COOK A LIP SMACKING ALL ROUNDER SOUTH INDIAN MEAL WITH EASE

The south-Indian food variety – steamed idlis, is popularly accepted and loved as a meal option for any time of the day, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner. One can never go wrong with Idlis since they are easy to cook, satiating and easy to digest.

If the idli cooker price has left you wondering whether you need one or not, then the answer is no, you do not need an idli cooker. A pressure cooker when used without a whistle can act as an idli cooker.

If this alone has got you excited, then follow the recipe for Steamed Idlis below:

Ingredients:

1. Idli rice – 4 cups
2. Skinned Black Gram Lentil (urad dal) – one cup
3. Flattened Rice (poha) – 1 cup
4. Fenugreek (methi) seeds – 1 teaspoon
5. Salt – 2 teaspoons
6. Cold Water – as required

Preparation:

Since idlis are primarily made of rice, having a perfectly fermented batter is very important. Follow the below steps to make the idli batter:

1. Rinse urad dal and poha in water 2-3 times until the water is clear. Soak the rinsed urad dal and poha with methi seeds for 4 hours or overnight.
2. Rinse the idli rice in a separate bowl in the same manner as urad dal and soak it for 4 hours or overnight.
3. Drain water from both the soaking bowls.
4. Blend the soaked rice in a blender to make a smooth paste. Once ready, pour the paste in a bowl.
5. Separately, blend the soaked urad dal, poha and methi seeds into a smooth paste. Pour cold water in the blender as required to make the paste.
6. Once the paste is ready, pour it in the same bowl as the paste of soaked rice and mix it well for about 2-3 minutes
7. To ferment the mixture, cover the mixture and keep it aside for 10-12 hours.
8. After 10-12 hours, the mixture would have fermented well.

Pro-tip: The same batter can be used for making dosas on a non-stick dosa tawa. Ensure you use butter with this batter on a non-stick tawa to get golden-brown crispy dosas.

How to Cook:

1. Dilute the batter with a little water and add salt to taste.
2. Pour 1.5 cups of water in a pressure cooker and bring it to boil.
3. While the water is heating, grease the idli molds in the Idli stand with oil or ghee. After greasing, pour the batter in each of the idli molds.
4. Once the water has started to boil, place the idli stand inside the pressure cooker and close the lid.
5. Cook on high flame for about 10-12 minutes. After 10-12 minutes, open the pressure cooker. Pierce one of the idlis with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out clean without any idli batter sticking to it, then your idlis have cooked properly. Remove the idli stand from the pressure cooker, cool it and use a spoon to remove the idlis from the molds.
6. If the toothpick does not come out clean, then the idlis have not cooked properly. Close the pressure cooker and cook the idlis for a few more minutes.

Serve the steamed idlis with a side of coconut chutney and sambhar.