THE IDLI MEDLEY
On World Idli Day, today, here’s seeing how the humble steamed dumpling (albeit shapely) of rice batter has conquered the world
Jyothi.Prabhakar@timesgroup.com 30.03.2018
As far as celebrating life goes, we do celebrate many ‘days’, from Valentine’s Day to World Toilet Day, but this particular one sure does leave a yummy taste behind. And before you shout marketing gimmick, let’s tell you, it’s World Idli Day, today! Yup, the humble idli is now going places — what with surveys adjudging it as the ‘healthiest breakfast’, and more and more varieties getting added to its ‘repertoire’ — a plate of idli, these days can be had all over the world, be it the US, the UK, or places in Europe like Germany and France. And though it still remains our fave breakfast, we sure have elevated the idli to a gourmet cuisine, what with the varieties available out there! Geeta Doctor, food critic, gives us another angle to the idli’s rising popularity: “Now it’s becoming sexier as well,” she laughs. “You can have square and triangle idlis, too, without actually changing its original quality. It can also be packaged very easily — and in many ways, the idli is the first Indian fast food out there. One can even travel with it, you see, as you can keep it for a couple of days and it won’t spoil. So, the idli is that round, multidimensional food that appeals to the Indian need for both, variety and individuality!”
“To begin with a plate of idli is actually a dieter’s delight,” says Ganapathy R, a collegian, who’s on a diet these days. “With the chutneys, which are also non-fattening and healthy, one can have all the tastes that a dieting tongue usually craves,” he adds. And for Malathy Ramani, a housewife, “The idli is the fastest possible breakfast when one is running helter-skelter in the morning. I pack it for both, my husband and me, and the kids have it before going to school. Usually, you will always find idli batter in the house,” she laughs.
A plate of idli is also seen as a no-nonsense snack by many rushing to work, which perhaps accounts for the fact that apart from proper eat-out places like the Murugan Idli, Saravana Bhavan and Adyar Ananda Bhavan (places known for their idli varieties), almost every street in the city is seeing a mushrooming of idli-kadais, sort of pop-up, makeshift thallu-vandis that sell idli only for a certain duration of time in the mornings. One such place is right outside Haddows Park, and L Raja, the guy who runs it, says, “Everyone from offices all around come here for tea and a bite in the mornings. I open at around 7am every day, and am sold out by 9.30am. I sell around 300 idlis daily.” Yet another place is Srinivasa mama’s kadai in one of the busiest by lanes of KK Nagar, and amidst a very demanding crowd, one of the guy busy packing idlis, shouts out, “Neenga 11am kku vaango. Right now, I cannot talk. Can you see the crowd?”
IDLI DOWN THE AGES
In 920 CE, Shivakotiacharya, the Kannada writer, in Vaddaradhane, has mentioned ‘iddalige’, prepared only from a black gram (urad dal) batter. Chavundaraya II, the author of the earliest available Kannada encyclopaedia, Lokopakara (1025 CE), also describes the preparation of idli
The Gujarati work Varanaka Samuchaya (1520 CE) mentions ‘idari’, and ‘idada’ (a non-fermented version of dhokla)
And the earliest Tamil work to mention idli, is Maccapuranam, dated to the 17th century
IDLI IS THE PERFECT FOOD IN TERMS OF NUTRITION
There is yet another reason why the idli remains an evergreen favourite. As Geeta puts it, “In terms of nutrition, it is the perfect food. A combination of rice and lentil; starch and protein. And it is also fermented, adding to its healthy food quotient. One can have it with potato, with chutney, with veg or non-veg side dishes. And I have had the idli in a five-star environment as well as the most saatvik, ashram-kind of space — I have had it, at Thiruvannamalai, famed for Ramana Maharshi. The ashram would serve tiny idlis, very frugally, with a smidgeon of podi, so that like the soul’s longing for light, you craved for more! So, the idli can be the most simple, and the most exotic dish at the same time.”
