A friend recently wrote a blog post sounding the alarm on the impending Dose-pocalypse—a feared consequence of the LPG shortages triggered by current geopolitical tremors. The prospect, apparently, is that Bangalore’s sacred supply chain of restaurant masala doses may soon be under threat.
While some may dismiss such concerns as exaggerated, I must confess that the anxiety struck a personal chord. My own attachment to the masala dose is not merely culinary—it is deeply sentimental. Some of my earliest food memories are from when I was about six, sitting on one of four benches in my grandfather’s tiny eatery in a remote village. Four decades later, that taste still lingers.
Living so far from the beloved city of baked beans has, alas, required certain compromises. I’ve had to substitute Mylari dose (Mysore—which is practically Greater Bengaluru Metro) with the far less mention-worthy Mylapore dose; and while “Surya Darshini” proudly claims to be the pioneer of “Bangalore-style dose” in these parts, it is no patch on even the humblest Darshini in Bangalore. The less said about the various Saravana Bhavan and “Udupi” establishments here, the better.
Which brings me to a few modest proposals—and some possible consequences—for the dose-deprived-denizens should the LPG taps truly run dry.
1. The Wood-Fired Renaissance
Why should pizza have a monopoly on the wood-fired concept? The humble idli—long the mild-mannered cousin of the flamboyant dosa—may yet rise (quite literally) to the occasion. As a true-blooded Mangalorean, I normally swear by moode and gunda (those leafy, aromatic variants), but I recently stumbled upon some food vlogs featuring wood-fired bamboo-tube idlis (chibulu idlis). They may never rival a crisp dosa, but history reminds us that culinary revolutions often begin as improvisations.
2. Emergency Cooking Technologies
Should the LPG drought worsen, cinema has already shown us alternative thermal solutions. For e.g., this old kannada movie scene where a young Sridevi cooks rotis and rice on the back of a man (a sort of desi X-Man) apparently channeling his inner Agni.
https://youtu.be/OgFSz9uCwYU?si=iegdOOFlq4vsoAoU&t=102
Of course, one may wish to consider deploying a banana leaf or baking sheet to avoid eating overly salty doses from excessive perspiration.
And for examples from Kaliyuga, there is the slightly NSFW omelette-on-abdomen demonstration involving Prabhu Deva and Nagma.
Lest you judge me for my cinematic tastes, let me assure you I had no idea of the existence of these clips until the recent crisis made them slightly viral on social media.
If the gas fails, human induction cooktops remain a viable fallback.
3. A Spiritual Rebalancing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGyiS_-ECrw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGyiS_-ECrw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGyiS_-ECrw))
A food vlogger recently offered a modern take on the gunas associated with food:
Tamasic -ultra processed, packaged
Rajasic - eating out
Satvic - home-cooked food