Double Dasaprakash

Sometimes I get so hungry for south Indian vegetarian food I want to hop on a plane for Madras--or at least drive down to Madhu’s Dasaprakash in Cerritos. But now I don’t have to do either. Dasaprakash has opened a branch on the Westside.

It’s a shiny, white, glass-lined place on the second floor of a corner mall on Santa Monica Boulevard a block west of Bundy. Huge paintings of elephants garbed for a festival and a Tanjore temple let you know you haven’t stumbled into another Italian bistro.

The food has less variety than you’d find at one of the Dasaprakash vegetarian hotels in south India, and the flavors aren’t necessarily the same. Owner Madhu Das laments that American-grown tomatoes and onions lack flavor, and black pepper doesn’t pack the same punch as in India. But he takes pains to get the most authentic ingredients possible, including fresh coconuts, parboiled rice milled in south India and the best grade of toor dal (a yellow, lentil-like legume), which comes from Kenya and New Zealand, not India.

Toor dal goes into sambhar, the thin sauce that accompanies the big, crisp rice crepe called dosai. Outside south India, it’s hard to find sambhar that tastes right--even the best dosai place in Calcutta can’t duplicate the flavor. The sambhars I’ve tried in Los Angeles have been terrible, but Dasaprakash gets the seasoning as right as may be possible here.

Coconut chutney, a standard dosai accompaniment, is more of a problem. Dasaprakash produces a fluid version using fresh coconut milk thinned with pureed roasted chana dal, a small garbanzo bean. This does not have the marvelous, mellow, nutty fresh taste that makes me ask for seconds in India.

In fairness, Dasaprakash moved into its new site hastily, and the kitchen is testing dishes. One day’s experiment was kesari bhath, a luscious farina dessert rich with oil, saffron, raisins and cashews. Badam halwa, a paste of ground almonds, clarified butter, sugar, saffron and cardamom, is even richer. The tiny spoonful you get is enough for several people to taste.

Instead of focusing on the region’s vegetable dishes, Dasaprakash concentrates on the starchy snacks that have made south Indian food popular throughout India. Don’t miss the cashew pakodas, crisp fritters of nuts encased in a garbanzo flour batter. The onion rava dosai is a wonderful lacy rice and farina crepe so large it has to be folded to fit on the plate. Hints of cumin, cilantro and ginger tantalize in each crunchy bite.

The language of the menu at Dasaprakash is Tamil, not the Hindi of North Indian restaurants. Oothappam is a cheeseless Tamil pizza with the vegetables inside a soft “crust” made of farina, rice flour and the small black-skinned legume called urad dal. Uppuma is like Cream of Wheat flavored with spices and vegetables instead of sugar and cream. Idlis are steamed discs made of rice flour and ground legumes. They’re healthful comfort food when you’re not up to anything complex. Try the Conjeevaram idli, a variation named for a temple town near Madras. It’s lightly spiced with ginger, serrano chiles and mustard seeds.

The coolest, creamiest dish on the menu is bakala bhath: rice mixed with yogurt and paired with a bowl of mango pickle. South Indian cooking can be intensely spicy. Here most dishes, like the mango pickle, are gentler. If you want something spicy, order puliyodarai, rice with tamarind, peanuts and red pepper. This is food for the gods. It’s presented as an offering in south Indian temples.

Dasaprakash can even provide gunpowder--molga pudi. Don’t worry, this gunpowder is an edible blend of red chile, sesame seeds and garbanzos. In India, it can be lethally hot; here, less so. You stir in a spoonful of clarified butter, then spike your food with as much “gunpowder” as you dare.

Tea is the quintessential Indian beverage--except in the south; there, coffee reigns. Dasaprakash attempts to capture the strong, mellow flavor of south Indian coffee by mixing French, Mexican and Colombian coffees with a dash of American instant. It’s a great brew. The restaurant does offer tea too, as well as a small list of wines and Indian beers, which are just right with crisp batter-coated tidbits such as pakodas.

If you’re at a loss about ordering, turn to the combination plates. There’s one to represent each of the south Indian states: Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

BE THERE

Madhu’s Dasaprakash, 12217 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles. (310) 820-9477. Hours: Lunch Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; dinner 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. through Thursday, to 10:30 p.m., Friday. Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., Sunday to 9:30 p.m. Reservations recommended on weekends. Beer and wine only. Mall and street parking. MasterCard and Visa. Takeout. Lunch or dinner for two, $15-$30.