You have to look closer to understand it all. The thing is a bit involved. The liquid just always seems to be insufficient in quantity towards the end. The guy on the other side always asks “Sambhar?”. And I always nod in affirmation. Which means that he would pour the Sambhar (spicy soup of some kind used in meals in the peninsular part of India) over the “Idly” and “Vada” and not in a separate bowl. When he pours the thing, it always looks like filling the vessel upto the brim but it is almost always that it gets finished much before the eatables have. The mystery is two-pronged.
One, the liquid fills only the sides of the conainer which is obvious but not registered in that obvious a fashion. It gives an impression of a filled vessel when in reality it is only occupying a much smaller portion. Then, the eatables soak-in the Sambhar making them more delicious sure (which is the reason I get it poured over rather than take in a separate bowl) but consujming it quickly. So while the contents go in your stomach eventually, the liquid first gets eaten (drank) by the Idly/Vada making them softer and more delicious and in turn drying the stock faster. So it all boils down to asking for some more Sambhar towards the end. And that purely depends on the instinct and the humor. I mean at times there is nobody in sight or seemingly busy in their more important chores (Ill come to them in a shortwhile) for me to ask for Sambhar for just the last morsel of my eatable. But sometimes I do ask for it anyway. I have also thought it is a good idea to ask for more at the outset but the swiftness with which these guys work sometimes gets me late to ask but I would try to remember it from before the next time.
And it is not just about the Idly Vada in these places. There is a whole lot of other accompaniments to savor. To bott, there is the “Kesari Bath”. It is essentially the “Halwa” of the northern regions. Made out of rawa (sooji), it is the ubiquitous sweet dish in Bangalore at least. But nothing beats the kind prepared in my office cafteria (yes I actually got the best Kesari Bath in my office of all places). It is of the more flowing variety than a solid mass kept there for your devouring. This kind resembles the halwa which is prepared in the northern regions and is much more likely to tickle your tastebuds. It also has a cousin called the “Khara Bath” which as the name suggests is the salty vestion of the Rawa preparation. They (Kesari Khara) can be served together in the avatar of “Chow-Chow Bath” (now this is a funny sounding name not the least because it is not really a Chinese or Tibetan cuisine we are looking at here but a very much South India food thing). The “Dosa” goes without mention and I would not venture to elaborate more upon this one as it needs not it.
A more unobtrusive and obscure occupant in the shelves is the “Dahi Vada” (mind you not the “Dahi Bhalla” of the north). I have lately noticed it to be a rather silent participant just peeking through a nook of the shelf. It never seems to hog the limelight or get the centerstage. And the stock gets finished quickly and to be honest I never get a feeling that the owner really tries hard enough to get it replenished. Which is the reason sometimes I cant have it as the stock had ended. It may be that it takes time to soak the curd and it is a more preishable item so they dont build a huge stock lest it might get bad. But I still cant get that feeling of step-motherly (pardon me the use of a judgemental phrase) treatment towards the “Vada” out of my head/heart. There are many more the culinary delights there but the last one I would like to mention is the “Poori Saagu”. While I feel the saagu(vegetable preparation) could be better, the poori is just plain awesome (cliched?). I mean I have sampled it in three joints and two taste similar and are the better ones while one of them was of the more mundane variety which would not make me write it here on this space. But the other variety is just delightful on your tastebuds. The only shortcoming I could think of is that it is not the healthiest of preparations. But the thing is, do we really care that much.
So here I could think of a recap of the variety of consumables from the breakfast joint that I hand out many a times all by myself every other day. And it mostly is the best meal of the day!
