dasaprakash
Inspired by an Oliver's Twist episode about curry, we wanted curry but we wanted something other than our usual Pasand bowls of curry, naan, pappad and masala dosa. And we didn't want to have to drive very far either...so, Chowhounds to the rescue.
Lots of people recommended The Udupi Palace but several were raving about Dasaprakash in Santa Clara. So, after reading about what we might expect, we pulled the trigger and decided on Dasaprakash.
The restaurant is in an ages-old strip mall in Santa Clara across from where the Santa Clara Main library used to be. In fact, it's right next door to Stan's Donuts which I'm sure I'll be writing about some day.
Dasaprakash has South Indian cuisine which means very few bowls of curry (bonus for our quest) and lots of dosai (crepes filled with vegetable curry), vedus and, my favorite, bajhis.
From the time we sat down, the seemed to be very concerned about whether or not we liked spices. We told them "yes" and that we loved spicy food. They also steered us toward the Thali dinners and combinations but since we both eat moderate amounts of food, we didn't want to be saddled with full dinners. We basically wanted to graze with a dish from here and there.
It actually got kind of annoying until we said we wanted to order from different sections of the menu and that the best thing the waiter could do was to tell us what was missing from the selection of dishes we chose. They still seemed reluctant to do that but, in the end, agreed.
We ordered:
a bowl of rassam
an order of onion bajhis
a mixed lentil (masala) vedu
a masala dosai
a bowl of bisebelebath lentils and rice
The rice was their suggestion...
Everything we ordered was dead-on excellent with spices in complex combinations that it would make your head spin. This is no ordinary Indian food. Well, "ordinary" as far as what we're used to.
The rassam was thin but had substance and not just throat-scorching heat. The bajhis were delicious little disks of onion and lentil batter that went well with all three sauces (tamarind, cilantro, coconut). The mixed vedu were a variety of lentils packed together in small, falafel-like disks which were a bit too crunchy which detracted from their flavor. They were good but not great. The masala doasi was one of the best I have ever tasted. The filling of onion, spice and potato was complex and flavorful and not at all like other renditions which employ frozen (!) vegetables and bland spicing. The bisebele rice was a pleasant surprise as it was a rice/lentil mixture with a very rich and complex set of spices running a thread through every mouthful. It was hot (spicy) at times and fragrant at others. I would order this again.
After our meal, we talked with the owner of this branch of the small chain and he told us that they were very cautious in making sure that people who had never been to the restaurant or that were unfamiliar with the style of food were prepared for the spice level. That's why we were asked so many times before the meal if we were "ok" with spices. They had apparently lost customers who expectations were firmly in the northern Indian food camp with pungent curries and good but not adventurous spices.