Random Ramblings of a Reluctant Blogger

I had just polished off my breakfast off hot soft idlis when a WhatsApp post by my friend revealed that today, March 30, was the World Idly Day. I usually do not subscribe to any of these international days as I feel they are more of a marketing gimmick, but if one food deserved it then it is the Idly _ The Diva of breakfasts. 

I consider Idly the most wholesome breakfast and like Life, the simplistic appearance of the round fluffy idlis hides behind it the whole complexity of its making. You need to get the ratio of the lentils and rice perfectly right. Soaked overnight it needs the right amount of grinding and then the time for it to ferment, so that the next morning breakfast table adorns itself with heavenly Idlis. 

I remember my mother using the stone grinder and watching the process itself enticing. I sat nearby and watched her deftly rotate the pestle with one hand and use the other to direct the ground paste back into the hollow of the grinder till she felt it is just right. It used to be a long-drawn hands-on process. Depending also on the amount of batter required. At times I would insist on helping her only to back out after a few rounds, the exercise proving too strenuous for my little hands. Talk about arms and biceps exercises.! 

With mixers and wet grinders replacing them these days things are much easy, though many will vouch for the grinder over the mixer. And talking about innovation one must doff the hat to one who thought of mixing the old stone grinder with the modern technology. 

Post the grinding, it is the fermentation process which makes for the perfect idly. And it is that which invariably gets me into trouble. After mixing (some insist on grinding the lentils and rice separately and mixing it later) up the batter and pouring it into a large container, my wife entrusts the task of watching the fermented batter to not spill out of the container, while she gets busy grinding out education of the little brats in school. I am to whisk it once it starts welling up. 

The batter, as if it has some issues with me, will always find the right time while I am not looking, to breach the edges and spill over. And most of the time I’m scrambling after it has spilled over to try and clean it and whisk it back to submission. The whisking too is a fair bit of exercise!  

Getting this complicated process right is the not-so-secret secret that puts the fluffy, soft idlis (which to my great surprise is called Khusboo idlis in some places) on to the breakfast table. 

I have at times gobbled up the hot idlis even without any accompaniments. Now, there are various accompaniments and ways of serving them too. Some serve various chutney and sambar separately and some insist on drawing the idlis in sambar. To each his own.  

And, as if irritated by the fact that the idlis are so wholesome, some cut it up and deep fry it before serving it! Any which way it always does warm the cockles of your heart. 

Yet, there are a few who do not take to idly. For them there is Life’s Plan B _ the Dosa. The fermented dough, which after a couple of days cannot promise the soft idlis, is used for the Dosa.  

And even as marketing agents would want you to get healthy eating various versions and fads of food, they just cannot beat the unostentatious idly. 

I did once encounter a lady who insisted that idlis contributed to her growing girth. It made me wonder how many idlis she had daily. 

Be that as it may, World Idly Day or not, as far as I am concerned idly is the Diva of the breakfast. Serve it on.