As part of the annual New York City Open House last year, we got a tour of the Hindu Temple Society of North America, which is a very impressive building and the oldest Hindu temple in the US. But perhaps the most exciting part of the building is the Temple Canteen, which serves excellent (and cheap) South Indian food.
We started out with some vadas, savory donuts made of black lentil flour. Always a great dish, especially served with coconut chutney and sambar, a spicy vegetable stew, for dipping.
Then we got an uttapam, a variety of savory pancake made of rice and black lentil flour. This version had tomatoes in it, which also got lovely and caramelized during cooking and kept the uttapam nice and moist.
And of course, the obligatory dosa, a kind of savory crepe made of lentil and rice flour and griddled until crispy. This was a paper dosa, wider than the tray, and served with potato masala as well as the same coconut chutney and sambar from before. Wonderful.
Temple Canteen
09 Holly Ave No 143
Queens, NY 11355
Temple Canteen sounds great! I didn’t know lentils came in black and were made into flour. I’ve only heard of green and red ones. Those flavors all sound very interesting and delicious! Nice pictures, too! I hope to visit Temple Canteen someday.
Sounds delicious.