Roti Cafe Gaienmae

About South Indian food

South Indian cooking is built on rice and lentils rather than wheat and dairy, and on fermentation rather than slow-browned onion. Dosa, idli and vada all start from a batter left to ferment overnight. Coconut, curry leaf, mustard seed and tamarind do the work that cream and garam masala do further north, and the result is lighter, sharper and often vegetarian by default.

A masala dosa is the right first order and is close to unimprovable. Eat it with your hands, tearing pieces and dipping them into the sambar and chutneys rather than cutting it with cutlery. If you want the fuller experience, order a thali and work from the mildest bowl outwards. Filter coffee at the end is not optional as far as most South Indians are concerned.

Eating in Tokyo

Tokyo's South Asian food is dominated by a specific format: a Nepali-run kitchen serving a largely North Indian menu, built around a weekday lunch set of curry, enormous naan and a small salad. It is so consistent that it is effectively its own genre. Underneath it sits a smaller, more interesting layer of genuinely Nepali cooking, and a handful of serious regional Indian restaurants.