Saravanaas Indian Vegetarian Restaurant

Thank God! After several cold months without Indian food, I made it uptown to Saravanaas. Thank God! It is part of a restaurant chain spanning the globe - a literal map of South Indian diaspora. Edison, New Jersey, Sunnyvale, California, Vancouver, Qatar. And New York City. I ate there first at their original location, in Chennai.

I brought my mother to show her how South Indians do it. We both love a curry but I was eager to introduce her to the Southerly treats: we started with idlis.

Even though a lassi is a North Indian treat, we ordered them to soothe our burning tongues! In celebration of her visit to New York City, we blended cultures. (Get it? Cultures? Yogurt?)

The food was great. Was it different than in India? Yes. The sambar was less spicy with less flavor of curry leaf - it tasted more like an Indian twist on lentil soup. Since I love lentil soup I enjoyed it but it was not QUITE RIGHT. Like eating pizza in Istanbul, covered in ground beef and goat cheese. Like eating Chinese in Dublin, curry over chips. (True.)

When you need a dose of dosa... head to Lexington Avenue & 26th Street. Prepare to wait in line with a lot of hungry Indians.

Warning: any food too large to fit in my camera screen should not be eaten in one sitting. Prepare to waddle home, clutching your belly like a woman about to give birth.