The Legend of the Curd Rice.

And the legend continues...

This is a story of the favourite dish of all that is Tamil.

Essentially it is not really a dish. It is more of an experience. If you ask any tamilian (excluding yours truly of course) what would complete his meal; the prompt answer would be 'konjum thayir sadam', as though life would not be whole without the gift of god to man kind, Curd rice.

The conditioning to thayir saadam( if you still haven't gotten it, it means curd rice) starts at a very young age for us. From the little morsels of 'thachi mummum' (again, curd rice) which were fed to you by patti (grandmum), to the suffocating tadka that precedes the preparation of this lovely delicacy.

I read somewhere that humans generally burp as an indication that the stomach is full. Tamilians though have a different mechanism, they eat thayir sadam to signify that the meal is now definitely over.

There are many explanations to the phenomenon of 'Thayir Sadam'. One that I really liked was from a teacher of mine. She said that tamilian food consists of three courses. Sambar rice, rasam rice, and then comes 'THAYIR SADAM'. Thayir sadam detoxifies the effects of the spices of the previous 2 courses. The fact being nothing can really detoxify the effects of sambar and rasam. Not even the lovely thayir sadam can conquer the after effects of those spices. Trust me.

The amount of times I have gotten dirty looks from my relatives for refusing to have thayir sadam is truly amazing. In a tamil household, to refuse thayir sadam tantamounts to an insult to the host. And if you happen to be a tamilian(other species are let off because they don't know the true benefits of all that is tamil), then the questions come pouring in. Why don't you eat thayir sadam? Atleast have thayir. What is wrong with you? as if you have committed the worst sin ever. It is expected that every tamilian knows the benefits of thayir sadam. And trust me, every tamilian is taught the benefits of it.

Another modification of thayir sadam is 'More Sadam'. This is nothing but buttermilk with rice. There still exists many variations to it, althought the time required to explain it is truly enormous. More sadam is usually served at weddings, where buying so much thayir is really expensive.

So, the next time when you see a tamilian going gaga over his thayir sadam and licking the trickling curd/more from his elbow to his fingers, remember it means so much more to him than just food.