Yesterday in Bengaluru, there was some fun on X when a lady posted a picture of Dahi and Puri delivered separately instead of ‘dahi-puris’ against her online order! She said jokingly that this was a disaster and the reason for her return to Delhi! She also noted that it was humiliating that the ‘exotic’ dahi-puris lacked the respect they needed!
Come to think of it, we, from the South (not South Indians, no stereotyping!), it seems, have always had our way and are very innovative in everything we do!
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What was the Dahi-saster Puri lady talking about?
On ordering Dahi-puris, she was aghast at finding the Dahi and Puri separately. A typical Delhi Dahi Puri is a delicacy and contains several spicy ingredients. And here is one such.
- Puri
- Mashed aloo
- tiny sliced onions
- Salt and chilli powder
- Pudina chutney
- Tamarind sweet
When I used to frequent Delhi, I would be eager to go out of the sophisticated hotel dining to a smaller food lane in Carol Bhagh or a Khan Market to have my Dahi-puris ‘dinner’. It was economical, healthier, and quicker. You don’t need to wait long; these guys quickly dispense at the chat gaadis. The plates were disposable, and hopefully, the water used was hygienic. As my taste buds remember, the dahi and the whole combination were heavenly! Even in Bengaluru, I still have many dinners at the Bhel Puri stalls near my home. This leaves my wife less tired in the evenings and allows her to escape the kitchen visit for the evening.
Now we understand why she was upset when she found just Dahi and Puri. Unimaginative cook at work!
But the beauty of the South is that they are always innovative and love the food they eat, albeit simpler than the North.
Take, for example, what you see on a menu at a Kerala hotel: Parotta Rs 30 (but you will hear the waiter listing it out by calling it Barota.)! A person from the north faints on hearing this. What they mean is Parotha! In fact, Paratha and Parotta are not the same. While parathas are made of wheat and stuffed with various ingredients, including aloo, cabbage, palak, paneer, etc., parottas are simple, crispy, flakey bread made of maida and are layered without stuffing. Parottas are also common in Sri Lanka.
But the parathas you get in those small dingy shops in the ‘paratha wallah galli’ in Chandini Chowk are from a different planet; you will never get them anywhere else. The butter, pickles, and dahi are of top quality, though the environment does not encourage us to think so!
Know that this Galli existed during the Mughals of the 1650s! So we know what food they enjoyed at our cost.
Variety is thy name, human!
India is a multicultural society and, obviously, a multi-cuisine society too. They say that in India, you find diversity in every 15 km you travel. So why should differences not be in how the North and South of India eat? Checking on how the foods differ in a brief comparison, but there is no good or bad to what each one eats; it is just variety based on geographic locations and climatic conditions.
To start with,
STAPLE FOOD
- South: Rice, Ragi, and Jowar. Wheat is secondary. They say a meal in the south is incomplete without rice and ‘ragi mudde’. These are midday meals and are rich in starch and protein. People in the field prefer mudde to rice since it sustains longer.
- North: Wheat, Maize. Rice is secondary. Clearly, wheat is best for cold climates, and mize grows in abundance.
COOKING MEDIUM
- South: Groundnut, Coconut oil, Ghee. Not much butter.
- North: Ghee, Mustard oil. Lots of butter.
Flavours and Spices
- South: Tangy and Spicy. Rich in groundnut oil.
- North: Garam Masala with cardamon and and cloves.
Breakfast
- South: Idli, Dosa, Uppittu, Pongal, etc. Most of them are fermented rice batter and light on the stomach.
- North: Stuffed Paratas (paneer, gobi) with curd pickles and sweets. Heavy breakfast.
Lunch and Dinner
- South: Rice sambar with lots of vegetables. Papad is inseparable. Curd with rice is the dessert for the south of India, be it lunch or dinner.
- North: Biryani, Rotis, and Naans. Very little of rice.
Bottom line
It seems easy to figure out what food the South of India eats and what the North does by just seeing their physicality! The food of the South is light and spicy, while the North’s is heavy and greasy.
The rice-eating south are generally short and shout, while the wheat-eating north are tall and slimmer.
They say the food we eat is what we become, so whether they are dahi-puris or paani-puris, idlis or dosas, we must be conscious of what we eat.
