IDLIS

[Oldposts]

Looking for grinders and mixie ?? to get your mouth watering idlis , vada ..dosa. ? By adding a grinder to your kitchen, it make your work as easy and simple.
Santha grinders Tilting model, Counter top model,Dry grinder and preethi Heavy duty mixie with 4 jars, all available in 110 volts for 1 year warranty to USA and Canada.
Vist us at www.perfectpeninsula.com for a more details and a very good receipe how to make soft idls & dosa.
email: info@perfectpeninsula.com .
If you have any questions feel free to call us at 972-691-0686.
A Rare collection Paniyarakal in Non-stick, a South Indian Dish for your kitchen is also available.

[Oldposts]

Want to make mouth watering idlis,vada ..dosa.???
By adding a grinder to your kitchen, it makes your work easy and simple.
Vist us at www.perfectpeninsula.com for a more details and a very good receipe how to make soft idlis & crispy dosa.Check it out !!
SANTHA grinders has, Tilting model, Counter top model,Dry grinder and preethi Heavy duty mixie with 4 jars, all available in 110 volts for 1 year warranty to USA and Canada.
email: info@perfectpeninsula.com .
If you have any questions feel free to call us at 972-691-0686.
A Rare collection Paniyarakal in Non-stick, a South Indian Dish for your kitchen is also available.

[Oldposts]

I think this is an ad.
If anyone wants to sell anything, they should request Forumhub admin for a free space for bulletin board where u can ask for a cook, or sell something.But using forum is not good.

[Oldposts]

hello Janet:

You have discusssed everything except the rice to dal propotions. I mean you missed out the most important thing I guess!!!

[Oldposts]

Soft Idlies:

Ingredients:
Long grain rice (Any brand) 3 cups
Parboiled rice (Can use Uncle Ben’s Parboiled rice) 1 cup
Urud dhal (Split Black Gram dhal without any black seed covering) 1 cup
Fenugreek seeds (Methi) 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste

Utensil:
Idli trays (You can buy this from Indian stores)
A sauce pan or a pressure cooker with lid, big enough to fit the idli trays inside. If you are using pressure cooker while making idlies do not use the weight on top of the lid.

Method:
Mix both rice together and wash them just once. Pour enough water to the washed rice and soak overnight. Clean Urud dhal with hand by removing small stones etc and wash it once. To this add 1 teaspoon Fenugreek seeds. (Don’t wash Fenugreek seeds before adding to Urud dhal.) This is to preserve as much wild yeast as possible in the rice and dhal mixture. Wild yeast helps to ferment the batter. Pour enough water to the dhal-Fenugreek and soak overnight.
Next morning, grind Urud dhal with Fenugreek seeds in a blender by adding water (use the water in which the dhal was soaked) little by little at a time until the Fenugreek seeds are finely blended. Make sure that you don’t add too much water. Remove the batter into a large stainless steel container, big enough to hold the fermented batter inside.
Now place half the amount of soaked rice in the blender and add just enough water (Use the water in which rice was soaked) and grind it to a sandy consistency. Add water little at a time to grind the rice to the desired consistency. To make Idlies the batter should not be too watery. Remove the rice batter and add it to the blended dhal. Repeat this process until all the soaked rice is grinded.
To the urud – rice batter add about 6 teaspoons of salt and mix the batter very well with hand. Cover the container with a lid and place it inside the oven. Heating up the oven to 100 degree F before placing the batter inside, hastens the fermentation process. In the evening check the batter to see whether it has risen well. If it has risen you can take it out and make Idlies or you can keep the fermented batter inside the refrigerator. Please do not stir the batter at this stage. You can store it for 2-3 days in the refrigerator and make Idlies later with the cold batter.
If the batter has not fermented well take out the batter and heat up the oven again to 100 degree F and then place the container with the batter inside the oven overnight until it rises up to the top. To be on the safe side you can place the container with the batter inside a tray or a basin and then keep it inside the oven. Sometimes the batter may overflow and if this happens you can catch the batter in the outer container.
After taking all these precautions the batter didn’t ferment, please don’t make idlies for they may be very hard. Instead make Dosas and surprise the family.

