While the other stack was steaming she took a break to speak with me. She said that her family has been in this business for several generations. “These idlis are not as good as the ones my mother and grandmother used to make", she said. “I am not always able to get Paalakkadan Matta - the best rice for making idli". This medium grain rice with a reddish tinge unfortunately has one drawback – its yield is comparatively low. Once the state government started deciding which variety of rice is to be cultivated by farmers, the low yielding Paalakkadan Matta was pushed aside in favor of high yield varieties. Ramasseri idli is now made with other varieties of rice. “It just isn’t same", the cook lamented.

As I started taking pictures, Ramanatha Mudaliar, the man wearing the green baseball cap, joined our conversation. “It is not just the rice" he said “no one hand pounds rice at home any more, and with the huge demand for our idli, we can no longer afford to grind the batter by hand with granite grinding stones". He paused and then posed a profound question "How can milled rice and motorized grinding machines produce superior quality batter?" Mass production had reached even remote Ramasseri.

“Show him the pictures" my cousin nudged. As they watched the tiny pictures on my digital camera their faces were filled with gleam. He asked politely if he could call his neighbors to come and see the pictures. They were just waiting for our nod; two men and a young boy were there within seconds. They suggested, “ Let her take your picture too". “May be you should take off your cap, otherwise your face won’t show" my cousin added. Ramanatha Mudaliar was not ready to show his balding head. “Ok. Ok, I will let her take a picture" he said as he went into the kitchen. I took more photographs.

“Would you mind sharing your recipe", I asked gingerly. Family recipes are never secret in Kerala. People are only too happy to share them. But they firmly believe that the quality of a dish depends on the cook's kaipunyam (god given skill for preparing tasty dishes). She narrated the recipe from memory and I started scribbling on my notepad. “Soak one kilogram of good parboiled rice and hundred grams of urad dal with black skin in separate pots for several hours. Wash and remove the skin of urad dal, and grind it along with a large pinch of fenugreek seeds to a smooth thick batter. Wash and grind the rice separately and combine the two. Add salt to taste and stir well. Cover and set aside, and let the batter ferment overnight".

Then came some very specific instructions. “Do not stack more than four idlis at a time, and steam till they are cooked. Cook them only on wood burning stoves, and always use wood from tamarind tree". May be they burn evenly and maintain steady heat, I wondered silently as she continued with her recipe. “It is ideal to steam in unglazed clay pots, but you may substitute with stainless steel pots". I noticed she was willing to make at least one exception to the unwritten rule of Ramasseri idli making. “And when they are ready, do remove them from the clay steamers with a large leaf from jack tree". She was happy that I was writing down everything.

The second batch of idli was ready and she turned around to remove it from the stove. She packed a steaming batch for us in fresh banana leaves. Ramanatha Mudaliar pulled out a piece of old newspaper and made a cone shaped container effortlessly. With a large coconut shell spoon he scooped up some idli podi (a dry condiment served with idli) into the paper cone and closed it tightly. As they handed us the package she said “Eat them while they are still warm, these idlis are not very soft when they get cold". “If you want to buy clay pots and steamers, there is a store nearby" he added.

We thanked them for their hospitality and my cousin slid two twenty rupees notes (barely a dollar) into his hands. He refused in the beginning, but was glad to accept when we insisted. As we got into the car he had one serious question for me “are you sure you can find good tamarind wood in America?" Tamarind wood logs, Paalakkadan Matta rice, unglazed clay pots, fresh Jacktree leaves – where am I going to find all these things in the United States? I did not have the heart to tell him that. “Thanks a lot. I will certainly try to find it", I muttered as we waved goodbye.