A travesty or brilliantly original? For a dosa lover, there’s nothing quite as satisfying as the delicious combination of a hot and crisp dosa straight off the griddle, enclosing a flavourful mound of aloo masala inside it.
Now, McDonald’s plans to recreate this classic Indian fast food in a new avatar — the masala dosa burger. The Masala Dosa Brioche will look like a burger, except for the potato patty inside, which is supposed to evoke the flavours of a dosa’s aloo masala. It will come in a brioche, a rich French bread, with the patty slathered with a molaga podi chutney mayo. If that sounds suspiciously similar to the chain’s other iconic staple, the McAloo Tikki burger, you will not entirely be off the mark. Launched two decades ago, the low-priced potato burger was inspired by India’s street food and remains a best-seller.
It remains to be seen whether this very novel Indo-American fusion can win over dosa purists. For instance, can a frozen, pre-cooked and processed patty ever match up to the delicate aromas of the fresh curry leaves, onion and mustard seeds that go into the real thing? Can its convenience trump the delight of watching these ingredients come together in the form of a piping hot dosa?
The Masala Dosa Brioche is part of the fast food giant’s forthcoming branded menu called McBreakfast, which includes Indian and western breakfast items such as scrambled eggs, waffles, and hash brown and spinach and corn brioches.
The Indian inspiration extends to the masala and plain scrambled eggs, the company’s take on anda bhurji, served with a bun. The new offerings are also aimed at being healthy, with all the items except for hash browns being grilled.
“We continue to look at inspiration from Indian cuisine and bring it as a McDonald’s format which will give you flavours from the west but the familiarity of Indian,” said Amit Jatia, vice-chairman of Westlife Development, which runs McDonald’s outlets in west and south India, told The Economic Times.
Starting 13 January, the McBreakfast menu is being launched in 44 restaurants in Mumbai in the first phase, with plans to introduce it across west and south India in the next few months. Priced between ?30 and ?135, it will be available from 7 to 11 am in the outlets, and for take way and delivery orders as well.
In addition, McDonald’s also plans to introduce an all-day breakfast menu in Mumbai, comprising Waffles and Egg McMuffins.
India is the first country where McDonald’s is launching the McBreakfast meals. The fast food giant had first launched breakfast options such as egg, cheese and sausage muffins in 2010, but this renewed focus is an attempt to target the untapped branded breakfast segment in the food market. According to global analytics company Crisil, this particular segment was estimated to be worth ?3,400 crore in 2015, with its value expected to double in the next three years. #KhabarLive
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