Idli! The fluffy, filling snack/meal

Idli is the perennial favourite as a breakfast dish in the south. While zillions of variations and varieties have cropped up in the past several decades, the traditional idli made with boiled rice, urad dal and fenugreek seeds remains the undisputed king of this snack food. Why just a snack? When combined with sambar, chutney and the popular sagu or kurma, it makes a complete meal, which is not only filling, but also light on the stomach (and the purse, if one is eating out).

Being fermented and steamed, it has enormous health benefits, is easily digestible and suitable for all ages, from small children to convalescent adults to the very elderly. Of course, when one goes to eat out, idlis are shunned in preference to the more glamorous dosa, with its attractive brown shade and crispy texture, but those looking for a filling option, order the good old idlis.

While travelling southward by train, one can clearly mark the beginning of ‘idli-land’ when vendors begin selling it in plantain-leaf wrapped packets on the platforms and inside bogies. Before railway catering became common in the 70s, south Indians carried these white round rice cakes either smeared with spicy milagai podi, or plain, to be eaten with some long-lasting onion/tomato chutney or some chutney powder. Idlis stay good for at least a day even during summers, even in a general compartment without AC.

There are as many recipes of idlis as there are cooks/chefs who make them. The rice used, the proportions, the other ingredients – all differ from recipe to recipe. The best rice to use is idli rice, but you can use any parboiled (ukda/sela) rice too. The idli retains its super-soft texture even when cold. If you are using only raw rice, increase the quantity of urad dal. I will share the proportions below.

I use a mixture of parboiled and raw rice along with urad dal and a little fenugreek seeds. The proportion is 2 parboiled rice, 1 raw rice and 1 urad dal (preferably whole white urad dal, if you can find it), along with a little methi seeds – 2:1:1.

Old timers ground the rice-dal by hand on stone grinders, but have since adapted to motorised wet-grinders which are available in convenient and compact sizes and shapes. The smallest among them is not much larger than a mixer-grinder.  However, I have never owned a wet-grinder, but have trusted my Sumeet mixer to do duty for me grinding idli-dosa batter for decades now.

Note: I have given the proportions in measures, which means you can try out a small batch to begin with. Just use the same measure for all ingredients.

Ingredients:

• Idli/Parboiled (ukda/sela) rice:    2 cups
• Raw rice                                 :    1 cup
• Urad (Black gram) dal            :     1 cup
• Methi (fenugreek) seeds        :      1 tsp

Method:

• Wash both the rice together in several changes of water.
• Bring enough water to a rolling boil and pour over the rice. Cover with a lid and keep aside for at least 6 hours.
• Soak the urad dal in ordinary water along with the methi seeds. After a couple of hours, keep the bowl in the fridge. This step prevents the dal from heating up while grinding, especially in a mixer-grinder.
• After six hours, grind the urad dal till it is ground into a fine batter and becomes light and fluffy. Sprinkle a little water at a time to grind it. Use the cold water it was soaked in, as it will help keep the dal cool. Don’t add too much water. It should be thick. Take it out into a deep/large vessel or container.
• Now grind the rice to a fine batter, by adding the cool water little by little.
• Mix it with the urad dal batter. Add salt and mix it thoroughly using your hand.
• Cover and leave it in a warm place overnight or at least for 8-10 hours. If you happen to live in very cold climes, cover the vessel with the batter with flannel or some warm cloth and leave in a warm place. Alternately, you can cover and leave it in the oven with just the light on. Do not switch on the oven.
• To make idlis:
• When you start making idlis, pour the batter into another vessel without mixing it, since the top portion of the batter is well aerated and is best for idlis.
• Grease idli moulds with a little oil and pour ladleful of batter into each mould. Don’t overfill them, as the idlis need space to rise when steamed.
• Heat 2 cups of water in an idli-cooker or pressure cooker. Once the water comes to a boil, place the mould in it and steam on high for 5 minutes and for 7-8 minutes on simmer. If you are using pressure cooker, don’t use the weight/whistle.
• Take out and let it cool for a minute. Wet a butter knife or spatula and gently remove the idlis from the mould.
• Serve hot, with coconut chutney, sambar or milagai podi.

Tips:

1. Avoid basmati for idlis. Use parboiled rice as far as possible, as it makes them soft.
2. Using hot water to soak the rice makes it softer to grind in the mixer.
3. Any heavy-duty grinder will grind boiled rice well. If, however, yours is not heavy-duty, (Preethi, Panasonic, Sumeet), use raw rice but make the proportion 2:1 – 2 measures raw rice and one measure urad dal.
4. I add salt and mix the batter after grinding. Some people add it only after it is fermented.
5. Mix the batter with hand after grinding. It helps in fermentation.
6. After fermenting, the heavier particles of rice would be at the bottom, while the top would be well aerated and fluffy. Pour out the batter without mixing, into another bowl and use that for idlis. The If you are only going to make idlis, mix the batter well and aerate it thoroughly to help the idlis fluff up after steaming.
7. The batter from the bottom can be kept in the fridge for making dosas the next day. The batter remains good for 3-4 days, getting slightly sour, which is good for dosas/uttappam.