Monday 24 May 2010

Idly batter

Idly is something I wake up to every morning. Its been my breakfast for almost 24 years. The batter is prepared either with idly rava or with rice. I shall post both the recipes.

At my in-law's place, we prepare the batter with idly rava. My MIL prefers fermenting the batter and adding the cooking soda and salt the next morning. So I too follow what she has been doing for years. :)



Method1 - With Idly Rava

Ingredients
  • Urad Dal - 1 cup
  • Idly Rava - 2 1/2 cups (2.5)
  • Cooking soda - 1/2 tsp
  • Salt - as required
Procedure
  • Soak urad dal in warm water for about 4-5 hours.
  • Grind the urad dal till very soft.
  • In a vessel containing water, add the idly rava. Let it stand for 5 minutes.
  • Squeeze the water and add the rava to the ground urad batter.
  • Mix well and let it ferment overnight.
  • Next morning, add sufficient salt and cooking soda. Batter is ready to be steamed into lovely idlies.
  • After you are done with making idlies, transfer the batter to a air-tight container and refrigerate.

Method 2- With rice

My mom came up with this proportion and the idlies come out like sponges. :) In my mom's place, we add the salt and let it ferment overnight. Also, no cooking soda is used.

If you don't prefer very spongy idlies, you can change the proportion of cooked rice and parboiled rice. Increase the quantity of parboiled rice to 1.5 cups and decrease the quantity of cooked rice to 0.5 cup.

Ingredients
  • Urad Dal - 1 cup
  • Raw Rice - 1 cup
  • Parboiled Rice - 1 cup
  • Cooked Rice - 1 cup
  • Salt - as required
Procedure
  • Soak urad dal in warm water for 4-5 hours.
  • Soak parboiled rice along with raw rice for 4-5 hours.
  • Grind the urad dal into smooth batter.
  • Grind the parboiled rice, raw rice along with cooked rice till smooth.
  • Combine the ground urad batter with rice batter.
  • Add sufficient salt and allow it to ferment overnight.
  • Batter is ready to be steamed into soft, spongy idlies. After you've done with making idlies, transfer to a air-tight container and refrigerate.
TIPS FOR FERMENTING THE BATTER
  1. Always use bigger container when you leave your batter for fermenting. There should be atleast 1/3rd space left to the rim of the container from the surface of the batter.This space will allow the batter to raise. If no space is left, you would be welcomed with the batter spilled over the counter top next morning.
  2. Do not close the container completely. Leave some space for the air flow. This helps the batter ferment better.

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