Richard's All Continents Guaranteed Idli

Ingredients

1 cup black gram (urad) dal
1 teaspoon methi seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups idli rice (or plain white rice, not par-boiled)
spray oil or ghee for greasing cups

Method

Lightly wash urad, and cover with water. Grind methi and mix with urad, along with salt, and allow to soak for 3 to 4 hours. Wash the rice, cover with water, and allow to soak 3 to 4 hours as well.

Grind rice to to consistency of cream of rice in blender (or better, in Ultra Grinder).

Grind urad to a fine paste, and then and grind together until mixed well.
Place in ceramic bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and place in a warm place
until double in bulk. The amount of time this will take depends on the temperature. A good place is an oven heated with a 40 watt light bulb in an automotive trouble light. The batter will double in 8 hours if the temperature is over 85 degrees, and at lower temperatures it can take as long as 30 hours.
If the batter doesn't rise, don't despair, just find a warmer place.

Many silly people substitute rava (sooji, cream of wheat) for rice, especially in colder climates like the Frisco Bay Area, because their batter doesn't rise. This is an unnecessary compromise, and people so inclined may just has well go to Pasand and eat their idli bricks. The fermentation process depends on the presence of wild yeast, which appears to stick well to the urad and to the methi. Soaking the dal uncovered allows you to "catch" additional yeast from the air.

Don't use baking soda, baking powder, yeast, or yogurt to "help" fermentation. I've conducted controlled experiments on these
agents, and methi outperforms them. Baking soda, baking powder, and yogurt retard fermentation, but a little baking powder added just before cooking makes for a fluffier idli.

After your batter has gone nuts, you are ready to make idlis. Stir (don't beat) the batter slightly, just enough to evenly distribute the bubbles and not enough to make it subside.

Grease idli cups (you can use egg poachers if you want) with spray-on oil or butter, and fill them (almost full) with the idli batter and steam in an idli vessel (a pressure cooker with the weight removed is ideal) for about 15-20 minutes.

The same idli batter can be use to make Sannan. Pour the batter in the container of a pressure cooker (previously greased with oil) about 3/4 full and steam for 15-20 minutes as above. Take out and cut into pieces with a spatula.

Fancy equipment for idli can be ordered from Inno Concepts.

Posted by RB at January 14, 2002 12:00 PM