Idli

Ingredients

4 cups idli rice or parboiled rice
1 cup urad gota (whole urad without the skin)
1 tbsp methi seeds
salt to taste

Steps to follow

1. Soak the rice separately and urad dal and the methi seeds together for about 6hrs.
2. Grind the urad dal and methi seeds with minimal water (about half a cup) until it is fluffy and keep it aside.
3. Now grind the rice coarsely with minimal water (about half a cup).
4. Mix the rice and urad dal paste and set this aside preferably in a warm place like an oven for at least 10-12 hours. The batter will rise by this point.
5. Grease the idli mould and put the batter in it.
6. Place the mould in a pressure cooker with a cup full of water in it. Remove the weight and steam for about 10-12 mins.
7. Scoop out with a spoon dipped in water for each idli and Lo! steaming hot idlis are ready.
8. Idlis are best served with sambhar, coconut chutney and molaga podi (spicy idli powder).

Batata wada

Ingredients

For the filling 
5-6 medium boiled and roughly mashed potatoes
2 tsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
pinch of hing (asafoetida)
3 chopped green chillies
few curry leaves
2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp red chillies
salt to taste

For the batter

1 cup besan (gram flour)
1/4 cup sooji/rawa (semolina)
2 tbs hot oil
1 tsp turmeric
salt to taste
pinch of baking soda
water
Oil for deep frying

Steps to follow

1. Start by heating oil in a pan to deep fry the wadas.
2. In another pan heat two tspn of oil and to this add hing, mustard seeds, ginger-garlic paste, green chillies, curry leaves, turmeric and red chillies. Now add the mashed potatoes and salt to taste. Set aside.
3. In a bowl mix the besan, sooji, salt, baking soda and turmeric. Add water and make a thick paste out of it.
4.  Make round flattened balls of the potatoes, dip them in the besan batter and carefully put it in the frying pan. Turn it after a 2-3  minutes or fry till both the sides are golden brown.
5. Serve hot with tomato sauce or green chutney.

Coconut Chutney

 

Ingredients

3-4 whole dried red chillies
2 tbsp urad dal
2 tbsp channa dal
1 tbsp mustard seeds
pinch of hing (asafetida)
2 cups of fresh or dried shredded coconut
small ball of tamarind
salt to taste
water

Steps to follow

1. Dry roast red chillies, urad dal, channa dal, mustard seeds and hing till its almost brownish in color.
2. Add all the roasted ingredients to a blender along with salt, coconut and tamarind.
3. After a few whirls add water and blend to chutney consistency.
4. This chutney tastes awesome when served with idli or dosa…. the next posts on this blog so keep visiting.