Anna, one plate of idli please

From households making the traditional plate of steaming hot idlis, to food delivery services like Swiggy, Zomato and Uber Eats offering discounts on Saturday for this wholesome dish, Chennaiites found unique ways to celebrate their favourite breakfast this time. If you missed the date or didn’t know about it, read on to see how you can pay tribute to the humble idli.

Idli is the most ordered food item in Bengaluru, followed by Mumbai and Chennai, finds a study by food delivery app Uber Eats. It is often eaten for breakfast along with piping hot sambar and a variety of chutneys. “Idli has been a top breakfast item that consumers love. It appeals to people of varied food preferences and is a popular comfort food for many,” Deepak Reddy, head of central operations, Uber Eats India, said in a statement on Thursday. Data from restaurants across 38 cities that specialise in idli and are known for unique variations of the dish shows that Bengaluru consumes idli the most, followed by Mumbai, Chennai, Pune and Hyderabad. Globally, San Francisco, London and New Jersey have been found to be the top idli ordering cities.

M Eniyavan doesn’t have an MBA or a hotel management degree, but is a Class VIII drop out. This didn’t stop him from identifying an opportunity when it knocked on his door. A few years ago, when he was working as an auto driver in Coimbatore, he made acquaintance with a passenger, who sold homemade idlis to hotels in the area every day. Eniyavan took a keen interest in this business and when he moved to Chennai, he began Mallipoo Idli. Serving over 30 varieties along with sambar and chutney, the 49-year-old claims he has created more than 2,000 versions of idli. He even made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for cooking an idli that weighed 124 kg!

If you want to experiment with idlis, try changing its shape like Chennai-based Anantha Narayan and Joseph Babin did in 2015 by inventing this ‘shell’ idli plate. Looks pretty, doesn’t it?

A great way to make idlis attractive for kids is to mix natural colouring agents such as beetroot or carrot juice to the batter. After boiling butterfly pea flower or spinach, the water can be added for lavender or green colour, respectively.

In this beautiful temple town, certain restaurants make idlis in a steel glass or cup, and add spices like pepper and cumin seeds to shake things up. You can try the same technique at home to serve a unique version of the dish.

Since this breakfast dish is so versatile, it can be made with millets such as ragi, thinai, varagu and samai. Add this to the idli rice and urad dal while making the batter and there you have it — a healthy, innovative plate of idlis suitable for all!