52 replies to this topic

[Sneha]

I'm giving up trying to make Idlis at home, my last batch was a disaster. Hubby is gloating and thinks that the Idlis might make good weapons as those Ninja stars(?). Can someone dispel the mystery, Ammini, I see you present here now, are Kerala idlis different?

Suresh, have you learnt any of this stuff in Bangalore. ???

[Sneha]

I just thought I'd go through Ammini's site, no idlis there either. There is a nice new recipe for Garbanzo Beans Salad, Ammini are those the smaller chanas?

[Peppertrail]

I just thought I'd go through Ammini's site, no idlis there either. There is a nice new recipe for Garbanzo Beans Salad, Ammini are those the smaller chanas?

Sneha: In the U.S. they call the large white chana (Kabuli chana?) garbanzo beans. I usually make this dish with the brown small Indian chana. Either one will work.

Sorry I didn't see your post earlier. For Idlis, which recipe do you follow? I use skinned whole urad and rice. 2 cups rice to one cup whole urad. Soak them separately and grind. Urad should be soft and fluffy. And the batter should ferment before you make idlis.

[gourmetgirl]

Is there any difference in the result if you use skinned whole urad as opposed to the dal? I've never seen the former, but if it makes a difference, I'm willing to track it down.

[Peppertrail]

For some strange reason batter made with skinned whole urad makes fluffier and softer idlis. I also used to make idli with urad dal and rice. After I noticed the difference now only but whole skinned urad. Back home my mother used to soak split urad dal with the black skin on. That also produiced very good idlis.

[Sneha]

Hello gourmetgirl!
Have you all tried different ratios? My neighbour uses 3 rice and 1 Urad. Next time I'll try the whole skinned urad dal.

[Peppertrail]

Hello gourmetgirl!
Have you all tried different ratios? My neighbour uses 3 rice and 1 Urad. Next time I'll try the whole skinned urad dal.

Sneha:

In Kerala I used the one urad dal to three rice ratio. Of course the urad was split with skin. When using the split and husked urad dal, that ratio was not working well.

[Sam H]

Want to make idlis more tastier?

1) Just before steaming add the following on top of the batter: a) freshly pounded black pepper (coarse)   grated carrots  c) small pieces of coconut cut fine with a knife  d) finely cut onions  e) coaresely pounded or whole thawed frozen green peas  f) If you are a lover of garlic, add pieces of garlic lightly fried in little oil or butter

Or a combination of one or more of the above items.

2)  The following mixed directly in the batter: a)finely chopped fresh coriander leaves or mint leaves or combination of both fresh ajwain leaves with dried ajwain seeds (if leaves are not available, only seeds will do) c)lightly fried finely cut curry leaves and mustard seeds.

Or combination of above 1) and 2)

Flavoured with above a simple idli becomes exotic!

[vikram]

I personally believe that iddlis are among those foodstuffs like pancakes that are really only good when made in large quantities. Just make one or two and they are bound to be failures, make vast amounts and then, after the first two or three, they become good.

This is why, while I've had good iddlis in some houses, the best iddlis I've eaten have always been from restaurants - and never the fancy kind, but just ordinary roadside places or Woodlands or Saravana Bhavana or the Bangalore darshinis where you know they will be made in large numbers and served up fast.

The very worst - VERY WORST - iddlis I have ever had have been those made in Gujju households (and I'm half Gujju myself, I'm allowed to be rude about them). Gujjus love iddlis and the more basic veg South Indian foods, so they often try making them at home with truly truly dire results. The sad thing is that the people serving up these lumpen white masses often cook fantastic Gujju food, so why they try making iddlis beats me.

