Steamed Idli with Sambar - 1

In India you can't just point out and say this is "Indian food" because there is a lot of verity in Indian food. Different regions, different states even sometimes cities have their own specialities. Without South Indian food Indian Cuisine is incomplete...

Steamed idli & Sambar is a favorite dish of my family. It's very healthy, easy to make and tasty too. In this part let's focus on Idli.

Ingredients - 

1. 3 Cups Rice or Idli Rava (Whatever is easily available to you)
2. 1 Cup Urad Dal (Black Gram Skinned)
3. Salt to Taste
4. Water
5. Oil

Preparation -  

1. Wash rice / idli rava & urad dal / black gram skinned separately. 
2. Soak rice / idli rava & urad dal / black gram skinned separately for 8-9 hours. I usually prefer to soaking rice & dal overnight 
3. To Make idli batter rinse urad dal / black gram skinned which you have soaked overnight and add dal to grinder. Grind dal well until it gets smooth. Use water while grinding dal only if needed.
4. Do the same grinding process for rice. If  you are using Idli Rava, grinding rava is not needed.
5. Take a large sized container and mix dal & rice in it which you have ground before.
6. Mix the batter well and keep ti in a warm place to ferment. commonly it takes 6 to 8 hrs to ferment and rise up.

  Final Instructions - 

1. Take well fermented batter, add salt as per taste, and mix well. add some water only if needed.
2. Add water to bottom of idli steamer and keep it for boiling on high flame.
3. Grease Idli Plates with some oil.
4. Pore the batter in molds. Consistency of batter Batter should be thick & pouring in nature.
5. Add the plates in steamer. Cover the steamer properly and wait for 10 to 12 minutes.     
6. Take out idli plates from steamer and leave it to cool down for couple of minutes.
7. Remove idli from plate.
8. Serve with Sambar. 

Some Important Notes

• During winter season or in cold regions batter may take more time to fermentation process
• When keeping batter for fermentation try to avoid using plastic container.
• If you want batter to ferment early add salt while grinding urad dal / black gram skinned. 

Mom's Special Tip 

To make idli fluffy soak 1/2 cup rice flakes / beaten rice for 2 hours and grind with rice. You can use backing soda to make idli soft & fluffy but using rice flakes is much more healthy.

For Sambar, To Be Continued....