My first experience with the food in my hostel was a harsh slap from my hostel warden Ms.Padmini. I had joined a boarding school in Chennai in 1979 for my 7th standard. It was the evening dinner time of my first day in my Chennai hostel. I couldn’t eat the bland koottu, and left a good portion of it in my plate. (Koottu is a South Indian dish, made from pumpkin and channadal or Moongdal, with very little spice) From a land used to a liberal dose of spice and chilli, it took me a number of days, to get used to those bland curries. Padmini Miss, who was supervising in the dining hall noticed the leftover food in my plate. She called me back, slapped me and made me eat the Koottu that was floating in the plate. It was probably her way of stamping her authority; intimidating a timid, new admission.
Hostel food was notorious for being insipid and monotonous. It was the same Sambar, Poriyal, Rasam and Moru both in the morning and evening. The leftover rice from the previous night was packaged into pulisadam, (tamarind rice) for the next day. In retrospect, I would say in the early days the food was totally new to me and I treated it with disdain, supplementing it with the Lemon pickle that my mother used to send for me. But over the years after being accustomed to it, it grew on me and I developed a taste for it and now I certainly look forward to those very rare trips to Chennai or Tamil Nadu when I can savor, authentic Tamil cuisine.
Coming back to hostel food, of all the items served in the hostel, I could relish only four of them; the Sunday morning special, puri with curry was a great favorite with all the hostellers. The puris were not counted but whisked in bulk from a basket on to the plate. The next item was egg once a week, cooked in a curry based on tomato, onions and spices. Each of us was given one egg and a ladle full of curry. This was one curry to which I connected as it was somewhat nearer to the curries made back home. As the cook went on dishing out the egg curry with his ladle, I would beseech him, A La Oliver Twist “Some more Please!”
Of course we only got a contemptuous smile in return. The Dosa which was made unlike dosas back home was actually an ‘Ootappam.’ It was crisp and delicious, but was served only once a week. The last item was Takkali sadam or tomato rice, served with appalams or chips on Sunday afternoons. When we had exams or had to rush for the afternoon sessions, we were served Sambar sadam and Thair sadam (curd rice).
Other hostel curries may have been tasty, but I could not appreciate them at that point of time. They have become favorites later; curries like Vattala kolazmbu, keerai, koottu etc., One drink that was given in the hostel during exams; ‘Sukku coffee” is something that still rankles my guts. A morning coffee made from dry ginger, milk and sugar, it was very potent and hard – hitting which I could not digest. The sukku coffee was very hard to sip and we were not allowed to throw it away or waste it. On the days, we were given this, I had to suppress my sensation of retching. It had its share of nutritional value which did not count for a child.
On days when I had some money, it was my turn to go on my jaunts for some eats. On the way to the hostel, from the school, we used to stop at the Sundal kadai. The Sundal Kadai filled my stomach for the post lunch session. The plain sundal or sometimes sundal topped with masala vadai was a special treat. When I could spend a little more money, it was the urla kalangu bonda – potato bonda that interested me.
A street food from Chennai that I have not been able to find in other cities is the delicious Bread bajji; Sandwich bread, soaked in Bengal gram flour and fried deep in oil is a meal by itself. Another delicacy which was very light on the pocket during those days (1980s it cost only two rupees) was the Bun butter jam. A bun is cut into two halves and one side is coated with white butter and other with a liberal sprinkling of jam. This was very wholesome and tasty. It was after my X Std. that I got to eat Muttai (Egg) Dosa from (TAPCO) outlets, Dosa batter coated with an egg and served with chutney or a hot sauce, was a rare delight for me. Starved of tasty food, all these street – eats were the proverbial sour fruit, necessarily because, we couldn’t go out frequently and also the pocket money was little. A life-long bonding with Banana and Yam chips was formed during my hostel days.
All these years later, these associations with food and the pre-occupation with it, may be a little silly, but cannot diminish the intenseness about it when food was an everyday concern.