Posted in Excerpts from life

The Idli dilemma

Posted on by Shruti gopinath

 

Being a Keralite, it’s rather unfortunate that my sister and I share a similar dislike for Idli, Dosa and coconut chutney, the trademark of south Indian cuisine. During our school days,  there were idlis popping up from every nook and corner of our backyard. Courtesy: us 😛 . Even after all the nonplussed and innocent looks that we gave as kids, dad always knew. For him wasting food was a crime, it still is. I have to say even after 28 years of fatherhood, he is still very uptight.

It was Idli again for breakfast today. After struggling for 15 long minutes with two of them, I ran to the kitchen when I finally got a chance to throw them away. 28 years with my dad has taught me how to commit a perfect breakfast crime. As I lifted the crumbled newspaper bit from the dustbin to hide my Idli, to my surprise, I saw another one staring back at me. That’s when realization dawned, my sister was roaming around the kitchen few minutes earlier. I smiled and threw in mine to give the lone ranger some company!

No matter how many years pass by, somethings never change. And I am so glad they don’t.

My sincere apologies to

  1. Mr. Idli, Mrs. Dosa and Miss. Chutney
  2. All the Idli and Dosa lovers in this world.

And dad, I will always love you no matter what 🙂 . I must admit it feels so good to be back. I really really missed you guys 😦 .

Shruti.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author:

I am a dentist trying my hand at writing. I am here to let my thoughts unravel!

46 thoughts on “The Idli dilemma”

  3. Aww, I absolutely love idlis. Fluffy lil snow puffs…
    Maybe proximity begets disdain, in ur case.
    I’ve been extremely fond of idli, dosa, the red chutney powder, rasam, filter coffee etc Infact I recently visited Mysore café, Mumbai to buy their filter coffee powder.

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  4. I must say, I am completely against wasting food. So, this saddens me on one hand.
    But, it won’t stop me from sharing my idli story with you! 😛 I used to hate South Indian food, until I attended a birthday party for my South Indian friend whose mom cooked idli-sambhaar for us. And, I was floored! It was the best idli and chutney I had ever tasted… Amazing. I made sure my mom got the recipe and ever since, whenever we have idli for dinner, I make sure it’s cooked the same way. So, South Indian food cooked the South Indian way does taste a lot better!
    Maybe, you’d like to try South Indian food cooked by a North Indian to get a different taste? 😛

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  7. They should put you in Jail ! How can ANYONE not like Idlis ! If it was possible for me, I would have then for breakfast every single day. And even after that. Heavens would probably have that in their menu 😉

    But seriously. How? You have access to authentic south Indian food, and you don’t like it?
    BTW, I didn’t realise that you were a Keralite. I had one ‘Mini Chandran’ teach me English in College, and it was so cool. Engineering people don’t quite take english classes seriously, but I did. She was like the coolest, smartest teacher I came across 🙂

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    1. Tatsar do one thing, come over! 😊. I will happily cook you dosas and idlis and chutneys and whatever… As long as you finish them all. And is it because of the ‘Mini Chandran’, you fell in love with books?? 😉

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      1. Tell you what- when I Was into that whole I-am-getting-married mode, Kerala was where I Was going to have my honemoon 😉 Now that it is over, I think it will be even better to roam around with nobody to look for behind my back 😀 So, yes. You will have the pleasure of hosting me 😛 I want to eat authentic south-Indian food 5 times a day and lie on those beaches and drink coconut water 😉 Maybe learn a little malyali as well, while we are still there.

        Oh yes. She did hasten the process. She was so analytical about everything- something I did not expect a PhD in English literature to be ( so naive of me, yes ). She spoke about current political and economic events and drew parrallels in literature and history. I was awestruck! Half a decade later, I can almost see myself wanting to be like her… And that accent ❤

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          1. Kaise kaise? How HOW ? 🙂 🙂 Itna aasan toh hai nai… I did learn french ( bit of that ) from audio books. But problem with Indian languages hai ki there are not enough resources…Come to thing of it, You should write a post on such stuff. The things that are specific to Kerala. That will be pretty cool!

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    1. He he… Idli will be happy then 😊. Maniparna, I am doing good. I kept procrastinating and procrastinating😓 and then suddenly realised I shouldn’t be anymore. So hopefully I am back😊. Thanks a lot for dropping by.

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  11. Haha. . Wow. . Then I think you both are experts in committing such heinous crime of throwing idlis in bins. I too dislike idlis sometimes when there is no sambhar as its company, but when it comes to Dosa, yummy. . 🙂

    Have a good week ahead Shruti. . 🙂

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  12. Well there is one story about me my mother keeps telling anyone willing to listen. I hated Idli too, mostly because it was Idli for breakfast every day, day after day. So when we moved to our new home I found this deep ditch in our backyard which I effectively I used to dispose the Idlies successfully smuggled out from the dining room(hiding them in my dress). The ditch was deep and hence my mother never noticed anything. And then on one unfortunate day it started raining, the ditch was filled with water and my unfaithful idlies came right up and started floating on the top. Of course my mother noticed them and you can guess what happened after that. The fun part is that my daughter hates them too. She hides her dosa in the cupboard or under the couch. When I complain about this to my mother she just recounts her favorite Idli story 🙂

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    1. Glad you liked it Parul. I am sure you will get to eat lots of idlis and dosas in Blore. And if you ever plan to visit Kerala, do drop in.. Will fill your tummy so many idlis that you will start running away too! 😉

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