Everyone enjoys a plate of steaming hot idlis with sambar and chutney by the side. But making this can be a bit tricky for a few. Right measurements, proper blending and fermentation are the key to make soft and spongy idlis. Idlis are a very healthy way to start your day. With zero oil, idlis are perfect for every age group. Traditionally idlis are made with three ingredients – udad dal, rice (called as idli rice or boiled rice) and fenugreek seeds and they are traditionally ground in a wet grinder. But these days due to space constraints and time restrictions we can blend this in our regular mixer. For a perfect idli we require a smooth udad dal batter and a grainy rice batter (texture of rice batter should be like rawa or semolina ). This is where we make mistake. Either we grind the rice to a very smooth paste or it is very grainy. To get a porous idli we need perfect idli batter. Using idli rawa (nothing but ground rice) makes it very easy and also saves time and we get soft spongy idlis. So let’s jump into the recipe.

Ingredients

Udad dal – 1 cup

Idli rawa – 2 cups

Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp

Salt – as per taste

Water – as required

Oil – for greasing the idli plates

Method

1. Wash the udad dal well and soak it in water for 5 hours. Add a teaspoon of fenugreek seeds as well.

2. An hour before grinding wash the idli rawa and soak in water.

3. Add the udad dal and fenugreek seeds to your blending jar and start grinding without any water. Grind for two minutes. Add water slowly to make a thick paste. This would take approximately ten minutes for one cup of udad dal. Give breaks and grind the udad dal batter else your blending jar may heat up and get spoilt and also too much heat from the blender would interfere in the fermenting process.

3. Now strain the idli rawa or squeeze out the water and add it to the blender. Blend for one minute. Now remove the batter in a big vessel and add salt. Give a Good mix for approximately two minutes with your hand. This is important as the heat from the body helps the batter to ferment well. Close the batter with a lid and allow it to ferment overnight.

4. I bet if you follow this recipe religiously then you would wake up to a beautiful well fermented idli batter.

5. Heat water in your idli pot or pressure cooker. Grease the idli stand with oil and pour the batter. Steam it for 12 – 15 minutes. Switch off the flame once done.

6. Demould the idlis slowly and serve hot with chutney or sambar or even molgapodi.