Difference between revisions of "Team:Paris Bettencourt/Design"
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<h2>Why the idli?</h2> | <h2>Why the idli?</h2> | ||
− | + | The <i>idli</i> (or <i>idly</i>) is a little steamed cake made of fermented rice and black lentil (called <i>dal</i>). It is a very popular breakfast all across India, mostly in the South, often eaten with chutney. | |
+ | <br>We wanted our product to really fit the traditions and taste of the people we were targeting, and the idli appeared like the ideal dish. It is so popular that it is considered a staple food in the indian’s population diet, as well as the <i>dosa</i> which is made of a similar batter but a bit less coarse, and looks like a crepe. Its two ingredients (rice and <i>dal</i>) are very cheap and accessible ressources, and <i>idli</i> is commonly eaten by people who lack other types of food, and who suffer from vitamin deficiencies. There is even a program in the country that distributes free rice to the poorest populations in the country, the Public Distribution System (PDS); and in the city of Chennai and its neighborhood, canteens called <i>Amma Unavagam</i> sell <i>idli</i> and other foods for very inexpensive prices (Rs1 for 1 <i>idli</i>). | ||
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+ | Other than its popularity and easy access, the most interesting property of the <i>idli</i> is that it is fermented. To cook <i>idli</i>, people soak rice and dal separately, then grind and mix them together, then let the batter ferment overnight. In the hot indian climate, the batter ferments quickly and its volume can triple in one night. | ||
+ | <br>Many studies have been made on the microbiome of the idli batter. Though the strains found in idli can vary a lot from a study to another, probably because the microbiome depends on the region, we found out that <i>Lactococcus lactis</i> and <i>Lactobacillus plantarum</i> are among the most common fermentative bacteria found in <i>idli</i> batter, while in the yeast population <i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i> was always present. <font color="red">ADD SOURCES</font> Since we wanted our product to disrupt as little as possible the taste of the <i>idli</i>, we chose to work on those organisms to produce the different vitamins and improve the iron availability, instead of adding new micro-organisms that weren’t already present in the <i>idli</i> batter, and that could have influenced the whole microbiome in a way that would have been difficult to predict. | ||
+ | <br><font color="red">+ should we talk about the advantages of fermented foods?</font> | ||
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Revision as of 14:10, 17 September 2015