Before you order
Know Your Dish
What each dish is, how it is meant to taste, how hot it is, and what comes with it
Every dish we cook, what it tastes like, how hot it is, and what comes with it. Read it here, or just ask us at the counter.
Over 100 Dishes100% VegetarianThree Chutneys & Sambar98% of Menu Under $15
| Dish | Heat | Tastes like |
|---|---|---|
| Dosai | Mild | Crisp, lacy, gently sour crepe |
| Podi & regionals | Mild to very hot | Toasty spice blends, one per region |
| Uthappam | Mild | Thick, soft, toppings pressed in |
| Rava Dosai | Mild | Crackling and brittle, 15 to 20 min |
| Pesarattu | Mild | Green gram, earthy, high protein |
| Schezwan Dosai | Hot | Indo-Chinese heat in the batter |
| Idly | Not spicy | Steamed, soft, the gentlest plate |
| Vada | Mild | Crisp lentil doughnut, peppery |
| Pongal & Upma | Peppery | Warm, soft, buttery comfort bowls |
| Thali | Mixed | 13 dishes, all six tastes, refilled |
| Singapore hawker | Varies | Roti canai, wok dishes, coolers |
| Kopitiam | n/a | Filter coffee, teh, Milo, sweets |
Tap any dish below for the full detail.
Dosai · Podi Dosai and the regionals · Uthappam · Rava Dosai · Pesarattu · Schezwan Dosai · Idly · Vada · Pongal, Upma and warm bowls · The Full South Indian Thali · The Singapore hawker table · The Kopitiam: coffee, tea and sweets
One thing to know first
We cook to fixed traditional recipes, so we do not modify or substitute. With over one hundred dishes there is nearly always one that suits you as written, and our job is to help you find it. Full policy in our kitchen standard.
DosaiThe signature. Rice and lentils, stone ground and fermented overnight.Mild unless you choose otherwise
What it is. A large, thin crepe of stone ground rice and lentil batter, fermented overnight and spread across a screaming iron griddle until the edges turn lacy and crisp. Ours comes plain, or folded around masala, our spiced potato filling.
How it tastes. Gently sour from the natural ferment, savoury, nutty at the edges. The crisp parts snap, the centre stays soft. The dosai itself is not spicy. Heat, when you want it, comes from what goes with it.
What comes with it. Sambar and three fresh chutneys as standard: coconut, coriander and tomato.
Who it suits. Anyone. It is the best first dish on the menu if you have never eaten with us.
Worth knowing before you order. The faint sourness is the ferment doing its work, the same way sourdough tastes of its starter. It is not spoiled batter, and a dosai without it would not be a dosai.
Podi Dosai and the regionalsOne batter, many spice blends, each from a different town.Mild to very hot, varies by podi
What it is. A dosai finished with podi, a dry roasted spice and lentil powder, or with a regional paste. Mylapore Melaga, Iyengar Vettu, Madurai Mami Vettu, Andhra Kara, Kollu, Gongura and our Mysore each come from a different tradition and taste noticeably different from one another.
How it tastes. Toasty, earthy and aromatic, with heat that ranges from gentle to serious. Andhra Kara and Garlic are our fieriest. Gongura brings a distinct sour tang from the sorrel leaf. Mysore is a yellow chilli paste, not a red podi.
What comes with it. Sambar and three chutneys.
Who it suits. Anyone who wants more than plain, and anyone curious about how much a single batter can change.
Worth knowing before you order. These are not versions of one spicy sauce. Each podi is its own regional recipe, and the differences between them are the entire point. Ask us which one suits your heat level and we will steer you well.
UthappamSame iron, thicker pour, toppings pressed in.Mild, unless you pick a chilli one
What it is. Where the dosai runs thin and lacy, the uthappam is poured thick and soft, closer to a savoury pancake, with onion, tomato, chilli, vegetables or cheese pressed into the surface as it cooks.
