Studies on the nutritive value of idli fortified with Indian multipurpose food.

Id (steamed rice cake) is a common food
preparation widely consumed in many South
Indian homes. It is usually prepared by steaming
a fermented dough of rice and black gram dhal.
Idli is generally considered as a nourishing and
easily digestible food and is given even to children
over 2 years of age. In view of the widespread
occurrence of protein malnutrition among children
in the countryi, it was thought that idli fortified
with protein rich foods could be used for the
treatment and prevention of protein malnutrition
in children. Studies on the different techniques
of the preparation of idli with a view to effecting
simplification in the commonly practised technique
of grinding have been reported from this
Institute'''. Radhakrishna Rao4 studied the effect
of feeding idli prepared from fermented and unfermented
dough of rice and black gram dhal on the
liver fat of albino rats. They made the interesting
observation that idli prepared from fermented
dough was more effective in preventing the
deposition of fat in the liver than idli from unfermented
dough. Apart from this, no information
is available on the nutritive value of idli. In
the present investigation, the effect of fortification
of the idli dough with Bengal gram dhal and
Indian multipurpose food on the nutritive value
of idli have been studied.