Steaming the Idlies:
Pour water in a big container with a lid in which the idli trays will fit perfectly. Heat up the water in medium flame. Meanwhile grease the idli trays with ghee or non stick spray like Pam. You should not stir the fermented batter to such an extend to break all the bubbles that are formed inside the batter. The softness of the steamed idlies depends upon the number of bubbles that are caught inside each of them. Try to scoop enough batter from the edge of the vessel by gently mixing the batter at this area only and by not disturbing the entire batter. If you follow this procedure even the last batch of the idlies will be very soft. If you stir the entire batter at the beginning the idlies that are steamed last will be very hard for by then all the bubbles in the batter are broken.
Now fill the depressions in each idly tray with the batter and stack the idly trays one on top of the other in such a way that the filled idly depressions are not on top of each other. If they are placed directly on top of each other when the idlies are cooked they may rise and touch the bottom of the depression and the idlies may lose their shapes.
When all the trays are filled with batter place them inside the vessel in which water is heating up. Place the lid on top and cover the trays. It may take about 10- 15 minutes for the idlies to cook. Open the lid and test with a toothpick the doneness of the idlies. When the inserted toothpick is pulled out from the idly the surface of the toothpick should be clean. If the watery batter is seen on it, the idlies are not cooked. Steam it a few more minutes.
When done take out the trays and separate each of them from the other and sprinkle a little bit of cold water over them. Wait a minute or two and take out the idlies from the tray with a flat utensil like the handle of a teaspoon or a small knife blade. Keep them warm inside a wide thermos vessel (casserole) and place a paper towel on top and close the lid.
Serve Idlies with Sambar, coconut chutney and Idli powder.

[Oldposts]

Hi Chitra,

Thanks for such a detailed recipe. Can you please give your sambhar recipe and coconut chutney recipe in the same manner ? Thanks

[Oldposts]

Hello Archana,
Here is the Sambar recipe and hope that you like it.

Sambar (For a family of 4)

Ingredients:

Sambar Powder:

Fenugreek seeds 1 teaspoon
Coriander seeds 4 tablespoon
Dried red chillies 5 -6 ( can add few more if you like it very hot)
Asafetida 1 teaspoon

Heat up a small saucepan at medium heat and pour 2 teaspoon oil in it. Add Fenugreek seeds to it and stir it with a wooden spoon. When the color of the seeds turns to light brown color add the Coriander seeds to it. Stir the contents until the Coriander seeds acquire a golden brown color and a nice aroma is perceived. To this add the dried red chillies and then the asafetida powder and mix all together for a minute and remove the pan from the stovetop. When the contents cool down grind them to a fine powder. Let it cool and then store it in a clean glass bottle.
If you prefer you can buy the ready made Sambar powder from the store and use it instead. Read the name of the ingredients written on the packet and make sure that all these spices are included in the mix.


Vegetables:
Small onion (Shallots) 6
Or you can use 1 big onion
Ladies finger or Okra 8
Drum stick 8 pieces 1 ½ inches long
Tomato 1
Green chilly pepper 1 or 2 sliced
(you can add Bringal or eggplant, Potato and carrot to the Sambar if you like them)
Coriander leaves 2 -3 sprigs
Curry leaves 2-3 sprigs

Tamarind paste ½ to ¾ teaspoon

Asafetida 3 pinches
Sambar powder 2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder 1/4 teaspoon
Salt to taste

Ingredients for Seasoning:

Corn oil 1 tablespoon
Mustard seeds 1 teaspoon
Fenugreek seeds 1 teaspoon
Dried red chillies 2 or 3 broken into pieces
Asafetida 1 pinch
Curry leaves 2 sprigs
Coriander leaves 1 sprig

Method:
Cook the Thoor dhal in a pressure cooker.
Take 2 cups of Thoor dhal and wash until it is clean. Place this in a pressure cooker and pour about 4 cups of water to it. Close the lid and place the weight on top of the lid and cook the dhal until the whistle blows once. Switch of the flame and let it stand there for 5 minutes. Now place the pressure cooker under running cold tap water until the pressure inside subsides so that you can open the lid safely. Keep aside the cooked dhal.

