– Aristocrat of the Breakfast Table –
Vengrai Parthasarathy
The Egmore Friends met again, as they usually do on Sunday mornings, at Udupi Pankaja. They had their cosy corner where they expatiated on their pet themes and peeves. This time the subject was: idli or dosa?
Thimmappa, a dosa aficionado, spoke first. What he said in praise of dosa was a prosaic list of the dosa’s merits, as if by rote. The challenge came from Seeni. He bristled. His hackles were up. His passions were aroused. Thimmappa had spoken not only in praise of the dosa but he had also made snide remarks roundly condemning the round idli, as tasteless, anaemic ‘stuff’. Seeni began his speech while his friends sat in awed silence.
“Somebody has to take up cudgels and spoons and forks in defence of the ‘white, round wonder’ which has been defamed by my friend. I shall state the case of Idli, the ‘Aristocrat of the Breakfast Table’ and leave it to you to decide which is at the top. I shall do so without denigrating the flat, dark, light, reddish brown greasy preparation which is variously known as dosa, dosha and dosai. I have heard people say that the dosa was an accident of culinary history. An angry housewife had sloshed a little dough (aimed at her husband and missed) straight into the tava. After a while she saw the batter transformed into an oval-shaped crepe. She tasted it, liked it and propagated it as a new dish and named it dosa. Thus was an illegitimate dish born. Another theory is that it is a desi variety of the sweet dosa-like pancake, popular in the USA.
“It is claimed that dosa can be made in dozens of ways. No, it is the same vamp with all sorts of fillings and vegetables, and even butter. On the other hand, idli stands by itself, in solitary splendour. The greasy, calorific dosa will jack up the cholesterol level way above the double century mark. It is fattening. And, you need an iron-clad stomach to stomach it. No doubt about that.
“On the other hand, idli which is made with fermented rice and black gram is a good source of carbohydrate and protein. It is no surprise that hospitals in Chennai, the birth place of the idli, prescribe the nutritious idli even for patients under intensive care. The doctors’ verdict? Idli is steam-cooked, easily digestible and healthy. Cheers!
“The idli is a bit of a flirt. Some like it bathed in onion sambar (Take a scoop of the idli with a spoon, dip it in sambar and enjoy). There are others who like it smeared with coconut chutney and the orthodox few prefer it with chilli powder and oil. Idli, surely, needs accompaniments like the vidwans and ustads who need violin or mridangam or tabla. Conjeevaram idli and rava idli are but colourful imitations of the supreme lord of the breakfast domain.
“Left-over idlis? Ammu Patti, the old lioness of the old-world kitchen says, ‘Break up a few idlis into bite-size chunks, add some chilli powder and the usual ‘thaalip,’ roast it in medium heat. There you have usli, another incarnation of idli. Some plunge idli pieces in bhajji batter and fry it, calling it Idji or Badli.’
“Let me add that the sad-looking dosa has some uses. Once in a long while, as an evening snack, it may pass muster. But breakfast? No, sirree. It is out and out idli territory,” Seeni sat down.
A quick poll resulted in a tie.
Everyone waited with bated breath for Venkatachalam, the eldest in the group, to cast his vote. “If you ask me…”, he paused and let the suspense build up and then with a wink he said: “I will opt for Uppuma 10 out of 10 times.”
Idli Jai Ho!