This year the World Idli Day on March 30th, coincided with Sri Rama Navami ! We took full advantage of this coincidence by making fluffy idlis for both the meals on that day.
For my maternal side of the family, every day is Idli Day ! All my cousins, aunts and uncles can eat idlis every single day and not get bored. Amma is the same. She can have idli everyday. Well, I can eat idlis everyday if they are like the ones that my maternal grandmother Pichamma Paati would make. They would melt in your mouth…. it’s one food item that I miss.
Some of my rules for eating idlis ..
- The rice and urad dal have to be soaked and ground fine, preferably in a wet grinder. I will not eat idlis made using rice rava (sooji, grits). In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana they mostly make idlis using rice rava and I won’t eat that :).
- There has to be cold pressed Nallennai (Sesame oil) to douse the idli in … no other oil will do.
- Idlis can be eaten with the following sides – coconut chutney, molaha podi (wrongly called gun powder), sambar, Morkozhambu and Onion chutney.
- The batter has to be fermented and slightly sour …. if it’s not, again I won’t eat the idlis. So the batter that comes out of a pack won’t do.
- They have to be fluffy and stay fluffy after cooling down – not rock solid.
Bangalore has some good places that serve idlis – Veena Stores and Brahmin’s Cafe are the two favourite places for us. In Chennai, I like the idlis served at Murugan Idli Kadai. The mini idly sambar at Saravana Bhavan is good, but I don’t like their regular idli.
In Coimbatore, ofcourse it has to be Annapoorna Gowrishankar. The Idli Sambar there is simply outstanding. We could eat it just a couple of times when we stayed in Coimbatore in Nov 2022. There is a queue early in the morning, just to eat the idli sambar at Annapoorna Gowrishankar.
Do read my earlier post – World Idli Day and the Idli-Snob
Sri Rama Navami
Our Sri Rama Navami this year was muted as Padma Chithi passed away. We just made idlis and Paanakam. Read about Paanakam – Another Summer Cooler. This is the first Sri Rama Navami when we have Bhagwan Rama’s special murti at home.
Ofcourse, Narayana Bhattar had sent me pictures of Peelamedu Anjaneyar with the alankaram as Raja Ramachandra. 🙏🏿
Isn’t he just stunning !! Narayana Bhattar’s alankaram is just outstanding.
Hope everyone enjoyed the World Idli Day and celebrated Sri Rama Navami with devotion.
Jai Sri Ram. Jai Bajrang Bali.