The other day my sister was preparing halbaai – a typical South Indian delicious sweet made out of ragi flour, jaggery and a bit of ghee to enhance the taste. I stayed back to enjoy the fantastic haalbai.
Our children are not used to eating traditional eatables, because we do not prepare them at home. Firstly, many of our ladies have no idea how to prepare them; secondly no patience and, finally of course, they are all weight conscious and so they naturally keep away from sweets.
Considering the choice of food of today's children, we can safely say that kosambari, kadubu, bonda, aambode, payaasa and obbattu won’t certainly be on their list of delicacies. There is a proverb in Kannada, which, if roughly translated, means: food is one’s own choice and appearance is that of others. Elderly people who like such items have to miss them greatly, as they are no longer prepared at home.
It is not just about good taste, but eating haalbai, obbattu or tambittu, reminds one of childhood days and the elders in the family who used to prepare them nicely. This way, these are more than delicacies – they serve as a link to traditions and relationships.
One of the best delicacies of my grand mother was tili saaru. I have little idea about the ingredients, but it used to taste nice. On the contrary, today’s eats only reminds us of the joints spread out in Brigade Road, Commercial Street, Jayanagar, Koramangala, Church Street etc.
In a few years, these eats will be safely confined to history books. No doubt, our periodicals and television channels do explain the method of preparations, but we only wonder who’s there to prepare them? If you blame the ladies at home, they would place it back at your doorstep asking who actually is there to eat them.
A 60-year-old man cannot ask his 30-year-old daughter-in-law to prepare such items. First, she may not be interested in preparing and secondly, she may say the items are not good for the health at that age, as they contain sweet and fat. So, we realise, the familial memories of the food are vanishing as well.
