Idli with Wholegrains

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As most of you know, all of  last week I was cooking non-stop from FSBites blogs. The idea behind was to take a little time every day, explore their blogs and find some keeper recipes. I am so glad I took this challenge. Just have a look at the below recipes. They are everyday dishes which I managed to whip up with the ingredients in my pantry.

Mads Oats Kharabath

Anu's Baingan Bhartha

DK's Stuffed Bread Pakoda

Nags Fried Egg Sambal

It was so much to do this and am sure will do it again, in future as I end up bookmarking atleast 3-4 recipes a day, but never get to make them. Sometimes, I wish there were more than 24 hours a day as my to-do-list that want to do in my spare time is way too long and the available time between work & household chores way too less.

Now, coming to today's recipe - Wholegrain Idlis. If you are first-timer, I would recommend this Idli 101 post and once you got that right, then move on to experiment with various whole grains & their proportions.

Idli with Wholegrains

I have always made idli, the normal way meaning with urad dal and idli rava. Never did I try to make these with wholegrains, until now. You would not feel the difference either in taste or texture when compared to the normal ones. An added bonus is the extra serving of whole grains incorporated which makes it nutritious breakfast, to give that perfect start for your day ahead!

Idlis served with pearl onion sambar

Adapted from Wholegrain Idlis

Make about 15-20 idlis

Ingredients:

3/4 cup brown rice (I used long grain variety)

1/2 cup parboiled red rice

1/2 cup urad dal (I used skinned, white ones)

1/4 cup cooked rice

1/2 tbsp fenugreek seeds (methi seeds)

Prepartion:

1. Wash both the rices in a bowl 2 or 3 times and soak them in filtered water, apparently yeast hates chlorine. Donot wash the urad dal. Mix in some methi seeds in each of them and soak the dal separately in an another bowl for about 8 hours.

Parboiled Red Rice

Long grain Brown Rice

2. First grind the urad dal (I used our regular Panasonic mixer) into a smooth taste and it is slightly bubbly, adding little water at a time. Use the water in which the dal was soaked. Pour the ground urad dal batter into a wide-mouthed bowl. Now add rice and grind with the cooked rice into a consistency of wet semolina (rava). Don't make it too runny.

3. Mix the rice batter into the urad dal batter gently with your hand. Add little salt and mix again.

4. Keep the batter out uncovered for 30 mins and then cover it & place it in a warm space to ferment.

Note: Lucky are those who are in India as for the kind of climate we have here is perfect for fermentation. Just keep it on the counter top and it will be double its volume by morning. For people who are living in other parts of the world, a little extra effort is needed. Read this Idli 101 post for more tips & tricks which worked for me, while I was in US.

Fermented Batter, ready to make idlis

5. When the idli batter is properly fermented, add a cup of water and mix well. I used my idli stand which fits perfectly in my rice cooker. Slightly oil the idli moulds, pour batter until to its brim and steam it in the rice cooker for 12-15 mins. Don't forget to pour some water at the base of the rice cooker. You can check for its doneness with a toothpick or knife. When inserted in the middle, it should come out clean.

6. Once done, serve it with any chutney or with some pearl onion sambar, like I did. Either ways, it taste delicious & is extremely healthy as it is filled with goodness from whole grains too.

Wholegrain idlis dunked in pearl onion sambar

Related Links:

* For some more ideas on how to use Whole grains, check out this roundup.

* Want to perfect bowl of brown rice, check out this how-to post which features Alton Brown's recipe.

* Never did I thought the classic Bisibelebath would taste so good when made with brown rice. this is one fool proof recipe which has been loved by all.
* Click here for all recipes based on whole grains featured here on Cooking With Siri.

I am sending these Whole grain Idlis as an entry to Healing Foods: Wholegrains, this month guest hosted by lovely Simona. I am giving two cookbooks (Cooking With Pedatha & Sukham Ayu) from Pritya as giveaways, do send in your entries for a chance to win either of them before July 31st 2011.

until next time,
Siri

Idli 101

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All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast. ~ John Gunther

There can be a no better way to start a day with a healthy-filling breakfast. And if it something that can be prepped ahead of time - even better. For us, South-Indians, Idli is a quintessential breakfast item. We can and have eaten sometimes idli every day, all through the week. Proper ferementation and the ratio to urad dal to idli rava is crucial for spongy, feather like idlis.

Especially, if you are living in cold weather conditions like me, it becomes even more difficult to have a well-fermented-idli-batter. Below are some tried and tested tips that have worked for me in the past.
If you have any other tips & tricks for these fluffy goodies, please do share in the comment section. :-)

Idli (Steamed Savory Lentil Cake)

Ask any south-indian - "What is the most common breakfast item you had, growing up?" They would reply either Idly or Dosa.& they are very easy to make. All you need is couple of ingredients which are available in a regular Indian store and an idli stand to steam these into cakes.

Preparation -

1. Wash thoroughly, multiple times (until the water runs clear) and Soak 1 cup of (split, white) urad dal with 1 teaspoon of fenugreek seeds (aids the fermentation process) for atleast 6 hours.

2. After 6 hours or overnight, drain the water (into another bowl) from the dal and grind until a very smooth, silky paste. Use the drained water little by little as needed while grinding. Remember, the more you grind, the fluffier the idlis will be. Remove the batter into a big, wide bowl.

3. Wash 2 cups of Idli rava (this is different from Sooji or Coarse Rava, used to make Upma) and grind for just a couple of seconds, using little water. There is no need to wash the blender. You can do this step in the same in which the urad dal was ground. Add this idli rava to the urad dal batter and mix with hand for couple of seconds until it is mixed thoroughly.

4. Now comes the "fermentation process". If you lucky to be in a hot climate, then just place the vessel for atleast 6-8 hours in a warm place, the batter should double in volume with air bubbles formed.
If you are like me, in a comparatively colder climate, especially in Fall - then there are couple of tips & tricks that aid the fermentation process. (and will take about 12-16 hours)

a). Preheat the over at 200 F for 10- 15 minutes. Turn off and place the covered vessel (with idli batter) in the rack. After 5-6 hours, remove the vessel, pre-heat again for 10 minutes and put back for fermentation.

b). If you use a room heater (like us in the bedroom, during nights), then time the soaking process accordingly, grind and place the vessel wrapped in a old shawl, in the room. By morning, you should see the batter has fermented.

c). Another tip is to use Eno Fruit Salt or Yeast (from Jugalbandits)

d) Or sometimes, just turn on the oven light and keep the vessel in the oven. For some of my friends, this tip works like a cham.

that is my guy - an eternal 'idli-lover' eagerly waiting to pop that in his mouth.

5. Now that the batter is fermented, take some in a separate bowl and store the rest in the refrigerator for stopping the fermenting process. Add a tbsp of water (consistency of evaporated/condensed milk) and season with salt.

6. In an Idli vessel, pour some water and bring to a boil. Grease the moulds lightly with cooking spray and fill about 2 tbsp each. Place carefully in the ildli stand and steam for 12-15 minutes. Turn off and rest it for a minute or two.

7. Use a spoon to remove them onto to a plate. Serve with any kind of chutney or powder with oil or yogurt mixed with pickle. Yum!

*I wanted this blog-post out of my drafts asap, so publishing it - though it talks about basics of idli making which most of us already know* . :-).

until next time,
Siri