Desi News Corp - Index

Desi News Corp - Desi News - April 2009 - Index

How often have you had
to have a dosa exp-
lained to you?
Speaking for myself, never!
But there’s always a first and
I found myself reading the
menu at Gurulakshmi carefully
to learn what a thalicha dosa
entailed.
Listed under ‘Our creative
creations and signature dosas,’ it
is one of many mouthwatering
descriptions of unusual dosas.
Owner Kumar Nallaswamy
says he felt Canada was “deprived
of an authentic South Indian restaurant”
and decided to treat fellow
Canadians to the experience
when he opened Dosa Corner
in Mississauga in 2003.
He describes his wife Thana
as an excellent cook and with
their two daughters helping out
after school, they soon had a
small, but loyal, clientele. One
that prompted them to move to
a larger venue.
And thus Gurulakshmi was
opened in the heart of the desi
community in Mississauga.
The 100 per cent vegetarian
restaurant specializes in South
Indian cuisine and offers a mindboggling
variation on the theme.
The menu urges patrons to
read the descriptions of each
item, “or else you are going to
miss Gurulakshmi’s secret recipes”.
They also accommodate
spice and oil levels all the way
from mild and no oil to hot and
regular oil.
Don’t skip the Basics section
as under this you will find two
unusual offerings – chocolate
and sweet ghee dosas!
My friend Kanta and I ordered
idli-vada combos ($5), and
then turned our attention to the
aforementioned creative selections
and signature dosas.
She opted for a jeera malli dosa
(a topping of crushed jeera,
black pepper, fresh coriander
and ghee, $7) and I went for the
thalicha dosa (fried chillies and
South Indian spices mixed in
the dosa batter.)
The menfolk were with us
32 Desi News April 2009
NARI MAVALWALLA/DESI NEWS NARI MAVALWALLA/DESI NEWS
Dosas come with footnotes
• TOP: Kumar Nallaswamy and his wife Thana. ABOVE: The service is
fast. “Our motto is to offer clean and fresh food made with high grade
ingredients – along with Tamil Nadu’s love and honour!”
(a rare occurrence as they generally
choose to leave us to do
our shop-till-we-stop-to-refuel
thing on our
own). Kanta’s
husband played
it safe and went
with the tried
and tested paper
masala ($8)
and mine, prodded by you
know who, went for the tomato
Gurulakshmi
Vegetarian Restaurant
Unit #3, 2555 Erin Centre Blvd.,
Mississauga. 905-803-8310.
desiLICIOUS!
thokku masala.
Though the menu asks pa-
trons to cooperate as they might
take some time
to prepare the
orders – “Because
we do not
give you precooked
food” –
we barely had
time to look around the cosy
eatery before our order was on
the table.
I did notice, with relief, however,
that the booths are easy to
slide into. Anyone who has had difficulty
getting in and out of deep
seats at some other restaurants will
know exactly what I mean! We each
tried a piece of each dosa and they
were all yum. Crisp and not too
oily and each had its own unique
flavour and taste.
I specially loved my husband’s
tomato thokku dosa.
The sambhar is thick with
chunks of tomato and hot red
chillies. One chutney in particular,
their coriander chutney that
is slightly tart, was a big hit with
all of us.
Ginger lassis for Kanta and
myself ($3.50 each) and mango
lassis ($4) for the men rounded
off our meals.
One pays at the counter and
as we tried to leave a tip, the
friendly waitress said, “No
need!” and pointed to the gratuities
that are already added to
the bill.
People were lining up to enter
as we were leaving, so if you
don’t want to wait, specially on
weekends, it might be a good
idea to go early.
– S UVARNA SHASTRI