Brace yourself, climate crisis is coming for your sambar
paddu—served at breakfast, sambar-rice for lunch and mirchi bajjis (chilli fritters) as an evening snack. She has been helming this micro-business for five years now, paying for the upkeep of three children and their education. Taiyamma’s husband, a driver in a neighbouring state capital, earns just enough to repay monthly loan instalments on a newly acquired pick-up van.
Lately, running the eatery has not been easy. Basic items like vegetables and pulses have turned expensive. But Taiyamma does not want to hike prices, fearing she may lose customers.
She still makes a decent amount every day, about ₹1,400 or so, after paying for rent, the cost of groceries and two helping hands. But serving sambar-rice is bleeding her, she says. Sambar, a flavourful stew prepared using assorted spices, chunky pieces of vegetables and tur dal (pigeon peas), is a staple in southern Indian cuisine.
As tur prices climbed to a steep ₹180 per kg, Taiyamma can ill-afford to serve sambar for lunch. Anyone else would have raised prices or taken it off the menu. But not her.
“Many workers (casual wage earners) depend on my sambar-rice for lunch (served for ₹40 a plate). If I stop, they may just skip lunch. I have figured out a way for now—use the profits from the evening bajjis to cover the costs ofsambar," Taiyamma says over the phone.
She has reduced the use of tur dal at her home kitchen replacing it with a cheaper pulse (masoor or lentils, available at half the price). But at the eatery, she does not want to cut corners. The reputation of her nascent business is at stake.
For now, Taiyamma has managed to ward off a minor crisis. But when it comes to tur dal and its outsized importance in Indian kitchens, the next few months appear bleak. The
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