Phova Idli (Flattened Rice Idli)

Phova Idli is a recently learnt recipe. Few days back, my Facebook friend Archana had posted this recipe and I was totally impressed. I wanted to try it right away but somehow I was not able to do it. Then I told my mother to try and she was very happy with the results. Now I really wanted it to try and trust me the idlis turned out very spongy. The flattened rice really makes some magic to the idlis :-) Try this version and I am sure you will always stick to this recipe.

Ingredients:

• Rice - 1 1/2 cup
• Urad dal/Split Black Lentil (without skin) - 1/2 cup
• Phovu (Poha)/Flattened Rice (thick or thin variety) - 1/2 cup
• Salt- To taste
• Oil - For greasing the mould

Procedure:

Wash and soak the Urad dal (split black lentil) for 2-3 hours. 

Wash and soak rice for 2-3 hours separately.
Soak flattened rice in few tablespoons of water just before grinding.

Now grind the strained split black lentil along  with flattened rice to get a smooth paste. Add water while grinding, just enough to aid the grinding process. Once finely ground, transfer it to a bowl. 

Now transfer the strained rice in the same blender and grind it to get medium coarse consistency (don't make a paste. This will bring a change in the texture of the idli). Transfer this to the same bowl containing urad dal paste. Give a good mix using hand. If the batter is too thick, add little amount of water. The final consistency of the batter should be medium thick (thicker than the dosa batter). Keep the batter in a warm place and allow it to ferment for 8-10 hours (the batter should be doubled after fermentation to get spongy idlis. If not they will turn hard. If it has not doubled then keep it for few more hours).

Now add salt and mix well. The batter should be thick but of dropping consistency. Add water if required.

Now grease the idli mould using oil and add the batter in each mould.

Steam them in a steamer or pressure cooker (without whistle) for 15-16 minutes. 

Allow it to cool for five minutes and then unmould the idlis using back of the spoon.

Phova Idli is ready!!

Serve it hot with Sambhar or any chutney of your choice. Above measurement makes 24 medium sized idlis.

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Rava Idli~ With a Twist

Rava Idli is a very popular South- Indian breakfast. It is one of my favorite breakfast and make it regularly. I have already posted my mother's recipe for rava idli. I love that recipe but I am always open for some variations. Last year I bumped into this recipe posted by Vidya. I absolutely loved the idea of adding coconut and hence book marked it. So finally I tried it by making some variations to the original recipe and it turned out very soft and tasty. I was really very happy with the outcome. Do try this variation and I am sure you all will love it too :-)

Ingredients:

• Semolina/Rava, fine- 1 cup
• Yogurt/curd, thick- 3/4 cup
• Milk- 1/4 cup
• Eno fruit salt- 3/4 tsp
• Grated Coconut, fresh/frozen- 3 Tbsp
• Cilantro (coriander leaves)- 10 Sprigs
• Ginger- A small piece (1/2 inch)
• Oil- 2-3 tsp
• Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves- Few
• Green Chillies- 2-3
• Urad dal/Split black gram- 1 tsp
• Chana dal/ Bengal gram- 1 tsp
• Sugar- 1/2 tsp
• Salt- To taste
• Cashew nuts- As required

Procedure:

Heat oil and add mustard seeds. Once it starts spluttering, add cashew nuts, chana dal, urad dal and curry leaves. Fry until cashew nuts, chana dal and urad dal turns slight brown.

Once it turns light brown, add semolina and fry it until a nice aroma is got. This step might take 3-4 minutes. Semolina has to be constantly stirred and heat should be medium.

Once a nice aroma is got, turn off the heat and allow it to cool. While it is cooling prepare the masala. 
For the masala- take grated coconut, cilantro, green chillies and ginger in a blender.

Add little water and grind it into a smooth paste.

Now add the ground masala, yogurt, milk, sugar and salt to the semolina mixture.

Mix well and add water, if required. Let this mixture sit for 15- 20 minutes.

Now grease the idli moulds with oil. At this point add little water to the batter if it is too thick. Then add the eno fruit salt to the batter and mix well. Then start putting the batter in each mould (fill upto 3/4 th of it).

Stack them up and steam it for 15 minutes.  Then allow it to cool for 5 minutes and then remove the idlis from the moulds using a spoon.

Rava Idlis are ready!!

