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Photo: Pooja Makhijani
Prep Time:2 hrsTotal Time:16 hrsServings:12Jump to Nutrition Facts
Prep Time:2 hrsTotal Time:16 hrsServings:12
Prep Time:2 hrs
Prep Time:
2 hrs
Total Time:16 hrs
Total Time:
16 hrs
Servings:12
Servings:
12
Jump to Nutrition Facts
Jump to recipe
That changed soon after I married my (now ex-) husband, whose immigrant family traces their roots to the opposite end of South Asia—to Kerala, on the southwestern Malabar Coast of India. Dosa and idli and sambar (as well as more north Kerala-specific dishes) were breakfast staples, and batches of fermented batter could always be found in my former mother-in-law’s refrigerator and freezer. During our marriage, and especially after our daughter was born, I came to appreciate the art and science of making dosa and idli batter: soft, melt-in-your-mouth idli became my daughter’s favorite breakfast when she was a toddler. I’d divide each idli into quarters, and she’d dip the pieces into a pool of ghee and sugar.
All these years later, my own mother’s North Indian home cooking now incorporates South Indian ingredients and techniques. She often makes Thalassery chicken biryani, a casserole that blends seafood, chicken or mutton with coconut and curry leaves, in her kitchen. She says she finds it more aromatic and herbal than her own Mughlai concoction, because of the use of both coriander and mint leaves in the marinade. She’s also adapted her cilantro chutney, which she makes to accompany sanna pakoda (Sindhi double-fried onion fritters), to include coconut, creating the quintessential South Indian condiment. This chutney, too, has become my daughter’s favorite—as long as my mother doesn’t add too much heat!
“Grandmother cooking,” deep, connected, skillful, intuitive cooking, is often undervalued, even derided, in our ageist, misogynistic culture. Food writing about grandmother cooking is sometimes considered clichéd! But, to paraphraseSamin Nosrat, grandmothers are master chefs, yet we don’t honor and respect those people or their hard-acquired knowledge. My daughter’s favorite breakfast unites her to both of her grandmothers and their skills, and is their love manifested in an ordinary, commonplace—at least in South Asia and the diaspora—food. I hope she appreciates the labor and skill that has brought idli and chutney to her table, and I hope, one day, she will consider preserving these foodways for the next generation.
Cook Mode(Keep screen awake)IngredientsIdli2cupsidli rice (see Tips)Filtered water (see Tips)1cupurad gota (see Tips)½teaspoonfenugreek seeds¼cupcooked white rice2teaspoonskosher saltCoconut Chutney¾cupgrated fresh coconutorunsweetened shredded coconut2medium green chiles such as jalapeño or serrano, coarsely chopped1(1 inch) piecefresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped¼bunchcilantro, coarsely chopped½cupplain whole-milk Greek yogurt¼cupwater, plus more as needed3tablespoonslemon juice½teaspoonkosher salt2tablespoonscanola oil2teaspoonsmustard seeds1teaspoonurad dal (see Tips)2dried red chiles12 -15 fresh curry leaves
Cook Mode(Keep screen awake)
Ingredients
Idli
2cupsidli rice (see Tips)
Filtered water (see Tips)
1cupurad gota (see Tips)
½teaspoonfenugreek seeds
¼cupcooked white rice
2teaspoonskosher salt
Coconut Chutney
¾cupgrated fresh coconutorunsweetened shredded coconut
2medium green chiles such as jalapeño or serrano, coarsely chopped
1(1 inch) piecefresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
¼bunchcilantro, coarsely chopped
½cupplain whole-milk Greek yogurt
¼cupwater, plus more as needed
3tablespoonslemon juice
½teaspoonkosher salt
2tablespoonscanola oil
2teaspoonsmustard seeds
1teaspoonurad dal (see Tips)
2dried red chiles
12 -15 fresh curry leaves
Directions
To prepare idli: Place idli rice in a colander and rinse with cold water. Transfer to a large bowl and generously cover with filtered water. Place urad gota in the colander and rinse with cold water. Transfer to a medium bowl and add fenugreek seeds; generously cover with filtered water. Put both bowls in a warm place (the oven with the light on works well) and leave to soak for at least 6 hours and up to overnight.
