In search of the idli’s ancestors

The small Sourashtrian community in Madurai has used the quiet of lockdown to revive heirloom recipes, many of which lay the foundations for Tamil Nadu’s most popular dishes

Streets and markets in the temple town of Madurai come alive in the evenings with pushcart vendors selling crisp vadais made with deep fried spinach or powdered mulmurungai leaves pounded with cumin. Also, there are sojji appams, sweet little maida pooris stuffed with rava kesari, and nutrient-rich paruthipaal made from extracted cotton seed milk blended with rice flour, cardamom, dry ginger and palm sugar. These dishes that are an integral part of the city’s street food culture are staples in Sourashtrian households in South India. Yet there is much more to be discovered especially during the festival seasons and special ceremonies, when Sourashtrian families get together to prepare and share traditional recipes handed down generations.

Sensing an opportunity to revive heirloom recipes during the pandemic, members of the Sourashtra community planned food festivals to remind members about what defines their food, while simultaneously showcasing their food culture to the rest of the city. The first, a three-day food festival held recently in temple town Madurai revived some time-honoured recipes (see box) .