The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Honey, I shrunk the idli vada!

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Tuesday, Aug 19, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Honey, I shrunk the idli vada!

M. Raghuram

Bangalore: Have you ever wondered why idlis, vadas and dosas disappear faster nowadays? If it used to take at least 10 minutes to eat two idlis and one vada, it now takes fewer minutes. Don’t worry, you’re not a glutton, its just that these items are getting smaller.

A year ago, dosas looked robust and jutted out of the 10-inch plate, but now they fit snugly into the plate. An idli used to weigh 100 to 120 gm in a standard eatery but now its weighs anywhere from 80 to 100 gm.

Vadas used to cost Rs. 7 a year ago, but now they cost Rs. 10 and they have also shrunk in size; so you feel deprived if you have just one.

It is not just with idli, vada and dosas but also with other dishes. Take kesari bath and khara bath. They were such sumptuous fillers, but not anymore. The kesari bath in many eateries is served without the characteristic broken cashew nuts and raisins.

Blame it on inflation, say hoteliers. “We have to increase the prices of dishes as the prices of commodities have gone up,” says a hotelier at one of the franchises of the Adiga group of hotels.

However, some well-known hotels in the city such as Vidyarthi Bhavan in Basavanagudi, Hari Ram on K.G. Road, Ashoka Hotel in Vijayanagar, Kamat, Chalukya at High Point and Mavalli Tiffin Room on Lalbagh Road are not in favour of reducing the size of their dishes.

Pradeep Kumar, who eats breakfast at a darshini located opposite Bowring Hospital, says, “It does not matter, as I consume very little. As long as the taste is good and the hotel maintains quality and hygiene I do not see quantity as an issue.”

Satyaprakash, who owns a darshini on K.H. Road, says, “The price of every commodity right from rice, dal, vegetables, fuel and, above all, labour cost, has gone up substantially. It is difficult to give the same quantity and quality as at the old rates.”

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