Ingredients

The following ingredients have 4 Servings
  • Channa dal – ½ cup
  • Toor Dal – ½ cup
  • Urad dal – 2 tbsp
  • Moong dal – 2 tbsp
  • Masoor dal – 2 tbsp
  • Rice – 1 cup (or use Broken Wheat or Little Millet)
  • Eno fruit salt – 1 tsp (or Cooking Soda – ¼ tsp)
  • Dry red chilies - 4
  • Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
  • Ginger - 1 " piece
  • Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
  • For seasoning
  • Gingelly Oil – 2 tbsp
  • Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
  • Urad dal – 1 tsp
  • Curry Leaves – 1 sprig (chopped)
  • Optional Ingredients
  • (You can add any of the below as per your choice)
  • Grated coconut – ¼ cup
  • Onion - 1 (finely chopped)
  • Cilantro - handful (finely chopped)
  • Vegetables – ½ cup (finely chopped)

Instruction

  • Wash and soak the rice and the lentils together for at least an hour. Those who want to avoid rice completely can substitute with little millet or broken wheat. Also you can include any other lentils or dry beans too.
  • Grind it to a coarse batter along with dry red chilies, asafoetida, ginger, cumin seeds and the required salt. The batter should have the consistency little thicker than that of regular idli batter.
  • Remove the batter in a mixing bowl. Since we do not ferment the batter we need to add some eno fruit salt or cooking soda to the batter.
  • As soon as you add it, the batter becomes frothy and lighter. You can make the idlis at this stage or else add some more items to make it more interesting.
  • You can mix up any of the above mentioned optional ingredients with the batter. Today I decided to add some drumstick leaves to the batter.
  • Now is the time to add the aromatic seasoning. This is optional but I love it. For the seasoning, heat the oil in a small pan, pop the mustard seeds, urad dal and chopped curry leaves.
  • You can mix up the seasoned oil with the batter or top it in the idli plates for a beautiful presentation. When I made the Rava Idli, I mixed the seasoned oil with the batter and topped with the vegetables. Today, I am doing the other way round just to give you an idea.
  • Pour little water in the idli cooker and keep it for getting heated up while you fill the batter.
  • Take each idli plate and add few drops of the seasoned oil along with the seeds and curry leaves. This is sufficient to grease the plates.
  • Now add a spoonful of the prepared batter so that the idli molds are 80% full.
  • Place it inside the idli cooker and steam it for 15-20 minutes. Since it has lentils, it takes a little longer to cook.
  • Demold and enjoy while it is still hot.