Live Dosa - Authentic South Indian (Kerala) Restaurant

Dosa, Appam, Kappa Meenum are just some of the delicacies that you will find at Live Dosa and not at any other restaurant in Chelmsford, writes Fazila, who along with her husband Ajikumar are the proprietors of the authentic Live Dosa restaurant opposite Chelmsford Bus Station on Duke Street.

Live Dosa has been a revelation, bringing amazingly distinctive flavours to Chelmsford's ever growing - and some might even say over saturated - culinary scene. In such a short space of time, Live Dosa has reformed people's perception about traditional Indian food.

For years, Indian food has been totally one dimensional, serving the same menu in outlet after outlet, restaurant after restaurant, be it either from small take-away joints or expensive 'contemporary Indian cuisine' style restaurants, with curries both looking and tasting similar wherever you go. But Live Dosa offers a refreshingly different menu of traditional South Indian cuisine, with the main differences being that coconuts, rice and fish form a staple diet in Kerala, which is evident in the menu at the restaurant.

All of the food at Live Dosa is wonderfully flavoured with various spices including Cloves, Cardamom, Black pepper, Cinnamon, Star Anise, Cumin, Fenugreek, Fennel, Asafoetida plus many others which are abundantly grown in Kerala. The menu has a perfect balance of lip smackingly spiced food to that more delicately flavoured.

Live Dosa may not serve a vindaloo - which is grossly misrepresented by curry houses who simply add extra chillies to the dish, whereas in reality it is a pork curry with vinegar and ginger - but you will surely not be disappointed with its lamb curry as it is truly delicious and wonderfully spiced. And so are the Avoli and the Kerala Fish Curry, which are both a speciality of Kerala and are cooked in the traditional way at Live Dosa. These are perfectly balanced by a delicately flavoured Fish Molly, which is a preparation of fish with tomatoes and coconut milk.Coconut and coconut milk are widely used in Keralan cuisine.

Most Indian restaurants that you will have visited probably use cream to thicken their sauces, while at Live Dosa, keeping true to South Indian traditions, its chefs use coconut milk as a thickener instead. This not only gives the food a delightful flavour, but also means most curries are dairy free. Furthermore, the use of rice and rice flour means there is a huge selection of gluten free foods, with all the curries and almost all of the dosas being completely gluten free.

Live Dosa also offers a wide and varied selection of vegetarian options, which are far more authentic that the average saag or Bombay potatoes, such as Vendaka Theeyal (okra in roasted coconut sauce) which tastes absolutely amazing.

Nasranis, also known as St. Thomas Christians, are one of the oldest Christian communities and form a huge part of Keralan community. Their celebration brings together Indian tradition and Christian faith. As stated, we at Live Dosa may not serve a Vindaloo, Madras or a Jalfraize, but surely that is a good thing, yes? Because it is surely high time Chelmsford boasted a true Indian restaurant and Live Dosa is just that. It is a wonderful family run restaurant where you will always be welcomed with a familiar warmth and smile and served quality South Indian cuisine.