Man has indeed, come a long way, when it comes to his journeys and experiences in the demesne of food. From the natural instincts of survival to the gourmet style of life, the sheer mind-boggling variety of food items available, has always been a wonder to the author. This post marks a new beginning of a series of articles, ranging from rice, the first grain that he had received as a child, to the others. The simplest things in life are the most extra-ordinary. Imagine, the first of our ancestors, who had the courage to draw out the grains from a rice plant, and then, consume them. Would you merely pluck something from an unknown plant, and consume it? In fact, what differentiates food from poison.
After that most important first step of overcoming the fear of the unknown, who ever thought of steaming it or boiling it with water, so as to get to the right required consistency that one is used to now. Then, did man, just stop with eating plain steamed white rice? No, even here, he has amazed us. A simple seasoning and the right use of various spices, (even here, one must heavily appreciate the courage shown), transforms white rice to lemon rice, coconut rice, tamarind rice, jeera rice, pulao, pongal, biriyani, etc. Further, he developed beaten rice, to help make different kinds of poha; and puffed rice, to be had plain with kadalai (groundnuts), or as that important ingredient of bhel-puri. Then, what did man do?
To obtain the batter, which is used to make idli (pancake), dosa (crepe) and uttapam (indian pizza), he grinds the rice along with a few pulses, after soaking it over-night. How did he come up with the right ratios of the ingredients, so as to obtain, the different consistencies? And, here, he goes on experimenting and improvising, so as to come up with different varieties. With his brainchild, he then, comes up with chutneys, of all different kinds, molaga podi, sambhar, potato sabji, etc. to go as accompaniments to the dosa/idli/uttapam. He decides to have dosa with potato sabji and not idli with the same. Likewise, he develops the concept of rava idli, which, leads to a totally new form, that includes garnishing with coriander leaves (just an another random plant), and cashews, carrots, and peas, etc.
Then, be it the dumplings from China, or the kozhakottai's from India, which are products made from rice flour with different kinds of stuffings, man has ventured into newer territories. Further, it does merit a mention of the wonderful rice based vadams (crispies) that are now fried in oil, which totally lend a unique taste, if had as a side-dish with sambhar rice. And pray, what all items go well with rice? Sambhar, Kootu, Gojju, Vartha Kozhambu, Kadi, Dal, Rasam, etc. Another feather on his cap, was to use rice flour, as a thickening agent in sambhar. Of course, for the health-conscious people, or for those recuperating from an illness, you have the simple rice ganji (gruel), which is, in fact, one of the healthiest options.
Last but not the least, he did research on the various steps involved in the processing, right from the time of harvest, to the storage and distribution of rice; and how, the right temperature and moisture settings, helps minimize the wastage of rice in terms of yield. Further, he came up with several developments in the field of agriculture, to make cultivation of rice, more productive. In parallel, one of the important things to learn about rice, was its nutrient content and importance to one's health; be it the more healthy brown rice, or the plain white rice, or the more celebrated basmati rice. He did all that, and with it developed a systematic way of characterizing food in terms of minerals, vitamins, carbohydrates, fats, etc. and calories.
The author has tried to paint a picture of the different options available, from rice, and it is no doubt, not comprehensive. Most of the dishes mentioned here belong to the Indian vegetarian cuisine. Just imagine, as to how mind-boggling it could become, if one were to talk of all the different forms of cuisines. Further, what is of most wonderment, is that, all these events have happened, in almost all parts of the world, almost independently. Obviously, the rice-eaters of Mexico had little in common with the rice-eaters of India, during those old days, of limited travel. Likewise, the same about the rice-eaters of Japan. So, how did everyone converge on the same plant, rice, possibly, at different times, and at all these different places in the world. Isn't it a wonder?
PS: The only reasons that the author can think of, for all these wonderful achievements, are, good judgement; willingness to try, experiment and improvise; and not having that fear of the unknown. And, good judgement, reminds the author of a profound saying, "Good judgement comes from experience; and experience comes from bad judgement".
PS2: Replace all references to he/him/man with she/her/woman. The idea for this exclusion is not to portray the author as being a sexist. It is more so to imply, that he and she, mean one and the same. Further, the author acknowledges the fact, that, women tend to contribute equally, if not more, when it comes to all the wonderful achievements in the world.
PS3: When you have time, and would like to play word-games, you may do so here, where, you also help the UN World Food Program with its "grains of rice" collection drive to end hunger, depending on how well you do.
