Benet in Mumbai serves exceptional dosa made with a specific technique involving ultra-thin batter spreading, layered butter and ghee, and heavy red garlic masala seasoning.
Benne is a Davangere-style benne dosa café founded by Akhil Iyer (actor-producer) and Shriya Narayan (psychologist), a husband-wife duo from Bengaluru with no prior hospitality experience. The café launched in May 2024 in Bandra, Mumbai, and has since expanded to Juhu (Mumbai) and GK2 (Delhi). The name 'Benne' means butter in Kannada.
Akhil trained under a seasoned dosa master on Bengaluru's Avenue Road to learn the authentic technique, then spent months replicating the taste in their Mumbai kitchen. The result is a dosa true to its origin: golden, thick, soft at the center, crispy at the edges, and always served with a single, flavorful chutney. The Davangere benne dosa differs fundamentally from Mumbai's typical Tamil-style dosas: authentic Bengaluru-style dosa is crisp on the outside and thicker and softer on the inside, while Tamil-style dosas are crisp and thin. The batter is unique, prepared with rice, urad dal, and puffed rice (roughly 3:2:1 ratio) for extra softness.
The 275-square-foot café mirrors the simplicity of a Bengaluru darshini with no seating, just standing tables and self-service kiosks. Customers receive quirky nicknames inspired by Bengaluru neighborhoods like "Sultanpalya Shakir" or "Koramangala Karthik" instead of token numbers. The menu is deliberately simple: a few versions of benne dosa, ghee podi idli, and filter coffee, served on banana leaves with eco-friendly plates. Pricing is budget-friendly, with the most expensive dish being the Benne Podi Masala Dosa at Rs 200 (approximately $2.40 USD). They don't serve sambar because traditional Bengaluru darshinis serve dosas with chutney only.
The 'red garlic masala' mentioned in the transcript is actually podi (a spiced powder). Mysore masala dosa uses red garlic chutney spread on the dosa, which is different from regular masala dosa. The red chutney typically contains roasted gram dal, garlic (3-4 lobes), onion, red chilies (Kashmiri or Byadagi for color), tamarind, oil, and salt. However, Benne's podi dosa uses Iyer's mother's recipe, now adapted by Narayan. Podi is a dry spice powder, not a wet chutney.
A Bengaluru couple with no hospitality background launched Benne in May 2024, mastering authentic Davangere-style benne dosa through rigorous training and now expanding across Mumbai and Delhi.