The best cook of them all

IF ONLY computers did the cooking, everyone could spend more time watching TV or whatever else one likes to do.

We are not yet there, but two minute food which arrived with noodles is today taking over traditional South Indian recipes.

Couples in a hurry, students rushing off to campus, or even a marriage party with a large number of guests, all turn to ``boil in the bag'' solutions.

In good Tamil taste, it is called ``Thideer samaiyal'', and its flavour is just right even for demanding palates, it appears.

Two spoons of sambar, rasam or vattalkuzhambu powder in a vessel of hot water and hey presto, the main course is ready - in a jiffy.

Guests for dinner! Well, additional items like vattals, appalams, rice, wheat and ragi sevai with `prefab' coconut scrapings, puliyodarai or lemon mix can be cooked up. You may add curry and coriander leaves for garnishing right from nature's lap of course.

For those who are wishing away the role of instant foods in city life, please note that it is here to stay.

Caterer and Cookery Institute founder `Arusuvai' Natarajan says, gone are the days when `Paricharakans' stirred Malabar Payasam from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. for a dinner to be served at 7 p.m.

Now the laborious processes are giving way to instant food use among caterers.

With a dash of chutney or `kurma' prepared out of instant material, readily available idly, dosa and vada mix or pre-cooked heat and serve chappatis sold in plastic covers is a boon for families on the move to school, college or office.

Introducing Sri Ganeshram's 777 Dhideer Rice Sevai, the company's Managing Partner Mr. R.N. Ramani says that consumers today have accepted instant foods like noodles or macaroni. Besides being easy to cook and not costing much (that's for consumers to say anyway!) some of these foods also have an energy and nutritive value with their dehydrated proteins and vitamins in the dhal, rice and wheat used for preparations.

Mr. R. Srikanth, a partner in the company says that while instant foods are gaining much currency among the Indians abroad who have a taste for nothing but the south Indian, even caterers are taking to it.

While they settle for the gulab jamoon or appalams, in case of an urgent need to increase the quantity of food served, then instants become their instant choice.

There are other companies that have entered the market with instant recipes including `boil in the bag' foreign cuisine.

By Akila Dinakar

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