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Nov 10, 2006

Soft Idlis


Ingredients:

Urud dal - 1 cup

A little note: Before buying Urud dal, ensure the packet has some whitish powder all around the inner walls of the packet and the Urud Dal is whitish in color, Urud dal can be either whole or split. I use Split. (I use Pooja Brand)

1 teaspoon Fenugreek seeds
3 cups Food World White Idli Rice
1 cup Sona Masoori Rice (I use Ravi Brand)
3 teaspoons White flaked rice (Poha)
Salt

Method:
For the Batter:

In the morning, wash the urud dal, add fenugreek seeds and soak in water.

Mix the idli rice and masoori rice. Wash and soak in water. Wash the poha several times and add it to the soaked rice.

After 3 hours, using the same water, grind the Urud Dal in a Wet Grinder. You can add water while its grinding, see to it that it doesn’t get too watery. Grind until you see some small bubbles. The tip is, when you think its done, grind for 10 more minutes. Take the ground urud Dal and transfer it to a large bowl.

Grind the rice using less water. Let it grind until it is well ground and you don’t feel any coarse rice when you touch the Batter. The tip is, when you think its done, grind for 5 more minutes. (The ground batter should not be too loose or too thick)

Now, pour the Rice Batter on Urud Batter. Add required amount of Salt and Mix well using your hands. Mix really well until everything blends well. Pour it in large containers. I use three boxes. Fill only half the containers. Keep it partially closed in the Oven (Please Do not Switch ON the Oven). Keep it in the oven overnight for fermentation. The next morning the batter is ready for making SOFT IDLIs.

To Store, Refrigerate the Batter. Each time you open a box, you can make soft iddlis.

To Make Idlis:

Grease the idli plates with ghee. fill the idli plates with batter and steam cook covered for few Minutes. I use non-stick idli plates. When the Idlis are done, Take the Plates out and keep it aside for sometime. Let all the steam go away. Then scoop the Idlis.

To make the idlis look more interesting, put a spoon full of grated carrots in the plate before pouring the batter.



Serve Hot with Sambar and Chutney. Click here for Sambar for Idlis.
I have used 3 cups of food world white iddli rice and 1 cup sona masoori rice. Just add 4 cups white iddli rice and omit sona masoori rice. The iddlis come out well in this proportion too.

15 comments:

indosungod said...

Thanks for the link about Manathakkali, it has a lot of information and thanks for visiting.

jayakarthik said...

hey soft idlies recipes super
i will try it for sure

Anonymous said...

Hi Mythreyee
I have been looking for the perfect idli recipe for years, your post not only looked tempting, but inspirational. I tried them yesterday and they turned out fabulous. The best part was that these idlis tasted good even when they got cold(not hard and crumbly like my previous ones did).I mixed the greated carrot along with some chopped cilantro and made some in "dhokla" plates and they looked(and tasted) wonderful!
Thanks so much for posting this, you made my family and me very happy!

Mythreyee said...

thanks for your sweet and encouraging words. I am very happy that you liked this recipe. All the more, thanks for taking the time to tell me that you loved it. thanks.

Anonymous said...

hi Mythre.

i have a few questions. since i hav always made miserable idlis, i wanted to ask u the following so that even i can get good , soft idlies :

1. can i use punni rice instead of idli rice and basmati rice instead of sona masoori rice ?

2. how long shud we allow the batter to ferment after grinding it ? suppose i grind n leave at 10 in the night ..by 8 am next morning , will the batter ferment , i.e. is it enuf to leave it for 10 hours of rising?

3. by poha ..do you mean the puffed rice ( used in bhel puri ) or the flat rice flakes which look like thin almond slivers ?

sorry..i kno tooooo many questions..but u cant imagine the number of failed attempts i have had at idli..n this recipe will be the last one i try....n if even this fails..i seriously dunno wht to do !! lol.....pls do reply..thanks alot.


fouzia

Mythreyee said...

fouzia, send your email ID to mythreyee@paajaka.com. I will send you detailed instructions for first class iddli.

Anonymous said...

Hi Mythreyee,
I love your idli recipe and I have successfully made them many times. My apologies for not thanking you earlier!
I have a quick question, would it be OK to use Basmati rice or Thai rice in place of Sona Masuri? The rice shortage/hype has affected us and I no longer get Sona Masuri at local stores. If you have an alternate rice other than the ones mentioned please let me know!
I'd hate to stop making these idlis since they are just wonderful!
Thanks and much appreciated!

Mythreyee said...

I substituted sona masoori rice with the same food world white iddli rice and the iddlis were superb. It is not necessary to have masoori rice for soft iddlis.

Proportion:

Food world white iddli rice: 4 cup
Washed split urud dal - 1 cup

Fenugreek and flaked rice as mentioned in the post.

Follow the recipe on the post.

You are sure to have soft and mallipoo iddlis. Also, since it is summer, the fermentation happens in few hours itself. When the batter rises to the brim, close it tightly and keep it in fridge.

Anonymous said...

Hi M,
I was browsing the internet, when I came across a blog named sowbhagya grinders. she has copied your idli recipe word to word and posted as her own. Pl do see.
--Archana

Anonymous said...

I am sorry the name of the blog is janakifoods.com and not sowbhagya grinders
--Archana

Anonymous said...

Hi Mythreyee , another way to have soft idlies is soak 1/2 to 1/4 cup ( accordingly to suit your measurements ) sabudana along with the urad dal and rice they come out ver soft :)

Anonymous said...

Hi Mythreyee,
i was lookig for a perfect idli recipe n came across ur blog. ur idli looked so yummy and soft. i m going to give it a try , thaz 4 sure. But this is the first time since in our family we usually dont eat much south indian food....but i like them...they r very healthy and nutrious..i want to clarify some of my doubts, if u can plzzzzzzzzz......
- Wt do u mean by whitish powder in the urad dal packet?? i mean wt is that indication for......
- one of ur ing. is Food World White Idli Ric...Is this wt is called Cream of rice (store bought) or even i can make homemade with any brand of rice..
- Wht is Sona Masoori rice...i mean is it a special rice called Masoor rice.......wt else can i use if i dont get here in my place.. i mean wts the other substitute for it...by the way wt it actually does if we use..??
- For fermentation u told to keep in the oven (but we dont need to ON the oven 4 sometme and then switch off ?? bcoz here in Toronto it is toooo cold very difficult to ferment)
- For storing the batter (which is already fermented) say for next week or so can we keep in fridge(as u said) or freezer..
I know i m asking lot of Question but if u can ans. it will really help me to make idli's like urs......
Thanx in advance!

Anonymous said...

These look like the most softest and mouth watering idlis I've ever seen outside of India! I will definitely give this recipe a try.

Anonymous said...

Hi Mythreyee,

I tried the idlies today following exactly as you mentioned and must say the idlies were so GOOD. My best ever. I think the key was to grind it + 1o mins more :-) as you suggested.

I made a couple of modifications:
1) I also used Eno fruit salt
2) I used cooked rice instead of poha.

Thank you so much!!

Also I have made the rasam - word by word as you mentioned and it came out so well!

I am a huge fan of yours. Please do publish more recipes.

Thanks again.
Mili

Anonymous said...

Hello,
I am a beginner in cooking and was scared to try idli imagining its failure... Tried your soft idli recipe and it worked magic. Idlis came out too soft, and yummy. Thanks a ton for, sharing it...

Regards,
Samskruthi