Reghu Raj & Nida Hasan, New Delhi: If the sound gets you pining, and the sight gets you drooling, then it might not be a bad idea to check this out — the mother of all dosa festivals.

Straight from the dosa's own country, this celebration of one of South India's favourite dishes promises not one, not ten, but a jaw-dropping 624 varieties of dosas!

Organisers say they're trying to take on western fast foods. Says Principal Christ Catering College, Shaji Joseph, "We have been conducting a research programme for the last two years regarding the dosa. We wanted to compete with the pizzas and burgers, the international foods coming to India. We got the idea of rice-based dosas filled with different types of masalas — same as what pizza-makers are doing."

From the everyday to the exotic, they were all there, priced at anything from Rs 6 for a plain dosa to Rs 275 a 70 mm chicken masala dosa. Even a "no-tasting" caveat couldn't keep the crowds away.

Says a visitor at the festival, Susan, "We have only seen four or five types of dosas before. It is for the first time that I have seen 624 varieties. It is fantastic."

And the filling on the dosa, organisers say, is from their new catering research institute, that will come up with over 1 lakh new recipes every year.