Idli

A South Indian breakfast of steamed rice and lentil dumplings
Ingredients - Makes approximately 36 idlis
  • 1 cup black gram or urad dal
  • 2 cups idli rice (or parboiled rice) or idli rava (broken rice)
  • 1 tsp fenugreek seeds, optional
  • 1½ tsp salt
  • 3 cups water
  • 2 tbsp ghee or oil
Steps
  1. To make the batter
    1. Wash and soak the black gram and fenugreek seeds in 2-3 cups of water for at least 4 hours. Also wash and soak the idli rice or rava similarly in a separate bowl
    2. Drain well and grind with 3 cups of fresh water to form a smooth batter. Add salt and mix well
      3. A {wet grinder} will make the best batter but a {blender} can also do the job
    3. Cover and store in a warm place for the batter to ferment and rise. It can take about 8 hours to an entire night. You can speed up the process by placing the batter, covered, in a warm oven
  2. To make the Idlis
      Idlis are steamed in {idli moulds}, which are stainless steel or aluminium plates with shallow indentations
    1. Brush each indentation of an idli mould with ghee or oil. Spoon in a little bit of the batter
    2. Stack the plates of top of each other and place in a large pot containing ½-1 cup of water. The water should not touch the bottom plate
    3. Cover and steam on high heat for 10 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes. The idlis can then be removed easily using a wet spoon
    4. Serve immediately with Sambar, Karam Podi and/or any of the following chutneys - Coconut chutney, Tomato-Sesame chutney, Palli Pachadi
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