Don't miss the exit for South India

The Masala Dosa at Dimple's Bombay Talk in the Iselin section of Edison.

The no-frills dining room and open kitchen.

For an instant immersion in Asian Indian food, culture and commerce, take Exit 131 on the Garden State Parkway and head for Oak Tree Road in the Iselin section of Edison.

Restaurants, jewelry and clothing stores, and grocers line the streets of the multi-block business district, with Indian music soundtracks playing in nearly all of them.

We stopped at Dimple's Bombay Talk at 1358 Oak Tree Road, a vegetarian, fast-food restaurant, for a filling, inexpensive meal.

The Samosa Chat.

Vegetarian Cutlets are bigger than falafel.

This is a no-frills experience -- bare tables, plastic foam plates and bowls, and plastic utensils. A large, plastic pitcher of water and plastic cups are on each table.

On Saturday, the place was packed, and we waited about 15 minutes for a table.

Bombay Talk specializes in South Indian, Indo Thai and Indo Chinese specialties. The most expensive item on the menu is $9.95.

Three of us had small soups ($3.75 to $3.95 each) -- Manchow, sweet corn and vegetable, and hot and sour -- then shared a Masala Dosa ($7.25), Samosa Chat ($6.25) and Cutlets ($6.25).

Everything is prepared with all those wonderful Indian spices.

The cook sprinkles butter on the grilled dosa, center.

The dosa is a savory pancake made from lentils and chickpeas that is about 15 inches across, and stuffed with mashed potatoes.

The dosa comes with spicy lentil soup and a coconut dipping sauce.

The Cutlets taste like Indian falafel, but they were served with a sauce of puréed parsley and hot pepper.

After we ate, we shopped for Indian spices at Patel Brothers, 1357 Oak Tree Road.

The interior of Patel Brothers on Oak Tree Road.

The one non-Indian restaurant I saw.

 Bombay Talk II.

The original Bombay Talk.

A glittering jewelry store.