Soft Idli's - tips for soft idli's - with pictures

Idli Dosa Batter preparation(kudumu pindi) is posted here with pictures. Most of the people in south India take ildi as the breakfast. Idly an easily disgestible food taken with sambar and chutney, provides a mix of proteins and carbohydrates to the body.South Indians have brought the popular idli wherever they have settled throughout the world.

Ingredients

Idli rice - 4 cup (idli arisi) Ratio:4:1

urad dal - 1 cup

salt - as required

fenugreek - 1 tsp

Preparation

wash the Boiled rice and soak it for 4 to 5 hours or overnight before grinding.

wash and soak urad dal and fenugreek before one hour of grinding.soak rice in separate vessel, and urad dal and fenugreek together in seperate vessel.

Method

Grind urad dal and fenugreek seperately till it become soft and fluffy.Add water little by little. it should not be watery.Ground urad dal consistency should be thick and fluffy and transfer it to a container.Consistency of idli batter comes well only if urad dal consistency is thick.This is very important step in making idlis.
ground urad dal

Grind boiled rice seperately till it become fine paste.

- Mix ground urad dal and ground boiled rice to gether in a container along with salt.Mix it well ,from the bottom . Normally i use hands to mix well .
- consistency of the batter should not be too thin or too thick. it should be moderate.if it is watery idli's will be flat or if it is too thick idli's will be hard. once you start preparing you get used to it.

After preparing the batter pour it in a container , container should be half filled,because after fermentation quantity of the batter will get doubled.

Allow it to ferment for 7 to 8 hours or over night, depending upon the climatic conditions, if climate is chill more time is required to ferment.In such cases keep the container inside the oven it will get fermented quickly.

Once the batter is fermented, you can prepare idli's .
- You can use idli steamer or pressure cooker or heavy bottomed kadai, to make idli's. Pour some water , and keep it on the fire, in the meantime wash the idli plates with running water, then spoon it with the batter.
- Allow it to steam for 10 - 12 minutes.
- insert a spoon to check, whether idli's are done. if it comes out as clean spoon idli's are cooked else cook for few more minutes.

Very Important Tip

Urad dal Consistency should be fluffy,it should not be watery.So add water little by little to grind the urad dal.This is very important step to prepare soft and fluffy idli's.Even if rice consistency is watery, if u mix with urad dal batter, after fermentation, it becomes thick.
If Urad dal consistency is watery, you won't get idli's.but you can prepare dosa's and uttapam's.
While mixing urad dal and rice batter to gether, stir from the bottom of container . usually i use hand to mix the batter.
it is not necessary to Grease idli plates, instead you could , wash the plates with running water.