Serve it hot with Coconut chutney or mint chutney. Above measurement makes 12 medium sized idlis.

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Cornmeal Idli and Two Years of Blogging!!

Hello Everyone..You read it right..'Lakshmi Canteen' turned 'Two' today. Looking back- I still remember the day my husband gave me the idea of starting a blog in which I document all the Konkani recipes. I just nodded and thought to myself- "Really?"..Then I started working on it after a month and finally Lakshmi Canteen was born. With each passing day, I started to make my posts better. I also started to work more on the presentation of the final dish. And finally this is where I reached..But I always keep reminding myself- There is no end to learning. Whether it is cooking or something else. Each day is a surprise and I am looking forward to more vegeterian experiments in my kitchen. I would like to thank everyone for joining me in this exciting culinary journey :-)

Coming back to my recipe- Cornmeal Idli. This recipe is similar to my Rava Idli post. I got this recipe from here. I was totally impressed by her recipe (she has a good collection of video recipes). Never knew that we can make idlis using cornmeal. I made slight variations to the original recipe and the idlis turned out very tasty. Indeed a filling breakfast :-) Do try making these yellow beauties and enjoy!!

Ingredients:

• Yellow coarse Cornmeal*- 1 cup
• Yogurt/curd, thick- 3/4 cup
• Eno fruit salt- 3/4 tsp
• Water- 3/4 cup (vary accordingly)
• Coriander leaves (Cilantro)- 6-7 Sprigs
• Ginger, grated- 1/2 tsp
• Oil- 3-4 tsp
• Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves- Few
• Green Chillies- 3-4
• Urad dal/Split black gram- 1 tsp
• Chana dal/ Bengal gram- 1-2 tsp
• Salt- To taste
• Roasted Cashew nuts- As required

*You can substitute semolina(rava) for cornmeal, if you can't find it.

Procedure:

Chop green chilli, cilantro and grate ginger.

Heat oil and add mustard seeds. Once it starts spluttering, add chana dal, urad dal, chopped green chillies, grated ginger and curry leaves. Fry until chana dal and urad dal turns slight brown.

Once it turns light brown, add cornmeal and fry it until a nice aroma is got. This step might take 3-4 minutes. Cornmeal has to be constantly stirred and heat should be medium.

Once a nice aroma is got, turn off the heat and add chopped coriander leaves. Allow it to cool. Once it cools, add yogurt, water, salt.

Mix well. Let this mixture sit for half an hour.

Now grease the idli moulds with oil and keep the roasted cashew in each small mould.

Now add the eno fruit salt to the batter and mix well. Then start putting the batter in each mould (fill upto 3/4 th of it).

Stack them up and steam it for 15 minutes. Then allow it to cool for 5 minutes and then remove the idlis from the moulds using a spoon.

Cormeal Idlis are ready!!

Serve it hot with Coconut chutney or mint chutney. I served it with Sambhar. Above measurement makes 13 medium sized idlis.

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Idli ~ With a Twist !!

Idli is a popular South- Indian breakfast. Recently my FB friend Kiranmayi posted this recipe and I found it interesting with the addition of some ingredients to the normal dosa batter. Hence noted it down right away and tried it. It turned out very good. A good twist to the normal idlis. The curry leaves induces a wonderful flavor and carrot adds a great color. A good way to make the kids eat without any fuss :-)

Ingredients:

• Rice- 1 cup
• Urad dal/ Split Black Lentil (without skin)- 1/2 cup
• Chanadal (Split Chickpeas)- 2 Tbsp
• Carrot, small sized- 1
• Curry leaves- 5-6
• Green chillies- 1-2
• Salt- To taste
• Oil- For greasing the mould

Procedure:

Wash and soak the Urad dal (split black lentil) for 2-3 hours. 

Wash and soak rice for 2-3 hours separately.

Now grind the strained split black lentil to get a smooth paste. Add water while grinding, just enough to aid the grinding process. Once finely ground, transfer it to a bowl. 

Now transfer the strained rice and grind it to get medium coarse consistency (don't make a paste. This will bring a change in the texture of the idli). Transfer this to the same bowl containing urad dal paste. Give a good mix using hand. If the batter is too thick, add little amount of water. The final consistency of the batter should be medium thick (thicker than the dosa batter). Keep the batter in a warm place and allow it to ferment for 8-10 hours (the batter should be doubled after fermentation to get spongy idlis. If not they will turn hard. If it has not doubled then keep it for few more hours).