And, the idli is taking on exotic avatars as well. As Dr Wasim Mohideen, author of Chennai Foody, informs, “Recently, at the Times Food Awards, Chef Sandeep from Cafe Mercara displayed a fabulous version of the idli. Baked in a glass dish, with the batter sticking to the sides, he poured Mangalore fish curry on top.
Soaking up the gravy the idly transformed into a magical version of itself.” Maybe, seeing the demand for idli made a lot of business sense to those who’ve jumped into the food delivering wagon in the city, for, World Idli Day is being celebrated even by the likes of Uber Eats, Zomato and Swiggy. “Idli has been part of every Chennaiite’s staple diet, be it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. With restaurants adding their twist to this traditional south Indian delicacy, consumers now have several varieties of idlis to choose from the Uber Eats app today, including the famous Ceylon kothu idli from Vasantha Bhavan, the traditional 14 Idli from Saravana Bhavan and the healthy millet ghee mini idli from Millet Magic Meal. Our aim to is to help Chennaiites discover the best of food available in Chennai through the perfect pairing of restaurant partners, our technology and the Uber delivery network; and this World Idli Day, consumers can choose their favourite idlis that can be delivered to their doorstep via our app,” reveals an Uber Eats spokesperson. And as per a Swiggy delivery man, “Many people order idlis in the mornings and evenings.” Which only goes to show that in this world of health snacks and fast-eats, the idli is quietly building its reputation, and no matter which part of the country you are in today, fact is, you are never really far away from a place of idlisambar!
WHAT YOU CAN EAT TODAY, AND WHERE!
KANCHIPURAM IDLI (Sri Ganesh Bhavan)
RAAGI SEMIYA IDLI (Hotel Sri Mangalam Biga)
THATTU IDLI (Creams Grihhma Bhojanam)
COCKTAIL IDLI (Tawa 9)
GHEE KAIMA IDLI WITH RAITA (Sarvana Bhavan)
KADUBU IDLI AND CHETTINAD IDLI (Sangeetha)
CEYLON KOTHU IDLI AND PASU NEI MINI IDLI (Vasant Bhavan)
14 MINI IDLI (Sarvana Bhavan)
NATTU KOZHI IDLI (Sammy's Dosa Kall)
SZECHWAN IDLI (Sri Akshaya's)
MILLET GHEE MINI IDLI (Millet Magic)
FACT
South Indian food is the most preferred cuisine in Chennai Chennai enjoys their breakfast more than any other city with the most number of restaurants/eateries opening before 8am. And no prizes for guessing what they sell most!
IDLI IN INDIA
Though we have perfected the process of making fluffy melt-in-the-mouth idlis, the ‘idli’ goes by various names in our country. As already mentioned, it’s idada in Gujarat, and sannas in Goa; it’s veggie-infused, spiced version is known as the Kanchipuram idlis, and the khotigge and mudde idlis are it’s steamed-in-the leaves Mangalorean version. Then there’s enduri pitha of Odisha, and over the years, rava idlis (made of semolina) and millet idlis have also come about, thanks to the demand by fitness freaks.
THE FOREIGN HAND?
There are those who say that the idli was brought to south India by the early Arab settlers and vice versa (References available at the Al-Azhar University Library in Cairo suggest Arab traders in the southern belt brought the idli to their part of the world when they married and settled down in India), and many who aver that the round, white version of the modern-day idli might have come from Indonesia, which is known for consuming fermented food. KT Achaya, an eminent food historian, in one of his expositions, has revealed how, perhaps, cooks employed by the Hindu kings of the local Indonesian kingdoms may have invented the steamed idli there, and brought the recipe to India during the period 800-1200 CE. He also suggests that Indonesia's kedli, is very similar to the idli, and is a steamed cake of rice flour, as is the Indonesian bura, which is rice cake cooked in coconut milk, served with spicy coconut powder.
