IDLYISM - a growing cult!

Idly- This round, white, fluffy and chubby rice cake has long been a staple diet of most south Indians over centuries and has won the hearts of millions of food lovers across the world. There are people (like madhu, my friend at college) who call themselves “idly fanatics” and are ready to have it “three times a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year.” They also go around preaching the goodness of idlis and try to catch hold of innocent people, brainwash them and coerce them to join their idli lunatics oops sorry idli fanatics club! A few other people (like me) who aren’t great idly lovers still miss them if we don’t get to see them on our breakfast plates at least once a week. There are a few things in life which you may not like too much but still cannot ignore them and I think Idlis top the list!
Idlis, though branded as “Madrasi (south Indian) food” are available in almost every Indian eating joint across the world. They are becoming so popular that a few restaurants are inventing and including variations of idlis to their menu cards. I must say that this has paid of well resulting in a new class of people called “idli-tarians.” These are the people who look forward to a sumptuous breakfast/snack of a different variation of idli each day at a reasonable cost. I know a couple of restaurants that were on the verge of closing down and today they are really successful after they creatively came up with different kinds of idlis (most of them were invented to utilize the leftovers) . A few variations of Idlis are:

The Tandoori Idli : Leftover Idlis refrigerated, cut into cubes, deep fried and added to a thick spicy gravy of tomatoes, masala and onions.

The Fried Idli: Leftover idlis again in a new avatar. They are refrigerated, cut into cubes and deep fried and served along with the usual sidekicks chutney and sambhar.

Idli Upma: Leftover idlis crumpled and tossed in a kadhai with onions and chillis.

Vegetable Idli: made with vegetables spread on to the idly batter and steamed.

A few other variations derived from other cuisines are Idli Dhokla, Manchurian Idli, etc.

Now the question is, how exactly did the Idli come into existence and how did it get its name. We are all aware of the fact that Idlis are a part of the south Indian especially Tamilnadu cuisine.

There are several legends about the “invention” of idli. It is a very old food of the South Indian cuisine. One folk legend (this is really unique and never heard before) mentions that a lady in Poompuhar, one of the ancient tamil villages, accidentally dropped a measure of black lentils (urad dhal) into a pitcher of water. It was a time of water scarcity and she did not want to waste the water. Hence she let the lentils settle down in the pitcher and used the water for cooking. The lentils got soaked by the time the water in the pitcher was used. The lady did not want to waste the lentils either and so she decided to make a recipe from the soaked lentils. She did not want to add them to the usual vegetable as the lentils had a strong distinct flavor which she thought would not blend with the vegetable if the soaked lentils were used. Hence she ground them into a paste. Now that the paste was made she did not know what to do next. So she put it aside and forgot about the batter until the next day. The next day she was surprised to see that the batter had fermented. She immediately steamed the batter (steaming was the basic cooking technique as rice was steamed and was the main diet of south Indians). The taste of the steamed lentil cake was awesome and she felt glad that she had “invented” a new recipe. Now the recipe had to be named. She gave it the name “ittu-avi” which meant to lay and steam. We do not have much idea about how the modern name “idly” came into existence. However, legendary writings do indicate that black lentil was the only ingredient used in making idlis. However, it was discovered later that rice helped the batter to ferment faster and improved the taste and hence was added to the mixture.

One other legend mentions that Gujaratis and Sourashtra villagers migrated to Tamilnadu during a time of famine. It is said that the gujarati Dhokla was modified into the Idly as rice was easily available. However, we do not have enough proof to know if this legend is true or just a fake tale.

One other folk tale mentions that Lord Krishna himself prepared Idlis, Dosas and Jalebi to serve the Pandavas who were in exile! (well... i didnt know Lord Krishna was such an expert in cooking quick snacks!)

There are a number of interesting tales when it comes to the origin and history of Idlis. Whatever be the origin or whoever may be the “inventor” the indisputable fact remains that the idli reigns as the supreme star of the South Indian cuisine and idlyism is the fastest growing cult sensation in the modern world!