Saturday, February 7, 2009

Idli

IDLI is a staple breakfast for most South Indians... And am sure all the moms prefer to make the batter over the weekends... so almost every household, the monday mornings would start with hot n steamy idlis... Eat them with simple coconut chutney / tomato chutney / mint chutney.... or simply idli podi....Or even better... idli sambar... It is so heavenly and they pump up your mornings....
As a kid, I never used to like idlis, but with all these cereals and oats breakfast...... IDLIS have become a craving & a luxury...I am so glad, I got my own grinder... now I can make idlis whenever I want ...Yuhoooo...

What I Used

1 cup of Urad dal
4 cups of Idli Rice
(Par boiled rice / Puzhungal arisi)
1 tsp of methi seeds
(fenugreek / vendayam)

How I made it

Wash and Soak Idli rice for 5 - 6 hours and Urad dal for 1 - 2 hrs. Add the methi seeds to the urad dal when and soak them as well. In the grinder(blender), grind the urad and rice seperately. Mix the two batters, add salt to taste and leave it to rest and ferment over night. Place a layer of wet muslin cloth on the idli plate, and pour batter up to 3/4 in each mold. Donot mix the batter, because this may flatten the batter and idlis will turn out flat / hard. Steam cook this for 7 - 8 minutes. And serve hot with sambar, chutney or idli podi... Yummy idli ready.

Tricks:
1. With the skyrocketing prices of rice... Idlis have actually become a luxury... so I tried to mix 2 cups of idli rice with 2 cups of Long grain rice (I get the Blue ribbon brand from Costco). And luckily they turn out really well...Some of my friends have also tried 4 cups of long grain rice... But somehow, I like this better...
2. If you use a mixie, you might want to try 3:1 measure for rice: dal. If your idlis turn out hard, then you will need more urad dal. If your idlis turn out flat, you will need more rice.
3. The Urad dal normally takes 30 - 40 minutes to grind (depending on the grinder and the dal). Add in the water in small quantities in 5 minute intervals. This helps to make a fluffy batter.This should be very smooth and nicely aerated.

4. The rice would take 20 - 25 minutes to grind, just sprinkle water as you grind. Stop when the rice is a little coarse. Do not grind it very smoothly.
5. Mix the batter with your hand... this helps it to ferment better, using a spatula may not help sometimes.
6. During winter, heat the oven for only 2 minutes on 250F and then place the batter inside overnite. This helps the batter to rise even in cold weather.
7. Remember to leave room for the batter to rise in the vessel you place it. Mom generally places the bowl of batter on a plate, so that even if the batter rises and overflows, the mess is easier to clean.
I use a piece of wet paper towel on my idli plate. This makes life so easier, I dont have to think about washing and drying the idli muslin cloth.

8 comments:

  1. Damn, you have a grinder, lucky you :D I grind my dough in Preeti - but comes out just fine, nice soft fluffy idlies. But I sure do worry about the weather. Haven't made idlies all winter as the dough just doesn't rise.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hei Rums...this is what I do, In winter, just heat the oven for 2 minutes on 250F. Then place the batter in oven over nite... maavu soopera pongum...I was going to add this tip in my blog...

    ReplyDelete
  3. It didn't work for me Sangs. I did try it the last time, and ended up making delicious dosais instead, lol. Now the weather has gotten better, so I'm probably going to make a batch of batter. Do you also add a dash of vendayam? I do that - helps yield real soft idlies.

    ReplyDelete
  4. That pathram moodi that you have, my mom has the exact same in India. And your idly thattus look nice, 7 in one :O where did you get that? Does that fit inside a cooker or dutch oven?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I use a mixie - it works perfect with 3 cups of Idly rice and 1 and a quarter or sometimes even half cup of urad dal. Yields real good idlies that sometimes, it's easier than the grinder - says MIL! I use the wet paper towel too :D But athla amma also uses 3:1 measure thaan, for grinder also.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Depends on the rice / urad quality.... I always use 4:1 ... amma uses 3:1 only if it is mixie...For some reason, I can never grind it in a mixie :(....My idli thattu is the "chettinaad style gundaan" one with 7 & 5 plates. It comes with the 2 plates, the lid and the bottom vessel... I use the 7 plate separately in one of my nonstick pans (amma uses iluppachatti) ... It doesnt fit in my cooker... guess..it shd fit in a dutch oven..

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow, I just gathered from my mom that she has it at home. But she never uses it, the lid, she uses it for different reasons. I guess that's why I found it familiar. It comes out in a conical shape, right. Ascending order, I mean. It comes out perfectly okay in a mixie, just that you need to do it in batches. You need room for the ulundu to fluff up. Gets done faster than grinder. And the rice is coarsely ground only, no way of grinding it fine. I have space constraints and without even knowing if I'll be for long, it doesn't make sense in buying a grinder. But I might if i know for sure :D

    ReplyDelete
  8. Idli puffs up bt as soon as out of steamer immediately gets flat, why?

    ReplyDelete