How it tastes. Soft and pillowy rather than crisp, with a fuller, breadier body and the same gentle ferment note underneath. Toppings caramelise slightly against the griddle.
What comes with it. Sambar and three chutneys.
Who it suits. Anyone who prefers soft to crisp, and anyone who found a dosai too light to fill them.
Worth knowing before you order. It is not an undercooked or thick dosai. It is a different dish with a different pour, and it is meant to be soft all the way through.
Rava DosaiThe one that breaks every rule, and takes 15 to 20 minutes.Mild, or chilli if you choose
What it is. Made from semolina and rice flour mixed fresh, with no overnight ferment at all, then ladled onto the iron in lacy rings. It is always cooked to order.
How it tastes. Crackling, brittle and open textured, more shatter than chew, with a clean roasted flavour rather than a sour one. It is the crispest thing we make.
What comes with it. Sambar and three chutneys.
Who it suits. Anyone who loves texture. Best when you are not in a hurry.
Worth knowing before you order. The 15 to 20 minute wait is not a delay, it is the dish. Rava dosai cannot be made ahead, and it will not taste of ferment because it never ferments.
PesarattuGround from whole green gram, not fermented rice.Mild
What it is. An Andhra griddle cake made from whole green gram, ground fresh. High in protein, low glycemic, and not a rice batter at all. Available plain, with onion, with upma, or as a vegetable uthappam.
How it tastes. Greener, earthier and more savoury than a dosai, with a firmer bite and no sour ferment note.
What comes with it. Sambar and three chutneys.
Who it suits. Anyone watching carbohydrates, anyone who wants protein, and anyone who wants something genuinely different from the rest of the board.
Worth knowing before you order. It is meant to taste green and beany. That is the lentil, not an off flavour.
Schezwan DosaiOur fusion of two street kitchens.Hot
What it is. Schezwan sauce folded directly into the batter rather than spread on afterwards, an Indo-Chinese idea that grew out of the same hawker streets our food comes from.
How it tastes. Properly spicy, garlicky and tangy all the way through, since the heat is in the batter itself.
What comes with it. Sambar and three chutneys.
Who it suits. Anyone who likes real heat and Indo-Chinese flavours.
Worth knowing before you order. This one is genuinely hot by design and cannot be made mild, because the sauce is mixed into the batter before it hits the griddle. If heat is not for you, please choose another dosai.
IdlySteamed, soft, and over a thousand years old.Not spicy at all
What it is. Steamed cakes of the same fermented rice and lentil batter. We serve them thatte (broad and flat), regular, mini, podi dusted, or soaked in sambar or rasam.
How it tastes. Very mild, faintly sour, soft and springy. Soaked versions carry the flavour of whatever they sit in.
What comes with it. Coconut chutney and sambar with every plate.
Who it suits. Children, anyone unwell, anyone wanting a gentle start, and anyone eating early.
Worth knowing before you order. Idly is supposed to be plain. Its mildness is the reason it exists, and the chutneys and sambar are where the flavour is meant to come from.
VadaCrisp outside, soft inside, the classic partner to idly.Mild
What it is. A savoury lentil doughnut, crisp at the edge and tender in the middle. Medu vada is the classic, and we also serve it soaked in sambar, rasam or yoghurt.
How it tastes. Savoury, peppery, mildly spiced, with a crackling crust. The soaked versions go deliberately soft.
What comes with it. Coconut chutney and sambar.
Who it suits. Anyone. It is the natural pairing with idly and filter coffee.
Worth knowing before you order. A soaked vada is meant to be soft, not crisp. If you want the crunch, order medu vada and eat it promptly.
Pongal, Upma and warm bowlsComfort food, the way South India makes it.Peppery, not chilli hot
What it is. Ven pongal is rice and moong dal cooked soft with black pepper, cumin, ginger, cashew and ghee. Kara bath, khichdi and rava bath are semolina based savoury bowls.
