The making of IDLI...

Nah ..its not about the making of some movie named IDLI ..I am talking about the first time I tried making Idli last week and how they turned out to be :) !!!

There is always a first time for everything...I had tried my hands on Dosa but never on Idli so last Friday it was the first time for Idli making :) !!!

Preparation begins a day before. I asked my friend to ask his mother the correct ratio for rice and split black lentil to be soaked. He told me 4:1 i.e 4 cups of rice + 1 cup of split black lentil . So i soaked 2 cups of rice and 1/2 cup of split black lentil . Soaked it overnight and grinded it in the morning before leaving for office for it to ferment. My intuition or sixth sense whatever made me keep a plate under the bowl in which i had kept the grinded batter for fermentation so that if it over flows it doesn't dirty the kitchen platform and saves me from some of scolding from my landlady about messing her kitchen .

My landlady cooks less and cleans more ;o) !! Both the habits have its own pros and cons.. She cooks less ..so i have got the whole kitchen to myself ..but on the other side one fine day when she plans to cook she flicks the tomatoes and onions from my cover ...She cleans more. so the kitchen is clean after she cooks non-veg and i dnt have to do much of cleaning ..but then she expects me to clean even when i am rushing to office !!!

Anyways ..i am all excited in the office about the idlis ..i even tell my friend that , tom i am going to get idlis for breakfast . By the time its evening i even tell my friend that we will make small onion sambar ..so all excited i reach home ..on the way i buy small onions ..grated coconut..some green chilies and a small green mango. I tell my friend to peel the small onions (its boring to peel them) by the time i get the batter. Now this is called positive thinking. I didnt even knew how the batter would be, will we be actually making idlis?? And even if we managed to make will it be edible ?? So with all such questions.. I rush home, keep my bag and rush to the kitchen to see the idli batter .. But where is the batter ??? Missing ??

Then the landlady who is watching TV tells me that the idli batter had over flown in the afternoon so she kept it inside the fridge ... Aha...(My sixth sense worked :) )Good that i had kept the plate beneath it ! I took out the batter ,and beat it with a spoon and check its consistency ! Looked fine to me ! So i quickly change my dress ..take the batter and off to my friend's house .

So first we make chutney ..I cut the raw mango only to find that the half of the mango was spoilt but still the other half was good so i cut them into small pieces (while my dear friend was eating some of them) and put it in the mixer (grinder ..blender or whatever you call ) along with 2 green chilies and coconut ...3-4 four rounds and chutney is ready :)

Next is the famous small onion sambar ..i peel a potato, cut into pieces ..take some 2-3 small onions, cut into half ..one chopped tomato..some chilies.. heat the oil in pan ..reach for the masala box for mustard and cumin seeds ..and guess what ..it was empty ...all clear ..i call out for my friend..and then he gives me a smile and tells me that he will go and get it now. I say okay ..and peel two garlics and put it in the oil to fry ..then added the onion and tomato and potato... after frying for a while added the sambar powder ..followed by the cooked daal and water . Boil it for a while. In separate frying pan heat some oil , put some mustard seeds, cumin seeds and two dried chilies. once the mustard seeds start popping out remove it from the flame and pour a little over the chutney and a little on the sambar . If you want your sambar to look good for the photo session then pour it in a nice glass vessel and decorate it with some coriander leaves :o) !!!!

And now for the grand finale ..The IDLI.. All the circus we did to make the idlis .. Since we didnt have a proper idli cooker..we kept the idli plate on top of a vessel with a water so that the steam wud cook the idlis..and since we were beginners. we kept the cloth on the idli plate so that it doesn't stick ..
Steps :

* Wet the cloth.

* Spread it on the Idli plate.

* Pour the idli batter.

* Keep it on top of the Vessel .

* Close it with a lid.

* Once the steam starts coming out in about 5-6 minutes, open to check whether the idlis are made.

Tip : To check whether idlis are cooked insert a knife and remove it, if nothing sticks to the knife then the idlis are cooked.

* Take out the Idli plate.

* Sprinkle some water on top of it.

* Remove the cloth along with the idli ..reverse and again sprinkle some water.. and carefully take out the idlis ..

We were so happy to see the idlis :o)
And then my friend asks me did you grind the split black lentil and rice separately ?? I asked why? And then he tells me "Then only the idlis will be soft !!" . What an early realization ,as always!!!! :D !!
Nevertheless ,the idlis were edible ,the sambar was great ,had to do some minor adjustments to the chutney .. all in all it was a great dinner .. nothing remained ..everything was emptied..

The making of the IDLI was an successful event !!!!

I DID LIKE IT ( IDLI ) !!!!!!!

P.S : Photos courtsey Manju