In Search of the Perfect Idli

In Tamil Nadu, a Rs 2 crore idli research project includes organising melas in which housewives reveal their recipes.

Not long ago, a restaurant at Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu introduced the Khushboo idli, after the actress who then ruled the Tamil silver-screen. The idli looked extra plump, white and soft like the actress, according to a Chennaite who had gone all the way to the temple town to relish it. Though Khushboo idli vanished from the restaurant menu once the actress retired, houses and restaurants across Tamil Nadu still maintain their tradition of experimenting with idlis.  Each region in the state has its own version with unique quality and taste. Accompaniments like chutney, sambar and milagai podi (special chilli powder) too have local variations.

The thought which struck Alagu Sundaram, director of Thanjavur-based Indian Institute of Crop Technology (IICPT), was what if the best of local traditions and experiments in Tamil Nadu get mixed at the table of standardisation? So the institute has launched a massive research project involving house wives from different parts of the state to look at ways to add value to idli to make it a nutritious, industrial and international snack.

The Central Government agency has earmarked Rs 2 crore for the project and the research is expected to be completed in three years. As a first step, IICPT invited about 200 housewives to its campus last week to conduct an idli mela, where food technologists and other experts found unique but hitherto unknown modes of preparing idlis. There will be similar melas all over the state soon.

“Steam-cooked idlis don’t have fat, but are rich in carbohydrates. In some countries, making idlis is a difficult job because of climatic conditions. So standardisation could help in eating idlis of Tamil Nadu the world over,’’ says Sundaram. According to him, there is growing demand for idlis among Europeans and Americans, apart from overseas Indians.

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KA Shaji