How it tastes. Warm, soft, buttery and peppery. Heat comes from black pepper, which is a different sensation from chilli.
What comes with it. Sambar and chutney.
Who it suits. Cold mornings, gentle appetites, anyone who wants something soothing.
Worth knowing before you order. These bowls are dense and soft by design. They are not meant to be light or crisp, and the pepper warmth is the seasoning, not an error.
The Full South Indian ThaliThirteen small dishes, built on balance.Mixed, by design
What it is. A complete hand served platter, refilled at the table. Special rice, steamed rice, sambar, rasam, poriyal, kootu curry, korma, house curry, papad, pickle, raitha, poori and the sweet of the day.
How it tastes. All six tastes at once: sweet, salt, sour, bitter, pungent and astringent. Some elements are meant to be sharp, some sour, some bitter. Eaten together they balance.
What comes with it. Everything listed above, on one plate, hand served.
Who it suits. Anyone hungry, and anyone who wants to understand how a South Indian meal is actually structured.
Worth knowing before you order. The bitter and sour elements are deliberate and structural. A thali where everything tasted pleasant on its own would not be a thali. The rotating items change daily, so no two are identical.
The Singapore hawker tableRoti canai, the wok, and the kopitiam coolers.Varies
What it is. The Singaporean side of our menu. Roti canai and mamak chapati from the flat top, putu mayam string hoppers, gobi manchurian and samosa chaat from the wok, and rose and mango coconut coolers.
How it tastes. Roti canai is flaky and rich, served with channa masala. Gobi manchurian is smoky, sweet, sour and hot from a very high flame. Sirap bandung is sweet, floral and pink.
What comes with it. As listed on the menu, each with its own accompaniment.
Who it suits. Anyone who wants to taste why we call ourselves a Singapore Tamil kitchen.
Worth knowing before you order. These are Singaporean hawker dishes, not South Indian ones. They are on the menu because Tamil, Malay and Chinese stalls shared one roof in Singapore, and that is the table we brought here.
The Kopitiam: coffee, tea and sweetsEvery meal ends the Singapore way.Not applicable
What it is. Filter coffee in the Kumbakonam degree style, Araku Valley coffee, masala tea, mango lassi, rose milk, badam mast milk, Milo Dinosaur, and sweets including rava kesari, gulab jamun and rasmalai.
How it tastes. Filter coffee is strong, dark and served with milk and sugar already in it. Masala tea is spiced and sweet. Milo Dinosaur is a cold chocolate malt drink with malt powder heaped on top, a Singapore classic.
What comes with it. Drinks are made fresh to order and served without ice.
Who it suits. Everyone, at the end of the meal, and there is no rushing it.
Worth knowing before you order. Filter coffee is not an americano and is not served black. It is brewed with milk and sugar as one drink, which is how it is made at home.
Still not sure? Ask us
Tell us what you enjoy, how much heat you like, and whether you want crisp, soft, light or filling. We will point you to the right plate. Two minutes at the counter beats a meal that was never going to suit you.
If you have a food allergy or a dietary need, tell us before you order. We will be honest about what is in a dish and what it is cooked alongside. Jain sambar is available on request as a standing option, and for a Jain meal we suggest avoiding masala filled dosai and asking for coconut chutney only, since our coriander and tomato chutneys contain garlic.
Download our one page kitchen standard (PDF, US Letter), the same card we keep at the counter.
Tell us what to cook next, and what to play
Got a dish from your tradition that belongs on our menu? A song from your culture for the house playlist? Tell us. A hawker centre was never one kitchen talking at people, it was many cultures at one long table.
Speak to anyone at the counter, or write to us at sriannapoorna.us@gmail.com.
Bring Dosa Express to your area
Want a Dosa Express in your city? We welcome franchise and partnership enquiries and we will guide you through it. Tell us where you are: sriannapoorna.us@gmail.com.
Ask first, eat well.
Majulah Singapura · Count on us, Singapore