Soft Idli and Dosa Batter

Idli’s and Dosa’s are one of the most frequent breakfast in South India. Even within South India, each state make idli different ways and each recipes has its own speciality!

Here in this post, we are going to see how to make Tamil Nadu style Idli’s and dosa batter. In TamilNadu, Idli and doas is the king of breakfast. Scientifically, Idli are meant to be very healthy food as it is made from fermented batter. 2 Idli in the morning will count only 80 calories. So what next, eat idli and stay healthy 🙂

Ingredients:

Preparation: 10 hours.                                                     Cooking Time: 20 minute

• Idli Rice – 4 cups
• Urudu daal – 1 cup
• Fenugrek Seeds – 1 tbsp
• Thick Poha – 1 handfull (optional)
• Salt as required

1. Soak 4 cups of idli rice over the night. 
2. Soak 1 cup of Urudu Daal and 1 spoon of fenugreek seeds for 4 hours before grinding. If you live abroad at cold place, soak the Urdu daal and fenugreek seeds over the night. As I live in Chicago, I soak it over the night  to get the smooth texture.
3. Soak 1 handful of thick poha for 15 mins, wash it and keep aside. (Optional)
4. Next day, wash the rice 3-4 times or until you see clear water. Transfer the  washed rice to the grinder. 
5. Grind rice for 15-20 minutes. You should be adding water inbetween to have nice and soft rice batter. When you touch the rice batter, you should not feel any grains. 
6. Transfer the rice batter to a vessel and keep it aside.
7. Now wash the Urdu daal and fenugreek seeds 3-4 times. Transfer the washed Urudu daal and fenugreek seeds to the grinder. 
8. Grind Urdu daal, Fenufreek seeds and the washed thick poha together for 15 – 20 minutes. You can see the batter raising as it gets grinded. Add water as required in-between the grinding process. 
9. Now mix the Rice Batter and Urudu Daal batter nicely so that, both blends together. I add salt as I live in cold country. If you live in tropical weather, you can add salt next day when you use the batter.
10. Transfer it to 2 – 3 vessels half filled and put a slip on lid and keep it aside. I put the batter vessels inside the oven, so that it helps in fast fermentation. 
11. Next day, you can see the batter fermented and raised. 
12. Transfer the batter to the idli mould and steam cook for 15 minutes.
13. Transfer the cooked Idli to the plate. 
14. Idli is ready to be served with chutney. For kara chutney recipe, please list: Authentic Kara Chutney 
15. For Dosa, heat the pan and take a ladle of batter, spread it across the dosa pan nicely. Add 1/2 tbsp of sesame oil around the pan. The Dosa is ready to be served hot!

Tips: 

1. You can use Thick Poha or cooked rice. This will give softness to the idly.
2. The same batter can be used for both Dosa and Idli.
3. If you want brown colored dosa, add extra half spoon of fenugreek seed. This will also gives a good aroma when we cook dosa.
4. I do not have the picture or video of dosa making. Will be uploaded soon.