Inimitable paruppu saadam

WHY should there be so much order and routine in our eating process? The traditional Western multi-course dinner starts with soup. Then follow the fish, the main course, dessert, cheese and fruit, ending with coffee. India has its own order with the Gujarati daily menu made up of rotli (chapati), dal bhat (rice and dal) and shak (vegetable). In traditional Maharashtrian homes, you are served rice first. Then it is poli (chapati) and then back to rice.

The South Indian system is different. Since rice is the major item on the menu, the order of the items served is: rice and sambhar, rice and rasam and rice and moru (buttermilk). The vegetables can be eaten with all these dishes. While sticking to this regimen, most of us ignore that wonderful item, paruppu saadam (rice and dal).

Rice and dal is accepted fare throughout India. Gujaratis and Maharastrians cannot do without it with every meal. The Punjabis have different kinds of dal, eating them with gusto, mixing it with rice. But it is the South Indians, traditional rice eaters, who don't do enough justice to dal. Though dal is an important ingredient of sambhar and rasam, it is not favoured to be eaten alone with rice.

There is a misconception that paruppu saadam is a dish only for children. A child grows up on mother's milk. Then come different brands of baby food and koozhu (home made baby foods from various grain). When the child is around one year old, the mother gives it well-cooked rice and dal with a dash of ghee. Because of this routine, paruppu saadam is linked solely with children. It is considered unusual, if adults demand and consume paruppu saadam as a part of their daily menu. This is like setting down rules that milk is only for children. When they grow up, it is presumed in the South they would switch from milk to tea and coffee. A glass of milk can be consumed before going to bed, but having milk instead of coffee in the mornings was unthinkable. Having been brought up in such an environment, I was surprised when adults in Gujarat and other northern parts of India refused tea and coffee at any time of the day. "Oh, I drink only milk," they explained. When I first encountered such people, I thought to myself, "pachai kozhandai, paalu kudikaradhu" (ha, drinking milk like a baby).

The system worked in reverse as far as rice and dal went. By dal, I mean tuvar dal, the tastiest and most fragrant among the dals. Even after reaching college I would not give up paruppu saadam and demanded it every time for lunch. This was followed by sambhar saadam and then rasam saadam. I avoided moru saadam, preferring to drink the buttermilk.

The habit continued even after I left home to earn my living. Whenever I came home on a vacation, the same habit continued. My family knew that I skipped moru saadam for paruppu saadam and prepared additional quantities of plain paruppu. "I don't know why you always avoided moru saadam" my grandmother would sometimes complain. "It is so cool and good for your health. Particularly for your eyes and brain." Well, I thought my brains were quite okay and continued to attack the paruppu saadam. I did not care if my sisters made fun of me. "Kozhandai, paruppu saadam sappidarathu" (Look, the child is gulping paruppu saadam) they would say, but I ignored these comments and concentrated on my favourite item. The grown-up Gujarati was not ashamed of his milk-drinking habits. So why should I mind my passion for paruppu saadam?

It is a simple, tasty and divine dish. Good quality rice, mixed with adequate quantities of paruppu and fragrant ghee, is hard to beat. I recommend it to everyone. Being uncomplicated and simple, the item does not find a place in recipe books. But for sheer taste, flavour and nutritional value, let me tell you, paruppu saadam is hard to beat.

Yet it has not received its due in the South. Take wedding feasts, for instance. Now, paruppu is a must in these feasts. While, sambhar, rasam, vegetables and the sweet dishes are served again and again, paruppu makes only one appearance. And how much of it is served? Just a drop or two sprinkled on the plantain leaves. I think paruppu was intended to be an appetizer and it was expected that people would concentrate on the other items. When I ask for an additional helping of paruppu, it never materialises. I am always disappointed at this aspect of South Indian wedding feasts and hope that one day the attitude will change. In Gujarati and Maharashtrian wedding feasts, dal is served in bowls and you can have as many helpings as you want. So why this discrimination in our own wedding feasts?

Paruppu is good not only for babies, but also grown-ups. While sambhar and rasam have become justifiably famous all over the world, the same appreciation has not been extended to paruppu saadam.

The other Indian States have acknowledged the importance of the rice-dal mixture, khichidi. We should do the same with our paruppu saadam. Why not include it in the State banquets at the Chennai Raj Bhavan? The Dravidian political groups can argue that the khichidi of the North is based on the paruppu saadam of the South. Yet another instance of the Tamil initiative sadly ignored by the people.

V.GANGADHAR

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