Mix Veggie Idli/Rice Cakes

Ingredients:

Fermented Idli batter                                 - 2 cups
Pureed Mix Veggies                                  - 1 cup
Salt                                                             - to taste
Red Chili                                                    - to taste


Method:

Wash and par-boiled mix veggies. I used Mushroom, Corn kernels, carrot, peas and beans.
Once boiled puree the veggies. Keep them aside.
Mix the Idli batter with pureed veggies.
Now add salt and red chili according to your taste.
Now scoop you idli batter on the idli tray and steam for 10-15 minutes depending on the steamer you are using.
Once steamed, take the Idlis out and serve with peanut chutney, saunth chutney or coriander chutney.

Assorted Idlis

Ingredients:

Fermented idli batter                                         - 4 cups
Carrot                                                                - 1/2 cup grated
Green Beans                                                      - 1/2 cup shredded
Cabbage                                                             - 1/2 cup shredded
Tomato puree                                                     - 1/2 cup (of 1 tomato)
Salt                                                                     - To taste    
Red chili                                                             - to taste    


Method:

Grate or shred the veggies very fine. Also puree 1 tomato. Keep them aside.

Divide the idli batter into 4 equal parts in 4 separate bowl.
Now mix the each veg into each bowl, like one bowl we will mix carrot, second bowl we mix beans and so on.

Now add salt and red chili according to the taste.
Now scoop you idli batter on the idli tray and steam for 10-15 minutes depending on the steamer you are using.
Once done, take them out and serve with peanut chutney, saunth chutney or coriander chutney.

Stuffed Masala Idli

Idlis are the most popular breakfast dish from south of India. It's also very popular in north of India as the food makes all of us one. I experiment a lot with Idli recipes. Idlies can be made in several different ways such as authentic style rice idli, stuffed idli, methi idli, masala idli and so on.... here is one of my idli recipe.

Ingredients:

Fermented idli batter - 3 cups
Red Peanuts - 2 tblspoon
Cashewnuts - 5-8
Almonds                      - 5-8
Raisins - 10-12
Achari Masala - 1 tblspoon
Corn Kernels              - 1 tblspoon
Carrot - 2 tblspoon (Finely chopped)
Mix Peppers - 2 tblspoon (Finely chopped)
Fresh Coriander - 1 tblspoon
Salt                           - To taste              


Method:

Take a pan and dry roast peanuts, cashewnuts, raisins and almonds in it until they start leaving their oil. Now finely chop all the nuts except raisins.

Chop carrots, fresh coriander and capsicums finely. Add in the corn kernels.

Now mix Achari masala and salt to the nut mix.

Now mix together the nuts and veggies.

Beat the Idli batter well and add the salt to your taste. Remember that we have added the salt to stuffing as well.

I've steamed my idlies in microwave steamer this time but they can be steam the authentic gas steamer way.
Refer the picture to stuff the idlies. first layer idli batter on the idli mould and place 1 tspoon on the batter then layer it again thinly over the stuffing.use the spoon to make it even.

Steam the idlies for 7-10 minutes depending on your microwave temperature or gas steamer.
Stuffed idlies are ready to tuck in as breakfast or evening snack with chutney and hot tea.

Methi Idli

Ingredients:

Idli rice                                - 2 cups
White round urad dal          - 1 cup
Fenugreek seeds                  - 1/2 tsp
Fresh Fenugreek leaves      - 1 cup chopped finely
Salt                                      - as needed
Water                                  - around 6 cups


Method:

Wash the rice well with ur hands well.
Now soak the rice in enough water for minimum 4 hours.
Wash once and soak the urad dal and methi seeds together for minimum 4 hours because methi seeds take 2 hours to soak well.
After 4 hours,grind the urad dal,methi first adding 1/2 cup of water initially.
The dal will grind and the quantity of batter would rise and becomes fluffy.
Add 1/4 cup of water for every 5 minutes.
Please do not add all the water in the beginning.
Stand nearby for the first 10 minutes and keep wiping the sides of the grinder.
It take nearly 20-25 minutes taking 2 to 2.5 cups of water.
Remove the urad dal batter and keep in a big deep bowl, there should be enough room for the batter to rise well.
Next add the rice to the grinder. Add 1 cup of  water immediately to avoid the jamming.
Add 1/2 cup of water for every 10 minutes. In total rice takes 25-30 minutes in table top grinder to grind.
It consumes nearly 2.5 cups of water.It varies as per the quality of rice.
There is No problem even if the batter becomes slightly watery.
After fermentation,it would become thick.
Remove the rice and mix with urad dal batter.
Mix well using  your hands.It is the most important point for fermentation.
Close the bowl tightly with a lid/cling film and keep in a warm place.
Leave for a minimum of 12 hours.
The next day,batter would have raised very well almost more than double.
Add the salt and fresh fenugreek leaves into it.
Steam the idlis into idli maker for 10 minutes.
Once steamed, keep them aside for 2 minutes and then scoop out of the plate with help of a spoon.
Serve the Idlis with different chutneys. Your methi idlis are ready to serve for the breakfast or evening snack.

Idli Sambhar

Ingredients:

Idli rice                 -3 cups
Whole urad dal     -1 cup
Fenugreek seeds   -1/2 tsp
Water                    -As required
Salt                       -To taste


Method:

Wash and soak rice separately and urad dal + fenugreek seeds for  5 hrs at least.
Grind urad dal first. Drain all the water from urad dal, put it into the grinder and start it. Add 1/2 cup water and grind for 4-5 minutes. Add 1/2 more cup of water. Stand near by and use the plastic spatula to wipe the dal every time, ensure no dal or fenugreek seeds gets stuck to the side walls of the grinder container.
After 4-5 minutes,add 1/4 cup of water and grind for 10 minutes, for every 4 minutes or so, sprinkle water as needed. The batter will be light, fluffy and have micro bubbles when seen keenly.
Collect the urad dal batter in a big container, which should be enough to hold the raising fermented batter the next day.
Now drain the water from the rice. Add 1/2 + 1/2 cup water in between while you add all the soaked rice little by little. Grind for 4-5 minutes and again make sure no whole rice stuck in the sides of the grinder container. Use the spatula. Add 1/2 more cup of water and grind till it is smooth or a little coarse. Grind until the rice batter is smooth.
Transfer this rice batter to the urad dal batter and add salt and mix well with your hands.
Keep closed in a warm place for fermenting minimum of 12-14 hrs. I soak around 6.00am in morning,grind around 12.00PM lunch time and keep it over night and make idly for the morning breakfast.
To check the fermentation, it should be foamy and raised a lot. A well fermented batter gives,soft and tasty Idli/Dosa. If batter is heavy and not fluffy and light, then idlies also will turn hard. If you are not going to make idlis after fermentation just keep it refrigerated to avoid over fermentation ,resulting in sour idlis.
For making idlis, grease the Idli plate  with oil(preferably coconut oil) . Heat the Idli pan with 1 cup of water and allow the water to boil.
Pour 3/4 the ladle of idli batter to the idli plates and steam it for 9-10 minutes.
If you want to check out whether it is done, just wet a fork and insert it in a idli, if it is not sticky just switch off the flame and take the idli plate out.
After a few seconds dip a spoon in water and carefully take out the idlis and transfer them to the serving plate. Do not take out when the idlis are hot as it will not come out properly.
These idlis will stay soft for many hours and never get dried. Just cover it properly if you going to eat it later.
My kids love to eat Idli with Sambhar and some times just the ketchup.