Soak the chanadal in water for 2 hours (or overnight) and then cook it for few minutes until it turns little soft (I just cooked them in a microwave oven ). Then also grate the carrot and chop the green chilli and curry leaves.

Now add these to the fermented batter along with salt.

Mix well. The batter should be thick but of dropping consistency. Add water if required.

Now grease the idli mould using oil and add the batter in each mould.

Steam them in a steamer or pressure cooker (without whistle) for 15-16 minutes. 

Allow it to cool for five minutes and then unmould the idlis using back of the spoon.

Idli is ready!!

Serve it hot with Sambhar or any chutney of your choice. Above measurement makes 19-20 medium sized idlis.

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Udidu- Moogadali Idli (Mixed Lentil Idli)

Udidu- Moogadali Idli is a very simple and healthy breakfast. I got this recipe from a FB friend- Uma. 

The speciality of this idli recipe is- it doesn't have rice!! yes, you read it right. The same thing happened to me when I first read the recipe. I thought she missed to mention rice. I never thought that idlis can be made only with lentils (dals). I was very excited to try this new variation, as its very healthy. The idlis turned out very good. The texture is different from the normal idlis as it contains only dal. But sure a keeper for those who are trying to reduce weight, diabetic people etc. It goes very well with sambhar. 

Ingredients:

• Urad Dal/ Split Black gram- 2/3 cup
• Moong dal/ Split Mung beans- 2/3 cup
• Salt- To taste
• Oil- For greasing the moulds

Use any cup to measure the dal. The amount of both the dals added should be equal.

Procedure:

Wash and soak urad dal and moong dal together, for 4-5 hours. Now grind the strained urad dal- moong dal mixture to a smooth paste. Add water while grinding, just enough to aid the grinding process. Once finely ground, transfer it to a bowl. 

Keep the batter in a warm place and allow it to ferment for 8-10 hours (the batter should rise well after fermentation to get spongy idlis. If not they will turn hard. If it has not risen properly then keep it for few more hours. I kept it for nearly a day). 
The final consistency of the batter should be thick but of pouring consistency (thicker than the dosa batter).

Now grease the idli mould using oil and add the batter half way through in each mould.

Steam them in a steamer or pressure cooker (without whistle) for 15-16 minutes. 

Allow it to cool for five minutes and then unmould the idlis using back of the spoon. 
Udidu- Moogadali Idli is ready!!

Serve it hot with Sambhar or any chutney of your choice. Above measurement makes 26 small sized idlis.

Note: You can also add little bit of grated ginger, chopped green chillies and curry leaves to the batter to make it more flavorful.

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Dudhi Idli (Pumpkin Idli)

Dudhi Idli is a simple Konkani breakfast. In Konkani, dudhi means pumpkin. I got this recipe from my mother.

I have seen many people who are not a fan of pumpkin. Even I belong to this group. I hardly get this veggie. My mother used to make this idli once in a while and I never even dared to taste it, as I had assumed it won't taste great. But now I am in the mode of experimenting. Hence got a small piece of pumpkin and tried it. To my surprise it tasted great with ghee. Do try making this simple idli. The pumpkin induces a different flavor as well as a eye pleasing color.

Ingredients:

• Raw rice - 1 cup
• Grated Pumpkin- 1 cup
• Grated coconut, fresh/frozen - 1/4 cup
• Jaggery- To taste (optional, add according to how sweet you want )
• Salt- 1/4 tsp

Procedure:

Wash and soak the rice for two hours. Then drain the water completely and then grind it into a semi coarse paste ( give 4-5 pulses). Transfer this semi coarse paste to a large mixing bowl.

Now remove the skin of the pumpkin.

Then grate it.

Add the grated pumpkin along with grated coconut, jaggery (if using. I added 2-3 Tbsp) and salt to the bowl containing rice paste.

Mix it well.

Grease the idli moulds with oil.  Then pour the rice- pumpkin mixture half way through, in each mould.

Steam it for 15 minutes.

Once done, allow it to cool for 3-4 minutes. Then remove it by loosening the edges with the back of a spoon.

Dudhi idlis are ready!!

Serve hot with ghee. Above measurement makes seven big sized idlis.

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