Prithis Idli

Batter story:

1. Morning: Soak Sona masoori rice and urad in separate bowls. Ratio 3:1
2. That night, grind the batter in wet grinder or a sturdy blender. First grind urad to paste. Then rice separately.
3. Add soaked poha in each blend.
4. Transfer to a large spacious steel bowl. It should have enough room for the batter, as it will fluff up after fermenting.
5. Add 2 spoon salt on top. (I dont put salt in the blender, and only here separately. I found major difference in the fermentation, so.)
6. Now use a ladle and mix the batter thoroughly for 10-15 minutes. It important to fold air into the batter, as it helps in the fermentation.
7. Cover the vessel, but leave a small opening, and leave it overnight at a warm undisturbed spot in the kitchen.
8. In summer, I leave the batter in oven, without light on. Light usually made the batter bitter for me. Room temperature is uneven so oven is the safe place.
9. In winter, I leave it on kitchen counter. Central heating in the house takes care of maintaining the optimum temperature.

Steaming:

1. I use an Idli steamer with thate/katori/wati/small bowls for Idli. This is different from the stand used in pressure cooker.
2. Grease the mould with coconut oil - I don't use ghee/sunflower/canola/vegetable/or-anything-else oil. I stick to coconut oil as its more neutral in smell and taste. Doesn't interfere with the Idli taste.
3. Give the batter a final mix, to make it even.
4. Pour the batter in each mold to 3/4th level. It needs room when it fluff's up after steaming.
5. Line it up in the steamer and steam it covered for 20 minutes.
6. When done, remove cover immediately. Else the steam will condense as water droplets on idli and make it soggy on the top.
7. Keep a deep plate ready with a layer of water. Transfer each bowl into this plate, for each idli to cool.
8. After 5-10 minutes, scoop it out with a flat spoon (or flat end of spoon), without damaging any idli.
9. That's it, serve and enjoy !

Serve with one or all of these:

• Green chutney: Puree cilantro, coconut, groundnut, slice each of onion, ginger & 1 garlic clove, green chilies, small ball of soaked tamarind, salt & water.
• Channa daal chutney: Wash, soak & dry channa dal. Light toast on a hot pan with groundnut, and puree all with ginger, garlic, green chilies, salt and water.
• Sambar
• Kori da rasa - or the Udupi style chicken curry. Best dinner combo ever !

Useful Links:
This blog page has more detailed explanation and awesome pic of the Idli Steamer. http://tablespooning.com/2012/02/idli-sambar-with-jeera-chutney/