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Udupi Palace Serves A Dosa Something Spicy
The masala dosa is a traditional South Indian dish. Flat, with a delicate crust, it resembles a crepe or a pancake, but its flexible use on the plate makes it more of a cousin to potatoes or rice. There are many variations of stuffing and size, but Little India’s vegetarian cookery Udupi Palace, regarded as one of the best places in the city to pick up the snack, is most known for their hotter variation.
In 2008, Udupi Palace owner Hubert D’Mello came up with a way to not only put the spicy dosa front and center during TD’s Festival of South Asia, but also to tap into that strange competitive instinct that, when sat next to each other at a table, compels humans to out-eat each other. “It started out with finding a way to help out the Sick Children’s hospital,” said D’Mello, “then we let it continue every year as our signature competition. I’ll hold it more year after year to just keep gaining the publicity.”
Behold the spicy dosa eating contest.
A spicy food festival during one of the city’s most intense heat waves may turn your skin red just thinking about it, but it certainly did not dissuade those passionate about the heat. At a bright yellow table set up outside Udupi Palace’s glass walls last Sunday, contestants sat with dosa, glowing orange with spice, cradled in tinfoil. These dosa are not wafer thin: the Udupi variety are thick and fluffy, more daunting than others eaters may encounter out in the world. “You do not have to eat so fast,” advised D’Mello, “you eat too fast you could choke on them. When you eat, chew, properly, gulp it down. That is how you win a competition.”
When the war trumpet sounded, contestants began to gobble up the food, assisted by nothing but bottles of water. As players fell one by one, a final, two-minute, two-dosa showdown went down between the last three sitting. Upbeat music played as the audience clapped and chanted dosa! This year the trophy went to Satish Kumar. He participated not for the gut-filling glory, but fond memories of his homeland. “More and more I’m missing dosa,” said Kumar, “my mother used to cook them back home.” The prize is a trophy and a $100 gift certificate to Udupi Palace; Kumar said he’d be making a $100 donation to an orphanage back home to mark the occasion. “I’m feeling better now. I could even eat two more. I haven’t eaten anything since this morning, and I drank a lot of water to expand my stomach—that’s good for the contests. Though this was my first contest.”
Sid (no last name given), who lives in the east end, managed to snack his way into second place. While Kumar was fairly reserved in his victory, Sid was bouncy, laughing off his defeat. “I thought I could win this, but there’s a skill to it, man. I came in second though, I still tried.” Two of the three final contestants were of Indian background, and it may not be a mystery, since eating habits may dictate a resilience to one of the contest’s key adversaries. “It’s not the spicy part that gets to you, it’s the gulping it down. I’m Indian, I’m into spice. But man, I should have prepared a bit more. I think next time I would have practiced the night before. I came on an empty stomach, that’s the best I could do.”
Kumar posed with D’Mello and the trophy as friends and family of the restaurant took photos, then quickly packed up the balloons, table, and tablecloth, while others rejoined the festival out in the street. Mere moments after the contest ended, three young men appeared asking where the contest was. Being told they just missed it, they lifted their arms and jestingly shook fists at the world. The Man v. Food guy was nowhere to be found, but if he happens to read this—consider it a challenge.