They invited us for dinner on Friday. Nah, it wasn't really dinner, it was a friendly meet of two friends followed by something to eat. Most the time we do not refuse unless pre-occupied by an important appointment or task but heartily accept as it is an opportunity to relax and the idea of cooking for the day is happily cancelled alongwith an added perk of dressing up well and sitting on the chair without getting up all the time. The host of course has a different story to tell. (Someday I will when I am the hostess of the day).
Anyway, coming back to our story, I casually asked what she would be making, for which our hostess happily replied "idly". Idly? It could invite a lot of positive and negative thought from my friends. In my case, I was a bit too surprised since it was the humble idly which I had prepared the previous day and it came out bad. And also, despite being a South Indian, I never liked idlis (in fact I would rarely have idlis in the restaurant). I concealed my disappointment with a smile and promised to meet them on the appointed day.
The day arrived. We were at their place. Some quick snack was being served and I went to the kitchen hoping against hope that my friend might have changed the menu. She did not. I asked her if any help was needed and when the answer was negative, returned to my seat to watch my better half play angry birds game at their house. The husband wife team were busy clanging the vessels and talking in their native language about the dishes and ingredients. After a while they joined us and we started watching Tom cruise - Cameron Diaz starrer "Knight and day". Engrossed in this action thriller, I forgot my initial disappointment until after a while my empty stomach welcomed the scent of piping hot sambar and rasgulla sized idlis that made way to the table. They had soup bowls in which pearl onion sambar was happily poured along with tiny idlis immersing themselves in the watery sambar and adorned with a dash of coconut-cilantro chutney. The steam was rising out of soft idli along with our desperation to dig in. The first sinking of teeth into tender idlis were beyond imagination. I was the one to finish it quickly and shamelessly looked at more idlis until I stopped myself and realized that my mannerisms could invite some cold stares from my husband. The humble idly seemed to smile at me for being underestimated so easily. Of course, after a countless helpings, a full stomach, I still could not take my eyes off the food.
The dinner at their place brought out a lot of thoughts in me.
1) Meal is tastier when you watch a great/thriller/comical movie.
2) Anything eaten outside your home (or rather a dish that is not prepared by you) is always tastier.
3) Adding zing to the dish is the restaurant-style of presentation. May be if idly, chutney, sambar were presented separately, it may not have been that tasty.
4) Going to a place without expectations really helps in bringing pleasant surprises.
5) Company matters.
6) Any meal is tasty when it is accompanied by a lot of tastes.
7) Keep it simple and nice. Any day, we will love our daal chaawal or rasam chaawal for their down-to-earth or basic taste.
I thanked her for a simple, tasty down-to-earth meal not only that day and the next day but the following weeks and did not rest until the I asked her the recipe for chutney. The strange craving to eat idli especially as that combination did not stop. I was determined to prepare it someday myself. After getting all the ingredients, I tried it today, though I won't say it came out as good as theirs, but it was a thousand times better than how I generally prepare. This is the picture of my preparation was taken an hour ago.
