Aura of India: Mysore Masala Dosa in Mysuru: What It Is and Where to Eat It

A masala dosa on a banana leaf with sambar and two chutneys

Photo: OdetomyLife, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons

A tiffin room in old Mysuru, early on a weekday morning.

A Mysuru dosa is crisp at the edge, soft at the fold, and gone before it cools.

A dosa with a red lining

A dosa is a thin pancake of fermented batter. Rice and urad dal, a split black lentil, are soaked, ground together and left overnight to sour. Spread on a hot iron griddle, the batter browns underneath and stays pale on top. A masala dosa, masale dose in Kannada, is folded round palya, a dry curry of potato and onion. The Mysuru version adds one step. Before the potato goes in, the cook spreads a red chutney of dried chillies and garlic over the pale side, so the dosa is lined with heat. A small knob of butter often melts on top. Coconut chutney and sambar, a thin lentil stew, come alongside.

Breakfast, not a snack

Here the dosa belongs to the morning. Tiffin rooms, small vegetarian restaurants named after tiffin, the light meals of south India, open early and fill with office workers, students and families. Orders are short and tables turn over fast. The dosa is eaten with the right hand: tear from the crisp edge, scoop up a little potato and chutney, and keep going while it is hot. A dosa that has waited turns soft and heavy. One is a meal. Afterwards comes filter coffee, strong and milky, poured between a steel tumbler and a wide bowl called a dabara until it froths and cools.

Why people come

The red-lined dosa has travelled across India as the Mysore masala dosa, and a story links it to the palace kitchens, though no record proves it. In Mysuru itself, many come for a different dosa. Since 1938 one family has run a small restaurant on Nazarbad Main Road, now the Original Vinayaka Mylari. Its dosa is soft and spongy, cooked over a wood fire, topped with home-made white butter and served with coconut chutney and sagu, a green vegetable curry, in place of sambar. The menu is a handful of dishes. Several places have borrowed the Mylari name, so read the board before sitting down.

Where to find it

Nazarbad lies just east of the palace, a short walk or autorickshaw ride from the centre. The red-chutney dosa is easier still to find. Most restaurants in the Bengaluru–Mysuru region serve it at breakfast and dinner, according to Karnataka Tourism. Go early. Small places can close for the day when the batter runs out. During Dasara, the Aahara Mela, the city’s food fair, fills the Maharaja’s College Ground from 11 am to 10 pm until 25 October, with free entry.

How it is made

The work starts the day before. Rice and urad dal soak for hours, are ground to a smooth batter, and are left overnight to ferment; salt goes in just before cooking. The red chutney is ground separately from dried red chillies and garlic. Many cooks add roasted chana dal, a split chickpea, to thicken it, and a little ginger or lemon.

On the griddle, a ladle of batter is spread thin in a circle and left until the underside turns brown. The chutney goes on the pale side, then a line of potato down the middle, and the dosa is folded over it. At home, a slightly thicker dosa holds the chutney better than a paper-thin one.

Mysore on the plate

The city has lent its name to more than one dish. Mysore pak, a dense sweet of gram flour, ghee and sugar, is said to have been first made in the palace kitchens by a cook named Kakasura Madappa, in the time of Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV. Sweet shops across the old city sell it by weight, and a box travels well.

Mysuru is one stop on a longer food map. For the coast, the coffee hills and the north, see the Karnataka guide.

Before you go

Go early: tiffin rooms are busiest, and freshest, in the first hours of the morning.
Eat it hot: start the moment the plate lands; the edge is crisp for minutes, not hours.
Ask for benne: the Kannada word for butter; a benne dose comes glossed with it.
Stop at one: a masala dosa is a full meal; order coffee instead of a second.
Use your right hand: the usual way to eat; a spoon is fine if you prefer.
Check the name: several restaurants use “Mylari”; the 1938 original is on Nazarbad Main Road.

The plate is empty, the coffee is cooling in its bowl, and the morning has barely started.

Plan your visit

Where to eat it	Tiffin rooms across old Mysuru, especially around Nazarbad and Sayyaji Rao Road. The Original Vinayaka Mylari, on Nazarbad Main Road, for the soft butter dosa.
Price guide	Modest. The Hindu listed Mylari’s dosas from ₹55 in 2024; hotel restaurants charge more. Check the board for current prices.
When it is served	Breakfast, from early morning; many restaurants serve it again in the evening. Small places may close when the batter runs out.
Try it with	Coconut chutney, sambar or sagu, a knob of butter, then filter coffee. Mysore pak to take away.
Dasara food fair	Aahara Mela, Maharaja’s College Ground, 11 to 25 October 2026, 11 am to 10 pm, free entry.

Open Nazarbad Main Road, Mysuru, Karnataka in Google Maps

Questions people ask

What makes a dosa a Mysore masala dosa?

A red chutney of dried chillies and garlic, spread on the inside of the dosa before the potato filling goes in. A plain masala dosa has the potato but not the chutney.

Is the Mylari dosa the same as a Mysore masala dosa?

No. The Mylari dosa is soft and spongy rather than crisp, topped with white butter and served with sagu, a vegetable curry, instead of the red-chutney lining.

Is a Mysore masala dosa vegetarian?

Yes. It is made from rice, lentils, potato and spices. The butter on top is dairy, so ask for it without if you eat no dairy.

Is it very spicy?

The red chutney is hot. If you prefer less heat, order a plain masala dosa and keep the coconut chutney close.

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Mysore Masala Dosa in Mysuru: What It Is and Where to Eat It