Idli is the most comfort food for all South-Indians. This is the basic recipe which uses Idli rice, Urad dal, Fenugreek seeds and rock salt. Grinding Technique is most important here. Grinding it in wet grinder makes the idli soft

Preparation Time : 12 hours

Cooking Time: 8-10 minutes

Yields 40- 45 Idlis

Ingredients:

1. Idli Rice – 4 cups
2. Whole white Urad dal – 1 cup
3. Fenugreek/Methi seeds – 1.5 tsp
4. Rock salt – 2 tsp

Note: 1 cup = 250g

Pre-Preparation:

1. Wash and Soak Urad dal and fenugreek in a vessel
2. Wash and soak Idli rice in a separate vessel
3. Both should soak for atleast 4 hours before Grinding

Grinding Method:

1. Clean the wet grinder well
2. Drain the soaked urad dal and fenugreek and add it to wet grinder and half of the water
3. The tip in grinding urad dal is to add the water slowly. If you add all of the water at once, it wont fluff up well.
4. The Dal should reach the top of the grinder. Grind the urad dal for 25-30 minutes
5. Transfer it to a bowl
6. Now add the Soaked Idli rice to the grinder. Grind it for 30-40 minutes till it becomes smooth
7. Add the rock salt to the rice batter and grind it for 2 minutes
8. Transfer it to the Urad bal bowl
9. Wash the wet grinder with little water and add it to batter and mix everything well. If the batter is too much of water, then it wont ferment well
10. The vessel should have enough space to ferment, so if the batter is full , split it to two vessels
11. Allow it to ferment for 8 hours [ for summer 6 hours itself enough, winter takes more time to ferment]
12. The batter should have increased in volume. Take a ladle and mix it well. Your batter is ready.
13. You can make Idlis, Keep the remaining batter in Refridgerator

Method:

1. Take the Idli vessel , fill it with water and keep it in medium flame
2. Grease the idli mould with gingelly oil and add batter gently in moulds
3. Put it in Idli vessel and cook for 7-8 minutes
4. Remove the plates and leave it undisturbed for 5 minutes, then spoon it out.
5. Serve hot with your favourite chutney or sambhar or any sidish

Facts About Idli:

1. Rice and Urad Dal in idli’s complement each other, making it a complete protein pair.
2. The fermentation process involved in the making of idli breaks down the starch, so that they are readily metabolized by the body.
3. No oil is required (or less oil I would say ), as the steaming process prevents the batter from sticking to the mould.
4. Idli’s contain no fat, no saturated fat and no cholesterol, so It is easily digestable.