Dosa Rising
I am far from an expert masala dosa maker but can do a decent job. Even at that level, the production has never failed to impress the unitiated. It's great to see it making it up the pancake lederboard.
The best masala dosa of my youth was made by a street vendor who had perfected both taste and execution. It was crispy, fermented, filled with spiced potato, and now offically one of the greatest pancakes on earth. TasteAtlas has ranked masala dosa sixth on its May 2026 list of the top 100 pancakes worldwide, awarding the dish a 4.3-star rating. The travel and food guide, which bases its rankings on a blend of user ratings and expert reviews, has essentially confirmed what millions of South Indians have known for generations. Once a South Indian breakfast staple, the masala dosa is now rubbing shoulders with the world's finest. Though, it had made its way to the rest of India long before being ranked among the world's best pancakes. I've had very decent masala dosa in Kolkata which would have been unthinkable and impossible when I was growing up.
The humble foundation of dosa has spawned an entire family of variations. They range from Mysore masala dosa and rava dosa to paper dosa and even an avocado dosa for the Gen Z crowd. The last one I have some trouble accepting but then I am not the target. The dosa's crisp texture, tangy fermented flavor, and versatility have won fans well beyond India, and the TasteAtlas ranking makes that global reach official. Notably, the dosa family dominated the list: regular dosa came in at No. 15, while the ultra-thin paper dosa landed at No. 35. I've always liked the plain dosa better than all variants but most people in my family prefer the ultra-thin paper dosa.
Indian chefs are taking the recognition as a cultural milestone, not just a culinary one. Chef Hiten Puri described the ranking as a clear sign of the rise of India's soft power, where food becomes a cultural ambassador. Chef Chetna Chopra, who introduced avocado dosa to Delhi, went further, calling the dosa "the most intelligent pancake" and noting that it represents one of India's oldest expressions of fermentation, something that was part of everyday cooking long before it became a global wellness trend. For her, the irony is that the world is only now discovering something Indians have eaten their whole lives.
The ranking also arrives at a moment when dosa has been making headlines for less flattering reasons. A recent social media post went viral after author Ana Huang wrote about dosa in her book King of Gluttony with a character ordering it with eggs, strawberries, and cake, a somewhat bizarre combination that sparked widespread mockery online, with one commenter joking they'd never seen those words in a sentence together before. It's a funny reminder that as Indian food gains global prestige, it still has some explaining to do. On the global leaderboard, the masala dosa sits behind favorites like Latvia's kartupeļu pankūkas, China's jianbing, and France's crêpes, but given the trajectory, it may not stay at sixth for long.