(You can cook 3-4 cups of dhal at a time and store the cooked dhal in small containers or zip lock plastic bags and place them in the freezer for future use. It will retain the flavor for almost 3 months.)

Peel and cut the onion in long slices about ½ inches thick. Clean and slice the Okra as long 1 ½ inch pieces. Peel and slice the Drum stick about 1 ½ inch long pieces. Cut tomato also as long slices.

Heat up a saucepan big enough to hold the prepared sambar over medium flame. Pour about 3 teaspoon Corn oil or any oil of your choice in the pan and sauté the Okra pieces for about 5 minutes until they lose the slimy nature and become a bit light brown in color. Take them out with a slotted spoon and keep aside. Add to the same pan the cut onion slices, green chilly pepper, Drum stick, ¼ teaspoon Turmeric and a pinch of Asafetida and sauté them for 2-3 minutes. Now add a cup of water, chopped coriander sprig





and salt and let them cook. When the vegetables are ½ done add the cooked dhal with water ( 2 cups), the okra pieces and tomato slices to the saucepan and continue heating for another 5 minutes.
Add to the above, ½- ¾ teaspoon tamarind paste dissolved in ¼ cup of water and let it cook until the raw smell of tamarind disappears. ( about 5 minutes) To this add 2 teaspoon Sambar powder soaked in a small amount of water to make it as a paste and continue cooking for a few more minutes. Taste the Sambar and add salt or Tamarind if you feel that it needs more. Let it boil for a couple of minutes and turn of the stove.

Seasoning:

Heat a small saucepan on the stove top and turn on the heat to medium. When it is warm add 1 tablespoon Corn oil to the pan and let it warm. To the heated oil add 1 teaspoon Mustard seeds and cover the pan with a dry lid to keep the seeds in the pan when it start to splutter. Now add Fenugreek seeds, dry red chillies, a pinch of Asafetida powder and curry leaves to the oil and immediately pour the oil with the contents into the Sambar. Add a long sprig of Coriander to the Sambar and push it down with a spoon. Close the lid and let the flavor soak into the Sambar.

[Oldposts]

For the above Sambar recipe you need 1 ½ cup of cooked Thoor dhal. Add water to this to make 2 cups while adding to the vegetables that are half done. I forgot to write this among the ingredients.

[Oldposts]

Hi Chitra,

Thanks for your prompt response and the sambar recipe. I am going to make it this weekend. Thanks once again.

[Oldposts]

Hello Archana,
Here is the recipe for the coconut chutney. Hope you enjoy it.

Coconut Chutney:

Coconut freshly grated or frozen 1 cup
Green chilly 1
Ginger ¼ size peeled
Thayir or Yoghurt 2 teaspoon
Salt to taste

For tempering:

Oil, Corn oil or according to your preference, any oil 2-3 teaspoon
Mustard seeds ½ teaspoon
Urud dhal ½ teaspoon
Dried red chilly 1
Curry leaves 1 sprig

Method:

If you are using frozen grated coconut, place it a microwavable dish and microwave for 30-45 secs, just to warm it. If you grind the frozen coconut as such it will get separated into oil and the color will also be not that white. Place the coconut, sliced chilly and ginger in the blender and pour just enough warn water and blend it to a fine consistency. Now add 2 teaspoon yoghurt and salt and mix well.
Heat a small saucepan to medium heat and add 3 teaspoon oil in it. When the oil is warm add the mustard seeds and cover the pan with a dry lid. When it starts to splutter add the broken red chillies, urud dhal and curry leaves. The urud dhal will turn its color to light golden brown. Now switch of the flame and remove the saucepan from the stove and let it cool for a minute. To this add the blended coconut chutney and stir well. Test the salt and adjust if desired. Transfer the contents to a serving dish.

For a variation, while blending the coconut you can add either 1 teaspoon roasted peanut or roasted channa dhal to it. It will give a different taste to the chutney.