Vikram

[Suresh Hinduja]

The Times of India

Start your weekend morning at King’s Circle (check out Idli House, Mysore Cafe and Madras
Cafe) and walk on to Matunga (Rama Ashraya, Murugan and Mani’s). At Idli House, the idlis are not just round—some are cylindrical, others squarish. There is the spicy, cashew-rich Kanchipuram idli; savoury round, oondi balls made with coconut and chillies; the refreshing cucumber idli; idlis steamed in kevda and jackfruit leaves; and mini idlis.
  Suresh Hinduja,  at food website gourmetindia.com, though, is not enthusiastic about the city’s idli culture. “The real idli is in danger of extinction. Restaurants make it with idli rawa, which is basically coarse rice (it does not require any fermentation). New generations may not even know what real idli was.’’ (They may have also grown up on schezwan and jade spinach idlis at roadside stalls).
  But, whether made with the quick-fix rawa or the traditional rice-urad batter, the idli is indisputably versatile. It so is hassle-free a snack that it has withstood modern lifestyles. Many officegoers buy ready-made idli atta packs from the supermarket or south Indian homemakers (“Mrs Mani was the first in the business,’’ says Hinduja with some nostalgia).

[bague25]

Suresh

I gave up after I could not get to the page....

My 2 paisa nostalgia, I remember breakfasts on Sunday mornings at King Circle after church at Don Bosco's...
I always prefered dosas over other tiffins...

[Suresh Hinduja]

Suresh

I gave up after I could not get to the page....

My 2 paisa nostalgia, I remember breakfasts on Sunday mornings at King Circle after church at Don Bosco's...
I always prefered dosas over other tiffins...

You lived in my area?

[bague25]

Your area?? I thought you were from South Bombay.

My areas are Dadar to Chembur and Borivili to Vasai

[Suresh Hinduja]

I schooled at St Joseph's High School - 5 minutes away from Don Bosco then moved to Marine Drive.
5 Gardens - Pani puri, Bhel puri, Lakhan Sharbat/Golawalla...  

[Suresh Hinduja]

Rathna made Thatte Rava Idli for lunch today.

[Suresh Hinduja]

Lucky day today, I got 3 rava idlis in a row.

[Suresh Hinduja]

Rathna finally managed to get the batter just right and served me some great Idlis today.

[waaza]

excellent (regards to Rathna).
Does she remember exactly what she did?
cheers
Waaza

[Suresh Hinduja]

I was hoping you would ask.  

This time I took your suggestion seriously and she confirmed the usage, so a cooked rice starter  was added to a ratio of 3:1 of Boiled rice/ Urad dal.

Left to ferment (I hate the finiteness of the word "overnight", it's as bad as "red wine at room temperature" ) till the batter rose to the consistency of let's say, whipped cream as in the photo. If I took off a spoonful from the surface of the batter, a raw craterlike surface was exposed exhibiting the pseudoplastic( ?) behaviour which would start collapsing within seconds. 18 hours with current weather here = 25 deg max/ 15 deg min. I couldnt locate my PH meter at that time which would have helped document and benchmark this process. Next time.

The choice then was to ladle it into the idli moulds and steam at low or high pressure/temp. I chose high for the initial phase and simmered away for 10 mins in a whistle-less pressure cooker hoping that the exterior would congeal and the interiors would exude fermentation induced co2 thereby 'holing' up the mass.

I'm very satisfied with the results and hope to improve upon the proceedings.

I had given up on making good idlis alluding it to art rather than science because I've had two great past neighbours who have excelled at it.

BTW this type of an idli cannot be found outside homes as the texture life is rather short. About 10 mins.  

“The real idli is in danger of extinction. Restaurants make it with idli rawa, which is basically coarse rice (it does not require any fermentation). New generations may not even know what real idli was.’’

That's slightly misquoting me and not entirely true as restaurants do ferment the batter but depend upon rice 'grits' to compensate and provide a faux texture.

I'm going to try and add some approved food chemicals to give the idli some staying power. A few ideas from baking technology are required.

A little batter was pressed into service for making a dosa( how could I resist that  ) and the results were encouraging.

Summing it up: ideal fermentation was achieved.

Salt, although a fermentation retarder was added right from the beginning as latter mixing would break the 'head'.

These are all my hindsight interpretations, the fact is that she did this on her own.

[waaza]

this is looking good. What type of rice did Rathna use? I'm told basmati is not starchy enough for idli/dosa?

I assume you did not add any extra yeast (did you add methi seeds?). What about temperature, I know you mentioned 25/15°C, but can you recall starting temp? and how long before the temperature fell?, and how long before it was cooked?

This is tempting me to getting my idli steamers out. Why no whistle?
cheers
Waaza