Idli

Idlis are steamed cakes made of rice and lentils; one of the breakfast specialty of Southern India.

Being brought up in Mumbai, these steamed cakes can be eaten during for breakfast, lunch, snack or dinner :)

Earlier I have explained an easy way of preparing and fermenting Idli and Dosa batter. Now I have it with pictures! :)

Traditionally idli batter is made by soaking rice and lentils separately and grinding them on a grinding stone till it becomes a smooth paste and then fermenting the batter.

It is surely a long process and difficult to grind whole grain rice. So instead of using rice, I use rice flour :)

Soak  1 cup urad dal/ split white lentil in 2 cup water for 5-6 hours.

Soak 3 cups of rice flour in 3 1/4 cup water whisking well to avoid lumps and make a smooth paste. 

Cover and set is aside for 4-5 hours.

Discard excess water and grind soaked lentils in a blender or a food processor.

Add soaked rice flour paste to blend them well. It is okay if you cannot add the entire rice flour batter in your blender. Blend together whatever you can. Hand mix rest of it in a bowl.

Mix well for 4-5 minutes. Cover and set it aside in a warm place to ferment for 6-8 hours. Use a large bowl so that your fermented batter does not overflow.

The batter I made did ferment and overflew :( Luckily I had a big plate underneath the bowl and I could dump the overflown batter back into the bowl :) You could see the air pockets when fermented.

Add salt and mix well. I do not add any other rising agent like Soda bi carb.

Refrigerate or freeze extra batter and it is good for a busy week.

Grease idli mold/ idli plate with a drop of oil.

Add a spoonful of batter. Do not fill it completely.

I have an idli stand with 4 plates to make 16 idlis at a time.

Insert the idli stand when the water in the container starts to steam. 

These cakes are cooked over a steam bath. Cover and cook for 8-10 minutes.

Gently open the lid and remove the stand. Let the idlis rest for 2 minutes.

Use the tip of a knife or a spoon and scoop out idlis carefully.

Serve over plantain leaf with coconut chutney or powder chutney with spicy rasam or sambhar :)

Use the same batter to make Uttapam (pancake) or Dosa (Crepes)

 My first ever Cooking Workshop at The Harker faculty retreat. It was so much fun to talk and demonstrate about Indian cooking to my colleagues. The participants could then get their hands on making some plain and masala Dosas.

I also demoed a cone dosa/cap dosa :)

Appe

 Mini Idlis Pan fried with spices.

Plan to make your batter soon!