Trivia 101 thread : WW2 and the South Indian ( veg) cuisine. During world war 2 there was an acute shortage of rice in India . As Burma the subcontinen's largest rice producer was invaded by Japan . The cost of rice and its products sky rocketed in the country.

The madras presidency started rationing to pacify the agitated population , urban cooperative society was formed to distribute food fairly . Vadais, bondas, idlies and dosas were being taken off the menus of most eateries. Rice was so expensive it was smuggled illegally

Wheat was imported from Australia and free cooking demonstrations were carried out with false claims that wheat was twice as nutritious as rice. But people long harboured food habits didn't change and the demand for the traditional idly and dosa remained strong

Semolina is the course wheat or rice middlings that served seldom considered edible. People who were yearning for the traditional dishes invented dishes out of it. Most popular is the Rava idli . It's claimed by the owners of mavalli Tiffin rooms that they invented it.

Now the dish is a mainstay in every Karnataka household. Rava dosa is a mainstay in every Tamil veg restaurant . Both the dishes was invented just 75 years back cause Hitler decided to invade Poland

Here's a pic of rava dosa btw . Imagine living in an era where this didn't exist.