About Mane Adige

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"Mane Adige" means "Home Food" in kannada and this blog is all about recipes that I cook. Most of the recipes I post here will be from "Mangalooru" and "Bengalooru " regions of Karnataka,India. Rest of them are the one's which I try out by improvising the recipes got from different sources.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Idli/Idly

      

This recipe has been long overdue.... I have been receiving a lot of e-mails from Mane Adige readers, asking me why I still haven't posted the recipe for idli and dosa.

"Mane Adige is such an authentic South Indian blog, but you haven't posted the recipe for idli and dosa.... Looking forward to your way of making them!!"..... One of the readers said. Well, there are two reasons why I kept postponing it. Firstly, I always felt that idli and dosa are such common dishes that almost everyone would have the recipe for it... I don't have to really put it up, I thought!! Secondly, it took me quite a while to get myself to make soft and fluffy idlis!!! :D While crisp, golden brown dosas happened easily, idlis were a little difficult for me. I tried making idlis with a zillion variations... I tried adding poha, cooked rice, methi seeds, yeast.... but nothing worked :(. Both, my mom and MIL make the softest of idlis, but their tips dint work either. And finally one day, I decided to try out the most basic version again, with just dal, rice and some water. And, Ta-da.... It worked!!! We have been having soft and fluffy idlis ever since!!! :) And now I know what had gone wrong in all the previous times.... Everyone insisted so much on adding very little water while grinding, that I used to add too little water :D. So little water, that my blender used to get heated up and I could see fumes coming out when I opened the lid!!! :D Less is more, no doubt, but not so less that the dal does not even grind well...... My stupidity, I know!! :P Anyway, will head straight to the recipe now, enjoi!

Ingredients:

1 cup Urad Dal, soaked in water for about 4-5 hours or overnight

2 cups White Rice (I use sona masoori), soaked in water for about 4-5 hours or overnight

Salt as per taste

1-2 tsp Oil

Method:

  1. Grind the Urad dal to a smooth paste using a blender; Add enough water to make a fine paste, but also keep in mind not to make it too watery. Blend well, for at least 5-7 minutes.... Fluffier the batter, the better!
  2. Add rice to the blender and grind further with some water.
  3. Pour into a separate container and ferment overnight or, for about 8-9 hours; Make sure the container has enough room for the batter to rise.
  4. Add salt to the fermented batter and mix well; Smear a couple of drops of oil on each depression of the idli stand and pour 2-3 spoons of the batter into each one of them.
  5. Steam cook the idlis in a pressure cooker for about 14-15 minutes; Make sure you remove the weight.
  6. Remove stand from cooker and let cool for a minute or two; Use the back of a spoon or a knife to remove the idlis; Relish hot with coconut chutney or sambhar or any other gravy of your choice.

Prep Time: About 20-25 mins for grinding; and 15 mins for cooking;

Serves: Makes about 20 - 25 idlis;

Tip:
  1. If your feel the batter isn't fermenting well, you could try placing it in a warm place, like, the MW or inside the conventional oven.
  2. You could even use idli rava instead of sona masoori rice, to give a different texture to your idlis.

17 comments:

Finla said...

Well idlis and dosa might be easy to make, but i have never made idli in my wholelife.
Even though i love to eat idlies never ever made them always stick to dosa as hubby and daughter prefer dosa.
So when ever i am back home then i am just always eating idlies :-)

Unknown said...

They look soft n fluffy..Even I make the batter using my mixie and only after many times I got the right consistency..

Vanamala Hebbar said...

yes ramya look so soft idlies.
nice recipe..i make different ingredients.

bee said...

you really want to make me jealous, dontcha? i haven't made or eaten them in a long long time. yours looks fluffy and oh so melt-in-your-mouth good.

raaji said...

looks fluffy and perfect with madras sambar........

Kannada Cuisine said...

Fluffy idlis with hot sambar!!! Makes me feel just an inch from heaven!

Pavani said...

Thank u ramya for visiting my blog,u have a nice blog.Idli looks really soft.I think it will be best to eat with chutney/sambar...

Purnima said...

Ramya, I can relate to your first para, used to flop them miserably in first year..then I realised the basic recipe wt proper fermenting time, good quality of rice will make it happen..also one tip from my mom works well for poor mixies life! Soak the urad daal in fridge itself, helps to keep the motor head cool while grinding -besides ours..heee :)
Idlis look soft n fluffy! Mine is rava idli brkfast today!

Sia said...

i completely agree with u. for every season i have to change the proportion of dal and rice to make it soft and fluffier. might sound strange but that is the fact ;)

SMN said...

Ramya.. Idli looks yum its sometime i didnt prepare it.

news.linq.in said...

Your tip to have "placing it in a warm place, like, ..." will really be helpful as most of the time it happens that batter is not fermented properly.
those idli's are looking very fluffy & yummy.

Regards,
LinQ.

Sangeeth said...

Idly is the one food which is recommended even when we r sick! thanks for sharing

Lakshmi said...

Nice post and loved those lined up idlis..

Cham said...

The ratio will work for blender i guess :) Never made batter in blender but the idli is pretty good.

Anonymous said...

Ramya i tried this idlis it came out soft n fluffy. Thanks for the receipie.

Unknown said...

if the batter does not ferment it is recommended to add three tablespoons of thick rice poha (WASHED) INTO THE BATTER WHILE GRINDING , ITS A SECRET I HAVE SHARED WITH YOU. ALL WEATHER FERMENTING FORMULA. next day the idlies would be as soft as in the picture.

Anonymous said...

Hi thanks for the recipe.. i have one question though,.. will be highly thankful if u please answer my question.. Can I use normal food mixer for grinding dal and rice? If yes, then approximately how long I need to keep the mixer ON for proper texture of the rice-dal batter? Thanks in advance
Asha