A soft and healthy south Indian breakfast recipe

 Traditionally the idli batter is prepared with the rice and urad dal combination in 2:1 ratio respectively. But most recently in urban regions, the idli has undergone a transformation and is prepared with idli rava. idli rava option hastens the idli preparation and also yields soft and spongy idli for breakfast.

Traditionally or historically idli recipe has always been prepared with rice and urad dal combination. Even now most authentic recipes especially for any occasion or in temple feast. But due to the busy life, most of the urban dwellers and restaurant owners have adapted to prepare with idli rava or rice rava. Basically, idli rava is prepared with rice but has a fine and coarse shape similar to rava or semolina. in other words, only the urad dal is soaked and grounded which is later mixed with idli rava to form a thick idli batter. There isn’t any change in the ratio and still, follow the same. Moreover, with the addition of coarse idli rava, it gives a nice texture to the final idli. Generally grounded rice batter yields spongy and chewy idli, whereas idli rava makes it very soft idli.

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Idli                                 Prep Time 30 mins

                                      Cook Time 12 mi

Total Time 12 hrs 42 mins

Idli - A soft and healthy south Indian breakfast recipe. Learn how to make the batter, ferment to right texture and cook.

Ingredients

Idli rice - 4 Cups

Skinless Whole Urad dal - 1 Cup

Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp                

Salt - 3 Tbsp           

Instructions

·         Wash and soak the idli rice and urad dal+fenugreek seeds in clean water separately for minimum 5 Hours.

·         Drain the urad dal + fenugreek seeds from water and add it to the wet grinder. Grind by adding water (water used for soaking) little by little at regular intervals until you get a fluffy batter. Make sure there are no urad dal or fenugreek seeds sticking to the side wall of grinder drum. Use a plastic spatula to remove them from the sides and grind evenly. It took me about 7 minutes to grind the urad dal. Transfer the urad dal batter into a clean big container (which can hold double the quantity of total batter rice+urad dal).

·         Now drain the rice from water and grind it in the same wet grinder drum. You need not wash the grinder drum after grinding the urad dal. Follow the same procedure as urad dal grinding. Add enough water to get a smooth batter. It took me about 20 minutes to grind the rice. Now transfer the rice batter to the container containing urad dal batter.

·         Add the salt and use your hands to mix thoroughly. Both the rice and urad dal batter should mix nicely. Even mixing of batter is a must to get a best idli.

·         Now place the container in a warm place and let it rest over night for the fermentation to take place. The next day batter would have raised and the quantity doubled. It will be spongy. Do not over beat the fermented batter, to get soft idlis.

·         Take the idli cooker, fill it with a cup of water. Grease the idli plates with oil and fill them with the fermented batter. Place the idli trays in the idli cooker and cover it with the lid and cook. Insert a tooth pick to check if the idlis are cooked through. The toothpick should come out clean. Turn off the flame. It took me about 12 minutes. Remove the idli trays from the pot, let it cool down for a couple of minutes.

Remove the idlis from the plate and enjoy hot with sambar and chutney.