Rawa/Suji Idli
As I have already stated a few times elsewhere on this platform, South Indian delicacies were always a hit with our Punjabi taste buds… albeit with little tweaks 😊
As kids, South Indian Cuisine was always a (rare) novelty in our household. The family as a whole, loved the food… different as it was from the normal north Indian fare on the table always. But we were totally dependent upon visiting family friends & well wishers (hailing from that part of the country) to satiate our longing for these foods.
The issue was the kind of preparation this cuisine required: the fermentation of Rice flour batter, soaking of the grains & the pulses, various vegetables to be cut up, so many alien (for us😊) … ingredients required for the tampering…etc etc .. made it all fall outside the ambit of feasible normal kitchen activities in our household. Nor, I think, much effort was invested in acquiring any (even pass-able) expertise in this soul warming cuisine.
Then, about two decades back, we were introduced to Rawa (Suji/Semolina) as an alternative to the rice flour. It opened an entirely a new world of culinary delight to us. We discovered that the Rawa Idli was softer, fluffier & much closer to our taste buds than its rice cousin. And the batter was good for Dosas also.
Around the same time, we discovered that a reasonably good Sambhar could be dished out without the use of the plethora of the prescribed vegetables. This discovery was especially welcomed by the younger members of the family, so stingy about consuming veggies.
The only remaining delicacy (for our family) was the oh-so-heavenly Rasam… That gap was filled by the speciality food companies coming out with vacuum packed packets of Rasam mix powders, that just needed to be added to water along with chopped tomatoes & green coriander, boiled on sim for 15-20 minutes…and the great warming concoction was ready to be enjoyed. Sacrilegious to the purists, surely. But you can’t win them all. 😊 And it is always a good policy to keep one’s limitations in mind. One can’t fail then.
Coming back to the subject, introduction of new ingredients has made things so much simpler for people like me. Rawa Idli, Dosa & Uttapam have a very frequent presence on our dining table now.