On World Idli Day, today, here’s seeing how the humble steamed dumpling (albeit shapely) of rice batter has conquered the world
Jyothi.Prabhakar@timesgroup.com 30.03.2018
As far as celebrating life goes, we do celebrate many ‘days’, from Valentine’s Day to World Toilet Day, but this particular one sure does leave a yummy taste behind. And before you shout marketing gimmick, let’s tell you, it’s World Idli Day, today! Yup, the humble idli is now going places — what with surveys adjudging it as the ‘healthiest breakfast’, and more and more varieties getting added to its ‘repertoire’ — a plate of idli, these days can be had all over the world, be it the US, the UK, or places in Europe like Germany and France. And though it still remains our fave breakfast, we sure have elevated the idli to a gourmet cuisine, what with the varieties available out there! Geeta Doctor, food critic, gives us another angle to the idli’s rising popularity: “Now it’s becoming sexier as well,” she laughs. “You can have square and triangle idlis, too, without actually changing its original quality. It can also be packaged very easily — and in many ways, the idli is the first Indian fast food out there. One can even travel with it, you see, as you can keep it for a couple of days and it won’t spoil. So, the idli is that round, multidimensional food that appeals to the Indian need for both, variety and individuality!”
“To begin with a plate of idli is actually a dieter’s delight,” says Ganapathy R, a collegian, who’s on a diet these days. “With the chutneys, which are also non-fattening and healthy, one can have all the tastes that a dieting tongue usually craves,” he adds. And for Malathy Ramani, a housewife, “The idli is the fastest possible breakfast when one is running helter-skelter in the morning. I pack it for both, my husband and me, and the kids have it before going to school. Usually, you will always find idli batter in the house,” she laughs.
A plate of idli is also seen as a no-nonsense snack by many rushing to work, which perhaps accounts for the fact that apart from proper eat-out places like the Murugan Idli, Saravana Bhavan and Adyar Ananda Bhavan (places known for their idli varieties), almost every street in the city is seeing a mushrooming of idli-kadais, sort of pop-up, makeshift thallu-vandis that sell idli only for a certain duration of time in the mornings. One such place is right outside Haddows Park, and L Raja, the guy who runs it, says, “Everyone from offices all around come here for tea and a bite in the mornings. I open at around 7am every day, and am sold out by 9.30am. I sell around 300 idlis daily.” Yet another place is Srinivasa mama’s kadai in one of the busiest by lanes of KK Nagar, and amidst a very demanding crowd, one of the guy busy packing idlis, shouts out, “Neenga 11am kku vaango. Right now, I cannot talk. Can you see the crowd?”
IDLI DOWN THE AGES
In 920 CE, Shivakotiacharya, the Kannada writer, in Vaddaradhane, has mentioned ‘iddalige’, prepared only from a black gram (urad dal) batter. Chavundaraya II, the author of the earliest available Kannada encyclopaedia, Lokopakara (1025 CE), also describes the preparation of idli
The Gujarati work Varanaka Samuchaya (1520 CE) mentions ‘idari’, and ‘idada’ (a non-fermented version of dhokla)
And the earliest Tamil work to mention idli, is Maccapuranam, dated to the 17th century
IDLI IS THE PERFECT FOOD IN TERMS OF NUTRITION
There is yet another reason why the idli remains an evergreen favourite. As Geeta puts it, “In terms of nutrition, it is the perfect food. A combination of rice and lentil; starch and protein. And it is also fermented, adding to its healthy food quotient. One can have it with potato, with chutney, with veg or non-veg side dishes. And I have had the idli in a five-star environment as well as the most saatvik, ashram-kind of space — I have had it, at Thiruvannamalai, famed for Ramana Maharshi. The ashram would serve tiny idlis, very frugally, with a smidgeon of podi, so that like the soul’s longing for light, you craved for more! So, the idli can be the most simple, and the most exotic dish at the same time.”
