Mahodadhi – La Affaire with "KUMBHAKARNA DOSA"

Set on the beach of Puri, Mahodadhi Palace is the perfect blend of British architecture and traditional construction methods. This palace has a beautiful, welcoming garden with wooden cabins on the sides to give the royal touch along with a touch of nature. I was head over heels when I found out that we were actually going to visit a palace for a review. When we arrived at Mahodadhi Palace, Puri, you could feel the warm, royal feels just by looking at the magnificent palace. Built in the 20th Century, Mahodadhi Palace is facing the vast Bay of Bengal waters. This palace used to be the summer palace of the King of Panchkot. The architecture of the palace is influenced by the British style. Kamat group has done a brilliant job in maintaining and restoring the feel of the palace. While interacting with Mr. Ashish Mishra, GM Mahodadhi Palace resort, and team we found a lot of interesting facts regarding this palace. Wooed by the palace, we heard our stomach rumbling for some delicious food. We went in for the dosa fest and there it was! An absolute beauty, we had the  KUMBHAKARNA DOSA. And dosa definitely did justice to the name. This dosa was about 3 or 3 and a half feet long. It came along with three varieties of chutney, 4 types of chutney and sambar! It takes a special talent to make a dosa this large! The batter of the dosa was fermented to the apt point which made the dosa a crispy affair! The stuffing of the dosa has the base of roughly mashed potato. The potatoes were tempered with onions, mustard seeds, and Indian spices. There were four different topping of shredded beetroot, sweet corn, cottage cheese, and carrots. I have a special liking for the mashed potato with lumps. This stuffing was made to perfection. The lumps in the mashed potato were tender and would mush on the touch of a spoon. No dosa is complete without chutneys and sambar. Kamat’s sambar holds a special regard. Their sambar has the perfect balance of palettes. With abundant of winter tomatoes and fried onions, the sambar made our dosa bites complete. Coming to the chutneys, they each served to a specific palette. The traditional coconut chutney which is one of my favourites. It had a nutty to neutral taste, it was tempered in Indian style and had bits of shredded coconut in it. To balance this nutty taste, there was mint chutney which had a fresh, sweet and sour taste. Mint chutney gave a refreshing taste to all the other filling tastes. A bit of freshness gives you the zeal to eat more! To satisfy the sweet palette, we were presented with a sweet tamarind chutney. The tang of tamarind was nicely subdued by the sweetness of jaggery. The combination was a well-thought and a balanced one. Eating this big a dosa definitely peaks previous royal visit! The hospitality of the Kamat group will make you stay for a little longer, always. Inputs by Apuba and photos by Tveshaj