You all must be wondering why am I posting such an easy recipe this time…Sometimes the simpler ones turn out to be the most challenging job.
All the time I am dragged towards the new innovations, somehow failing to achieve few small targets behind. Yeah… I am talking about preparing the heavenly soft South Indian “idli”.
In the state of Andhra (India), mostly the idlis are made with the “idli rava”.
Where as in Tamil Nadu state (India) it’s made using boiled rice as the main ingredient. I have been trying to make perfect idlis (Tamil Nadu style) since few months, however every time I try, it would be flop show.
I really felt upset and unhappy about this unsuccessful task. I researched a lot online, tried with different proportions again ending up with imperfect idlis.
I then realised that the batter must be softly blended in a wet grinder, which I hadn’t possessed yet.
But to my satisfaction I made Andhra style idlis using idli rava and urad dal (black gram). Idlis came out well and also very soft.
Huh…. Finally I made it !! Take a look here:
Idli (with idli rava)
Ingredients
- Idli rava – 2 cups
- Urad dal black gram – 1/2 cup
- Fenugreek seeds – 6-7 no.s
- Salt – as per taste
- Water – 7 cups
Instructions
- To get perfect idlis, the black gram and idli rava must be separately soaked.
- Take a bowl, add black gram (urad dal) , fenugreek seeds and 3 cups of water. Soak it for 6-7 hours.
- Take one more bowl and soak 2 cups of idli rava in 4 cups of water for 1 hour. Remember to soak idli rava only when the black gram is soaked well and ready to use. Else you can also soak the idli rava in water during the last soaking hour of black gram.
- Once both are soaked well, take a blender / grinder and blend the batter to a thick and soft consistency. The batter should not be too watery. Add salt once the batter is blended well. Mix well.
- Now that the batter is ready, take the idli plates. Grease the hollow space of the plates with oil.
- Pour the batter onto the idli plates.
- Take a pressure cooker, fill it with little water.
- Place the plates into the cooker. Close the lid and cook it for 15-20 min on a medium-high flame. DO NOT put the whistle. To test whether the idlis are cooked well, take a knife and inject the tip into one of the idlis, if knife comes out clean, it indicates that the idlis are perfectly cooked. They are ready to serve.
Making idlis in an Idli steamer would be more efficient. First allow the water to boil for 5 min before placing the batter filled idli plates into it.
Super soft and perfect round idlis are now ready to eat. Serve it with your favorite chutney and sambar.
Most commonly they are served with coriander chutney, coconut chutney, tomato-onion chutney, drumstick-onion sambar, mint chutney.
I would suggest to pour a spoon full of clarified butter onto the hot soft idlis, before serving.
