We need small time retail shops too...

Idli and Dosa are among the regular breakfast items in my home. As commonly done, we make the batter for them by grinding soaked rice and urad whole (ulutham paruppu in Tamil or black lentil in English) separately and mixing the batter well into uniform mix. We keep the batter overnight in room temperature to let it ferment and use it from the next day morning for making idli or dosa. My mother and my wife manage this whole process well.

The quality of the urad, including its freshness, makes a big difference to the fluffiness and the taste of idli. How well the idli turns out matters to us a lot. Due to this, I used to buy urad from a big super market and the urad used to be very good. But my mother used to complain that the quality of the urad from that supermarket, is not consistent. All other groceries from that supermarket are of the best quality and with consistency. Many times, the urad that I buy would give the best result meaning it is of the best quality (as per my mother) and a few times, the batter would not be that great. Looking for the shop that can give me the best urad consistently, I tried buying urad from various other big super markets. The story was no different. The idlis were not fluffier enough. Being a hands-on person with the batter making process for over 5 decades, my mother is the certifying body for the quality of the batter at the end of the grinding and mixing process. And, she would tell right after the batter is prepared, how good the urad was and how well the idlis would turn out to be the next day.

I was disappointed that we were unable to get the best quality urad consistently despite trying many different big supermarkets. I used to think that the big supermarkets that stock everything would give me the best quality groceries. Finally, with lot of reluctance, I decided to try a small-time grocery shop (mom and pop shop as they call in the U.S) as per my mother's suggestion. That shop is Balaji stores near my house. First, as a test, I bought one kilogram of urad whole from that shop. My mother used it for preparing the batter and gave the immediate interim verdict - "this urad seems to be better than others". This she said from the texture and lightness of the batter. The next day came the final verdict from her - "this urad matches the best urad we have bought". The idlis were really fluffy and among the best idlis we had made at home. I was happy.

But wait, what about consistency of the quality? For that, I need to give Balaji stores a few more chances. I bought more quantity, 3 kilograms, of urad the next time from the same Balaji stores. This time too, my mother and my wife, both, said the quality of urad was the best. I became more confident that I had found the right shop for the best quality urad. Thereafter, I brought home many kilograms of urad multiple times from the same shop Balaji stores and every time the quality was as good as it was the first time we bought it from that shop.

Finally, we decreed that, for our home, the best place to buy the best quality urad is Balaji stores and I have been buying it from only there though I buy all other groceries from my regular supermarket - it has been more than a year we have been doing this. This has given me a different perspective. I feel we need small-time retail shops too and not just big supermarkets.