Q1.
Viswanath made idlis by mixing 6 cups of rice with 3 cups of urad dal, while Puneet made idlis by mixing 4 cups of rice with 2 cups of urad dal. If cooked in the same way, would their idlis taste the same?
Answer
Yes — the two batters are mixed in the same proportion.
Viswanath’s mixture = 6 : 3 Puneet’s mixture = 4 : 2
Cross-multiplication: 6 × 2 = 12
3 × 4 = 12
The two products are equal, so 6 : 3 :: 4 : 2
Both reduce to 2 : 1 — twice as much rice as urad dal.
Cross-multiplication: 6 × 2 = 12
3 × 4 = 12
The two products are equal, so 6 : 3 :: 4 : 2
Both reduce to 2 : 1 — twice as much rice as urad dal.
Why it happens: Taste depends on the proportion of rice to urad dal, not on how much batter is made. Viswanath used 9 cups in all and Puneet 6 cups, but in both mixtures every 2 cups of rice is matched by 1 cup of dal. Scaling a recipe up or down by a common factor leaves the proportion untouched.
Tip: The book adds a fair condition — “if all the other ingredients are proportional too”. Same salt, same soaking, same fermenting time. Only then does equal proportion mean equal taste.