And, the idli is taking on exotic avatars as well. As Dr Wasim Mohideen, author of Chennai Foody, informs, “Recently, at the Times Food Awards, Chef Sandeep from Cafe Mercara displayed a fabulous version of the idli. Baked in a glass dish, with the batter sticking to the sides, he poured Mangalore fish curry on top.
Soaking up the gravy the idly transformed into a magical version of itself.” Maybe, seeing the demand for idli made a lot of business sense to those who’ve jumped into the food delivering wagon in the city, for, World Idli Day is being celebrated even by the likes of Uber Eats, Zomato and Swiggy. “Idli has been part of every Chennaiite’s staple diet, be it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. With restaurants adding their twist to this traditional south Indian delicacy, consumers now have several varieties of idlis to choose from the Uber Eats app today, including the famous Ceylon kothu idli from Vasantha Bhavan, the traditional 14 Idli from Saravana Bhavan and the healthy millet ghee mini idli from Millet Magic Meal. Our aim to is to help Chennaiites discover the best of food available in Chennai through the perfect pairing of restaurant partners, our technology and the Uber delivery network; and this World Idli Day, consumers can choose their favourite idlis that can be delivered to their doorstep via our app,” reveals an Uber Eats spokesperson. And as per a Swiggy delivery man, “Many people order idlis in the mornings and evenings.” Which only goes to show that in this world of health snacks and fast-eats, the idli is quietly building its reputation, and no matter which part of the country you are in today, fact is, you are never really far away from a place of idlisambar!
WHAT YOU CAN EAT TODAY, AND WHERE!
KANCHIPURAM IDLI (Sri Ganesh Bhavan)
RAAGI SEMIYA IDLI (Hotel Sri Mangalam Biga)
THATTU IDLI (Creams Grihhma Bhojanam)
COCKTAIL IDLI (Tawa 9)
GHEE KAIMA IDLI WITH RAITA (Sarvana Bhavan)
KADUBU IDLI AND CHETTINAD IDLI (Sangeetha)
CEYLON KOTHU IDLI AND PASU NEI MINI IDLI (Vasant Bhavan)
14 MINI IDLI (Sarvana Bhavan)
NATTU KOZHI IDLI (Sammy's Dosa Kall)
SZECHWAN IDLI (Sri Akshaya's)
MILLET GHEE MINI IDLI (Millet Magic)
FACT
South Indian food is the most preferred cuisine in Chennai Chennai enjoys their breakfast more than any other city with the most number of restaurants/eateries opening before 8am. And no prizes for guessing what they sell most!
IDLI IN INDIA
Though we have perfected the process of making fluffy melt-in-the-mouth idlis, the ‘idli’ goes by various names in our country. As already mentioned, it’s idada in Gujarat, and sannas in Goa; it’s veggie-infused, spiced version is known as the Kanchipuram idlis, and the khotigge and mudde idlis are it’s steamed-in-the leaves Mangalorean version. Then there’s enduri pitha of Odisha, and over the years, rava idlis (made of semolina) and millet idlis have also come about, thanks to the demand by fitness freaks.
THE FOREIGN HAND?
There are those who say that the idli was brought to south India by the early Arab settlers and vice versa (References available at the Al-Azhar University Library in Cairo suggest Arab traders in the southern belt brought the idli to their part of the world when they married and settled down in India), and many who aver that the round, white version of the modern-day idli might have come from Indonesia, which is known for consuming fermented food. KT Achaya, an eminent food historian, in one of his expositions, has revealed how, perhaps, cooks employed by the Hindu kings of the local Indonesian kingdoms may have invented the steamed idli there, and brought the recipe to India during the period 800-1200 CE. He also suggests that Indonesia's kedli, is very similar to the idli, and is a steamed cake of rice flour, as is the Indonesian bura, which is rice cake cooked in coconut milk, served with spicy coconut powder.
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