Rice Idli

rice idli

Idli is rice and lentil steamed cake. They taste best with sambhar and coconut chutney but you can also enjoy rice idli with chutney masala like that made by MTR.

Recipe of rice idli

2 cups parboiled rice (sela chawal)

1 cup dhuli urad dal (skinless split black gram)

2 tsp salt or to taste

1 tsp methi dana (fenugreek seeds)

1. Wash and soak rice and urad dal separately along with methi dana added to each. Soak them for 6 hours or overnight if possible.

2. Grind urad dal to a smooth paste and grind rice to a coarse granulated paste with granules to the size of semolina (sooji). Mix them together with hands. Batter should be of medium consistency that is neither too tight nor too watery.

3. Add salt and leave it for fermentation in a warm place for 8-10 hours. The batter should rise and smell sour.

4. Grease each mould of the idli stand. Take a pressure cooker or some wide, deep pan in which idli stand can fit properly.  Fill it with water so that level of water is below the idli stand.

5. Fill each mould of the idli stand with batter to the level. Remember not to overfill them since idlis need space to swell in size.

6. Place the idli stand in the cooker or a pan and cover with a steel plate and put some weight on it. Put it on stove. As soon as the water begins to boil and steam starts coming out, turn the heat to medium and cook for about 15 minutes. Insert a clean knife in 1 idli. If it comes out clean, idli is done otherwise steam for 2-3 minutes more.

7. Take out the stand from the cooker or the pan and let it stand for 2-3 minutes before taking out idlis. Take out rice idli with the help of a clean knife. Repeat the same procedure with the rest of the batter.

Note- If you live in cold climate, preheat oven to warm, turn it off. Leave the batter to ferment in this oven for 7-8 hours. If you live in a country like U.S., use kosher salt. Also, the water for soaking should be either spring water, filtered tap water or boiled water. Point is to avoid chlorine in the water.