Uttapam

Uttapam is a thick, savoury rice-and-lentil pancake with onion, tomato and chilli worked into the batter before it hits the pan. It comes from the same fermented rice-and-lentil batter as dosa and idli, but where a dosa spreads thin and crisps at the edges, uttapam stays thick and soft all the way through — the vegetables mixed in rather than added as a topping afterward.

What it really is

A batter of soaked, fermented rice and urad dal — the same base used for dosa and idli — ladles thick onto a hot griddle rather than being spread thin, and chopped onion, tomato, green chilli and coriander scatter over the wet batter before it sets, cooking directly into the pancake rather than sitting on top. It fries until lightly browned on both sides, staying soft and slightly spongy throughout, never developing the crisp, lacy edge a thin dosa gets.

Staying thick and soft, not thin and crisp, is what makes it an uttapam rather than a dosa. The same fermented batter can go either way depending on how it's poured and spread — thin and quickly cooked crisp for dosa, or left thicker with vegetables worked in for uttapam — and the two are judged on completely different textures despite sharing an origin.

How it's served

• Hot, straight off the griddle, cut into wedges.
• With coconut chutney and sambar for dipping, the standard South Indian breakfast pairing.
• As a breakfast dish, though also eaten as a light meal at other times.

How to write it on the menu

• It's naturally vegan and vegetarian.
• No major allergens are inherent to the base recipe.
• Say which vegetables are mixed in, since onion-tomato is standard but other versions add extras like cheese or paneer.