexpected vegan naan too.

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  6. Masala dosas are my favorite! So glad you all were able to find a vegan-friendly Indian restaurant close by. I know ours is such a savior for nights when I just can't find the time to cook.

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    1. We were so happy to find some local vegan friendly Indian food, I'll be keeping it in mind for busy or lazy nights from now on!

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