Required Ingredients:
1. 3 cups of Idli Rice – typically short grain of rice
2. 1 cup of Urad Dal/ Split Black Gram
3. 1 teaspoon Methi/ Fenugreek seeds
4. Salt to taste
Take three cups of Idli Rice. This rice is parboiled rice, typically of a small grain size which is dried and sold in any departmental store across India. Rince them a couple of times and soak them in one and a half time the volume of water that of the rice. Similarly, wash the Urad Dal and soak it in 1½ cups of water. Add a teaspoon of fenugreek seeds to this. Soak for around 5-6 hours. In case of a colder climate, soaking an additional couple of hours can help later during fermentation.
Strain the water out of the soaked grains. First, grind the urad dal to a fine and a silky-smooth consistency. Add a ladle of water or as required to achieve the required consistency. Then grind the rice to a coarse consistency. Add some water to make it of a pouring consistency, but not too liquidy. Mix the two batters and stir vigorously. Allow to capture some air.
The batter will not really expand, unlike a bread dough. However, one can notice formations of little cracks on the surface indicating fermentation.
Keep this batter covered overnight in a warm place to ferment – typically it requires 12-14 hours to achieve the right fermentation. However, in colder places, this may require as much as 36 hours! Fenugreek seeds help in breaking the protein compounds and help in fermentation. But do not add more than specified quantity as the taste may become bitter.
The batter will not really expand, unlike a bread dough. However, one can notice formations of little cracks on the surface indicating fermentation. This is due to the absence of gluten, and this is a different type of fermentation. Add a pinch of rock salt to this fermented batter and stir vigorously. Allow the batter to settle.
Mildly grease the idli trays with ghee. Doing this with your fingers rather than a brush is recommended, as the body heat softens and melts the ghee and allows it to spread evenly. Now fill the batter into the tray – only half the volume of the idly mould as the idlis will expand upon steaming. Pop the trays into the steamer for about 15-20 minutes. Make sure that the steamer is brought to boil before laying the trays.
To check if the idlis are done, don’t stick a fork! Rather, try to smell the leaking steam from the steamer and gauge if the idlis are cooked.
To check if the idlis are done, don’t stick a fork! Rather, try to smell the leaking steam from the steamer and gauge if the idlis are cooked. Once done, dip a slightly curved spatula into cold water and scrape the idlis at once from the tray. Serve them piping hot.
The process of making good idlis is quite simple (not to be confused with easy), but one may have to learn to observe the subtle changes to the ingredients that go in the idli as well as the temperature and the surrounding environment around. It demands our total presence and only then one can yield the perfect idlis.
However, this is not the only recipe for making good idlis. There are a hundred other ways to make them, each variation a unique one. And, each is good in its own way. Though, there is one secret ingredient that is common throughout all of these recipes, and it is “slowness”.
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