Drain the rice and lentils, reserving 1 cup of the soaking liquid from the lentils. Process the lentils and 1/4 cup reserved soaking water in a high-speed blender until smooth, adding more water if needed. The batter should be fairly thick. Transfer to a large bowl. Repeat this process with the soaked rice, cooked rice and 1/4 cup soaking water. Add more water, if needed, to create a smooth, fairly thick batter with a slight grittiness. Transfer to the bowl with the lentil batter.
Stir 2 teaspoons salt into the batter. The batter should be thick and fluffy but pourable, like a thick smoothie. Add water in tablespoon increments, if needed.
Add 2 inches of water to a large pot; bring to a boil. Coat the plates of an idli stand with cooking spray. Fill each depression with a scant 3 tablespoons batter. Stack the idli plates on the stand and transfer to the pot. Cover and steam over medium heat until firm, about 12 minutes. Remove the stand from the pot and let cool for 4 minutes. Unmold the idli using a wet spoon. Repeat with the remaining batter.(Alternatively, if you don’t have an idli stand, use a rimmed metal pan in your steamer; fill the pan half-full of batter. Cut the resulting large idli into wedges to serve.)
To prepare chutney: Place coconut, green chiles, ginger, cilantro, yogurt, 1/4 cup water, lemon juice and salt in a blender. Process until smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl.
Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add mustard seeds and urad dal; cook, partially covered, until the seeds stop popping and the dal turns reddish brown, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in whole red chiles and curry leaves to taste. Pour the hot mixture over the chutney. Serve the idli warm or at room temperature with the chutney on the side.
EquipmentIdli stand
Equipment
Idli stand
TipsIdli rice (a short-grained parboiled rice), urad gota (whole, unsplit pulses—variously called black gram, matpe beans or lentils—that have been skinned; they’re yellowish) and urad dal (split matpe beans, aka lentils) are widely available online; Laxmi and Swad are both excellent brands. Offline, Patel Brothers, a chain supermarket that has 54 locations nationwide, carries a very comprehensive range of food products from South Asia.It’s important to use filtered water for soaking the rice and lentils, as chlorine will inhibit fermentation.
Tips
Idli rice (a short-grained parboiled rice), urad gota (whole, unsplit pulses—variously called black gram, matpe beans or lentils—that have been skinned; they’re yellowish) and urad dal (split matpe beans, aka lentils) are widely available online; Laxmi and Swad are both excellent brands. Offline, Patel Brothers, a chain supermarket that has 54 locations nationwide, carries a very comprehensive range of food products from South Asia.It’s important to use filtered water for soaking the rice and lentils, as chlorine will inhibit fermentation.
Idli rice (a short-grained parboiled rice), urad gota (whole, unsplit pulses—variously called black gram, matpe beans or lentils—that have been skinned; they’re yellowish) and urad dal (split matpe beans, aka lentils) are widely available online; Laxmi and Swad are both excellent brands. Offline, Patel Brothers, a chain supermarket that has 54 locations nationwide, carries a very comprehensive range of food products from South Asia.
It’s important to use filtered water for soaking the rice and lentils, as chlorine will inhibit fermentation.
EatingWell.com, March 2021
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Nutrition Facts(per serving)250Calories7gFat40gCarbs8gProtein
Nutrition Facts(per serving)
- Daily Values (DVs) are the recommended amounts of nutrients to consume each day. Percent Daily Value (%DV) found on nutrition labels tells you how much a serving of a particular food or recipe contributes to each of those total recommended amounts. Per the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the daily value is based on a standard 2,000 calorie diet. Depending on your calorie needs or if you have a health condition, you may need more or less of particular nutrients. (For example, it’s recommended that people following a heart-healthy diet eat less sodium on a daily basis compared to those following a standard diet.)
(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a special diet for medical reasons, be sure to consult with your primary care provider or a registered dietitian to better understand your personal nutrition needs.
