Softer Idlies

Idly is one of the healthiest and low calorie food , easily digestible and an ideal breakfast in South India. Idly can be neither too softer or rubbery , it should be little fluffy, but softer and tastier. Making the batter itself a very careful job, which determines the fate of the Idlies.  I generally add 1 cup of urad dal / Ulutham paruppu / Mina pappu for 3 cups of Idly rice.
                     But the idli i tasted in my friends house at California was very tasty and softer, we all liked it. Thanks to gai , my friend, today I tried the Idlies with her ratio 2:1 , 1 cup of urad dal for 2 cups of Idly Rice. It came out very well. And we enjoyed it with our green colour chutney today.

Ingredients

Idly Rice / Par Boiled Rice - 4 Cups

Urad Dal / Black Lentil / Ulutham paruppu / Mina Pappu - 2 Cups

Olive Oil / Gingelly Oil - Enough to coat the Idly Plates before steaming

Method

1. Soak the Idly Rice and Dal separately for 4-5 hours.
2. After that, wash the Idly Rice first and grind it in the grinder to a semi solid state. Don't make it too watery.
3. Then, wash the Black Lentils and grind it in the grinder next. While grinding the Black lentils, add water little by little. Patiently grind the Black lentils by constantly mixing the contents on the side, adding little water side by side. If you follow this way, the black lentil batter would come very fluffy and would get more quantity too.
4. Then, mix it with the grounded Idly Batter thoroughly.
5. Add enough salt to the Idly Batter and mix again perfectly.
6. Keep it for fermentation till the quantity gets more at the top with light bubbles.
7. After the fermentation process is done, pour the idly batter into the oil coated moulds and steam it in the Idly Cooker for 10 minutes on medium flame. 
8. When its cooked fully, switch off the heat. Let it cool for 2 minutes.
9. Take take out the idlies carefully with a big flat spoon dipped in cold water.
10. Serve it with idly podi, chutneys of your choice, delicious sambar on a banana leaf.

Variations

As I mentioned earlier, the Idly Batter ratio varies. Some people like to add in the ratio of 1:4 too. As we like to reduce the Rice quantity as much as possible in our food, I use the ratio as 1:2. ( 1 cup of Black lentils for 2 cups of Idly Rice ).

Tips

Be patient while grinding the Black Lentil. Don't add more water in the beginning itself to quicken the process. If you are bit patient, your idlies would turn out great.

While taking out the idlies, please dip the Big flat spoon in cold water and then slowly take out from the moulds.  If you hurry unnecessarily, you will spoil the shapes of your Idlies.

Try to grind the Black Lentils at the end which eases the cleaning process after the grinding is done.