How to make soft Idlis ?

How to make soft Idlis?

Ingredients

Please use same measuring cup to measure rice and urad dal (3:1 ratio)

For the Idli:

3 cups boiled rice ( idli rice ) or silky raw rice (ponni rice) or 2 cups boiled rice + 1 cup raw rice (ponni rice) + 1 cup urad dal

1 cup urad dal

2 tablespoon cooked rice (leftover cooked and cooled rice)

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon oil for greasing Idli mould

Photo of Silky Raw Rice (Ponni rice) & Urad dal- 3: 1 ratio

Cooked ponni rice / silky raw rice.



























Method

Wash and soak dal and rice separately for 6 - 7 hours  or overnight ( reserve water for grinding ).

Grind the soaked dal with cooked rice until it is smooth and frothy in a grinder or mixer. Transfer this paste to a big bowl ( batter should not be too thick or too watery ). If using grinder, approximate time for grinding is 30 – 35 minutes for urad dal. If using mixer, add water just to cover the soaked urad dal and not 1 - inch above. Sprinkle extra water in between when grinding.

Grind  the soaked rice coarsely. Add water while grinding (just to cover the rice. It should not be above 1 - inch from the soaked rice if using mixer). If using grinder, approximate time for grinding is 25  30 minutes. It won’t take much time in mixer.

Now mix the ground rice and dal into a batter. Idli batter is thicker than normal dosa batter. 

Add salt, mix well and set aside in a warm place for 7 - 8 hours ( or overnight ) for fermenting ( batter will be doubled in volume).

When the Idli batter is well fermented, the idlis are ready to be cooked.

Grease the idli holder / idli thattu or pan well and fill each slot with batter to the 3/4 mark.

Steam cook  the idlis in a steamer or National slow cooker / pressure cooker (without weight) on a medium heat for about 10 - 15 minutes or until done. Keep aside for cooling.

Use a greased spoon to remove the idlis from the container as they may stick. Serve with Tomato chutney / Sambar / Coconut chutney/ Idli milakay podi (chutney powder for idli).