Every year on March 30, World Idli Day is observed. The first commemoration of the day took place in 2015. Eniyavan, a popular idli-only caterer from Chennai, came up with the idea. He produced 1,328 different idlis, including a 44-kilogram idli that was cut by a top bureaucrat to proclaim March 30 as World Idli Day.
The delectable steamed rice cake from South India is served with hot sambhar and a variety of delectable chutneys. Idlis tie South India together, as evidenced by a British professor’s dismissal of them as “boring.”
Edward Anderson, a UK-based professor, tweeted in October 2020, “Idli are the most boring stuff in the world.”
South Indians and all idli lovers reacted angrily to the tweet, calling him a “white clueless kid.”
“You’ve made a grave mistake that I hope will haunt you for the rest of your life,” one user said. Another person wrote, “The rumbling you hear, Edward, is the South Indian army mobilising. What exactly have you done?”
“p.s. Before the whole of south India attacks me, may I just mention that I love dosa and appam and basically all south Indian food,” Edward wrote later. But idli (and, for that matter, puttu) are intolerable.”
“Wow,” he said in another tweet. I’ve learned that criticising south Indian cuisine is dangerous! The defenders of idli tend to be a dedicated group. Will my in-laws in Kerala, however, forgive me?
After “accidentally enraging the entirety of South India (and its omnipresent diaspora) on Twitter,” the professor ordered idlis for lunch, but he added that his “unpopular – or “blasphemous,” as some have called it – opinion remains unchanged. #sorrynotsorry.” He also posted pictures of his meal.
