WHOLE URAD & YELLOW MOONG DAL IDLIS…the best idlis that you’ll eat…ever!!
Idlis are a ubiquitous snack item in South Indian restaurants. I hesitate to say all South Indian homes, but that was not the case in mine! 🙂 We were/are primarily roti people. Also, I was not a fan of Idlis made with idli rava, but ever since I bought a wet grinder many many moons ago, I am a transformed die-hard Idli lover! The magic that the grinder does to the rice and urad dal to produce soft fluffy idlis is to be seen/eaten to be believed!! But in recent years, with a conscious effort to move away from the much-maligned white rice, a dear friend Kavita sent me a recipe to make idlis out of yellow moong dal! I couldn’t believe it at first, but never one to shy away from a food challenge, I tried it out. And thanks to http://www.flavorsncolors.com/2013/04/urad-and-yellow-moong-dal-idlis.html, with a few minor tweaks, these babies are now the only idlis that I make! They have never failed me and I don’t miss the rice idlis at all! Try these healthy, rice free idlis and and let me know what you think!
RICE-FREE IDLIS
Ingredients
- 1 cup Yellow Mung Dal
- 1 cup skinned Whole Gota Urad dal
- 1 fistful Poha (any variety)
- 1 tsp Methi seeds
Instructions
To a large bowl, add 1 cup of mung dal and a fistful of poha. Wash well, and fill the bowl with water, cover and leave on the counter overnight.
To another large bowl, add 1 cup of whole urad dal and 1 tsp of methi seeds. Fill the bowl with water, cover, and leave on the counter overnight.
Next morning, drain off the water from the urad dal. Add it to the wet grinder (or the blender) and grind to a smooth fluffy batter with very little water. Take out the fluffy batter into an oversized bowl.
Drain off the water from the moong dal-poha mixture and add to the wet grinder. Add very little water and grind to a smooth batter.
Add this to the urad dal batter.
Add salt to taste and with a large spoon, mix the batter to combine the two together in a folding motion.
Place a big plate under the bowl, cover and leave it out on the counter for about 6-8 hours to ferment in a warm corner of your kitchen.
The batter would have doubled in size and you will see bubbles formed on top. Use a long spoon to mix well.
Grease the idli plates with a little oil, pour spoon fulls of batter and steam for 10-12 minutes till a toothpick comes out clean.
Once cooked, the idlis will just slide out of the idli pan if you have greased it well. Serve piping hot with coconut chutney or tomato chutney or any other accompaniment of your choice!
