idli vada
This sunday my MIL and I made an elaborate-Sunday-breakfast :) comprising of idli, vada, sambhar and chutney… and ofcourse tea.Earlier, I was never fond of idlis made at home because they would somehow come out very hard and tasteless. But I particularly like the idlis made by my MIL… they are very soft, fluffy and yummy. So I thought of sharing this recipe with other idli-newbies
idli
Many people use Idli rava (rice sooji) for making idlis. But in this method rice is used directly.
Ingredients
- Urad dal - 3/4th cup
- Rice - 2 cups
- Poha/puffed rice - 1/4th cup
- A pinch of salt
- Baking soda
Method
- Soak rice and daal in separate containers for 4-5 hours (preferably previous afternoon)
- Just 15 minutes before grinding, soak poha.
- Grind the urad daal to a very smooth batter (Do not add too much water, just add as much as needed).Set this aside.
- Now grind the rice and poha. Again dont add more water. Grind this till you get a very fine rava-like consistency of the rice in the batter.
- Now mix the 2 batters, add some salt and keep the batter overnight in a warm place.(Take care to use a big container here as the volume of the batter increases after fermentation)
- In the morning add a little baking soda 15 mins before cooking.
- Grease the idli-stand with a little oil and steam the idlis for about 15 minutes. Open the idli cooker after 5-10 mins and the idlis are ready !!!
Preparation time: 30 minutes + Leave overnight Cooking time: 20 minutes
vada
Idli seems somewhat incomplete without the thoot-vada (vada with hole) and so here is the recipe.
Ingredients
- Urad dal - 1 cup
- Green chillies - 2
- Ginger - half an inch
- Pepper - 4 to 5 grains
- Small and thin slices of coconut - about 10
- Salt
- Baking soda
- Oil for frying
Method
- Soak urad daal for 2 hours and grind it to a very smooth and thick batter. Add water just enough for the mixer.
- Grind ginger, chillies and pepper to a coarse mixture and add it to the batter.
- Also add the coconut pieces,salt to taste and a little baking soda.
- Take some of this batter on your left palm and make a small hole in the centre and carefully place it in the kadai with hot oil.
- Deep fry on a low flame till a reddish brown colour is reached.
Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 5 minutes
sambhar
I use bisibele-bhat powder for making this particular sambhar. However any of the regular/homemade sambhar powder can be used for the purpose
Ingredients
- Toor dal - 1 cup
- Onion - 1
- Tomatoes - 2
- Bisibele-bhat powder/sambhar powder - 3 teaspoons
- Green chillies - 2
- Red chillies - 2
- Curry leaves
- Coriander leaves
- Mustard - 1 teaspoon
- A pinch of hing/asafoetida
- Oil for seasoning
Method
- Cut tomatoes,onions and green chillies to small pieces and pressure cook with toor daal.
- Now add sambhar powder, finely chopped coriander leaves, salt to taste and bring to boil. Simmer for a few minutes.
- Now for seasoning heat a little oil and add mustard. After it stops sputtering, add red chillies, hing and curry leaves in
that order and pour it over the sambhar.
Time : 30 minutes
chutney
I am sure that there is no need to write about the method for making chutney. But even then I am writing it to make the article complete.
Ingredients
- grated coconut - 1 cup
- Green chillies - 3
- Tamarind -
- Red chillies - 2
- Curry leaves
- Mustard - 1 teaspoon
- Oil for seasoning
Method
- Fry green chillies with a little oil.
- Grind coconut,green chillies, a little tamarind and salt with the required amount of water.
- For seasoning heat a little oil and add mustard. After it stops sputtering, add red chillies and curry leaves in that order
and pour it over the sambhar.
Time : 10 minutes