World Idli Day 2022: Meet the Idli Man, E. Eniyavan Who Makes 2547 Unique Varieties of Idlis

World Idli Day is observed on 30th March every year. As many of you may already know that idli is a popular dish in South India. It is mainly consumed as a breakfast item and is extremely tasty and a must-have delicacy. It's no surprise that a day dedicated to it is observed each year by individuals all over the globe, particularly in India.

Meet The Man Behind The World Idli Day Celebration

Krishi Jagran conducted a live interactive session with the world-famous Idli man, M Eniyavan. He stated during the live session that he has made thousands of Idlis and promises to keep making them. He has completed dedicated himself to making varieties of Idlis. His entire life revolves around making idlis. Eniyavan said that idli has added meaning to his life.

Eniyavan is currently the owner of a famous idli restaurant in Chennai. He can make 2547 different varieties of idlis. His restaurant employs 50 to 60 people. Whenever he gets orders, he provides the opportunity of working on hourly wages to people who live on the road or people who are very poor. 

Story of Eniyavan

During the live interactive session, M Eniyavan shared his life story with Krishi Jagran. Let us take a look at  the fascinating journey of the idli man

M Eniyavan comes from a poor family. He has struggled a lot throughout his journey. In the initial days of his idli journey, M Eniyavan worked at a tea stall. After some time, he started his work as an auto-driver. Passengers liked him because of his good behavior and reasonable fare prices that he offered to customers.

One day, he met a lady named Chandra. She used to supply 250 idlis to hotels. It was Chandra who provided Eniyavan a work opportunity to supply idli in Chennai.

He first came to Chennai in the year 1997 with two idli-making boxes. He started making and supplying idlis to hotels in Chennai.

Everything was running smoothly until one day when he woke up seeing his idli batter floating in the rain and sewer water. Due to this, he could not supply idlis to the hotels. Thereafter, he did not have a source of income in the strange city and had to spend 20 nights consecutively sleeping on the platform. But after some time, he again started making and supplying idlis in the hopes of being successful. His idli business started growing slowly and he started making and supplying idlis for different caterers.

One day while making idlis, he wondered why idlis are only available in one shape, why can't idli be shaped differently. With this unusual thought, he started making different shapes of idlis. Later on, he also started experimenting with the flavors and ingredients of idli. He started making and selling different kinds of idlis such as Ragi idli, cake-shaped idlis, Rasam idlis, etc. With this approach, he has reached the milestone of creating 2547 unique varieties of idlis.

Awards and Accomplishments

Eniyavan has won over 150 awards for his unique idli creations including the Aval Vikkatan Yummy Award, various lifetime achievements awards, and even his name is registered in the Guinness book of world records for making the world's largest idli which weighed 124.8 Kg.