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An Ode To Idli

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by blackbeauty84, Jul 6, 2020.

  1. blackbeauty84

    blackbeauty84 IL Hall of Fame

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    Though significant percentage of Tamilnadu wakes up to it for breakfast, that round, white thing was never my favorite. In my childhood, I used to pray it does not appear for breakfast. Only way my mom would make me eat idli was preparing a hot sambar. I used to make idli disappear in bucket of sambar, make it taste less like idli to have it.

    Taa daa..There came hostel life and since I was studying in government college there was a fix menu. Yes Idli appeared in breakfast menu twice a week and once for dinner. Considering those idli which can cause a deep wound when thrown at someone my mom’s make were thousand times better. I no longer said no to idli.

    While starting solids for my son, doctor suggested me to start with idli. But my son never took a liking for it. I thought this was due to my genes. Somehow my idli turned out very hard and I couldn’t blame my son. Even mimicking my mom’s receipe didn’t work out for me. Eventually dosa appeared frequently in my household which all of us find appetising. We rarely order for idli while eating outside so it vanished from our eating orbit.

    Come lockdown, I was very bored with cooking, cleaning and repeating the same items for breakfast. I joined a cooking related group where people were making posts often about idli. I tried to brave it up again. I searched for the recipe of super soft idly, few hit and miss, perfected it now.

    The recipe I follow:

    1 cup of Urad dal

    1 cup of Poha

    4 Cups of Idli rice

    Soak Urad dal and Rice separetly for four hours. Grind Urad dal and washed poha first for 35 mins followed by rice for 25 mins. Ferment the batter for eight hours and use it next morning adding the salt.

    Idli is one of the healthiest breakfasts in the world and I feel bad for the days I resented that humble food. Also to be noted, March 30th is celebrated as World Idli Day.

    Nowadays idli appear for breakfast almost thrice a week and all of us including my foodie son gobbles it up in no time

    I Do Like You - IDLY
     
    Viswamitra, mbharani, shravs3 and 4 others like this.
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  2. iyerviji

    iyerviji Finest Post Winner

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    Wow awesome post. I dont make idli much. Earlier we used to make when we had grinder. In mixie it does not turn out well.
    Glad now you have got the right proportion and everyone likes. The full form of idly is super
     
  3. joylokhi

    joylokhi Platinum IL'ite

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    Idli when made well, that is , soft and spongy and accompanied by the right chutney, sambhar and molaga podi(gun powder) is a great treat! On special festive occasions standard tiffin used to be idli, vada , pongal and chutney.
    Although only around 4 months or so, feels ages since we hosted people, due to the corona issues!
     
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  4. startinganew

    startinganew Gold IL'ite

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    Glad to know your family loves the humble idli too! No matter how many times we make it, we are also big fans of idli at our home too. And it's my go-to way to get multiple different grains in to our diet. This works for us:
    - 1 cup brown rice
    - 1 cup of millet (foxtail/little/pearl)
    - 1 cup of any of these grains (quinoa/amaranth/oats - even a mix of this will do)
    - a big handful of red or white poha (more to ensure success rate of soft idlis for guests :))
    - 1 table spoon of fenugreek seeds.
    - 3/4 cups of Urid dal (skin-on or skin-less)
    First day after fermentation we make idli, second day onwards the batter is used for dosai.
     
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  5. sociallifein30s

    sociallifein30s Gold IL'ite

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    seriously
    Seriously Idli is great and not great at the same time.
    I like it with Podi and some times fried idli is great too.
    I like idli with peanut chutney than coconut chutney :)
     
  6. Srama

    Srama Finest Post Winner

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    Dear @blackbeauty84 ,

    I enjoy your style of writing and never miss to read your snippet. I also hope I have responded every time you have posted. If I have not, it is not intentional :)

    First of all, thank you for sharing the recipe. I have soaked the said ingredients the way you have mentioned and hope to enjoy some fantastic idlis. We all have our least favorite foods and for most people I know it is upma! Mine I think is avalakki (poha). I dislike their deceptive way of making one feel too full after eating heartily!

    I loved the way you have described the idli effect here. I imagined the sentence
    in my language and laughed heartily.

    I am glad you like your idlis now. You know the other thing I am learning? The foods I disliked when my mom made are my favorites now. I could not stand soppina huli (leafy vegetables) - now I use them in pretty much everything I cook! Perhaps I miss my mom and her cooking but I can tell you one thing, I do think of her every time I cook something that I did not relish in my younger days!

    Glad you found a food that is family's favorite and enjoy your idlis and your experimenting with foods!
     
  7. shravs3

    shravs3 IL Hall of Fame

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    What a coincidence I just logged into IL after having idlies :grinning:
     
  8. Thyagarajan

    Thyagarajan IL Hall of Fame

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    :hello:Kudos to your emotional views about merit and demerits of standard idli which has become somewhat staple item for breakfast in India and other parts of the world. Jasmine soft idli fried or eaten with butter as in Maharashtra is best begin breakfast.

    In olden days when I was still student of school, the moment I had collected four quarter anna = one sixteenth of a Rupee, I rush to Rathna cafe in chennai for that unlimited serving of hot small onion drumstick sambar. Now in chennai and other places, one has to have a minimum of twenty to thirty rupees to get a plate of idli.

    • Saravana bhawan serves mini idli with glistening ghee in a pool of very hot onion drumstick sambar with that small sized idlis .

    That is quite hilarious. Yes in the beginning when one starts as a novice, it turns out to be a stone which at times thrown back at modern (!) DILs by their MILs. It is weaponised IDLI.

    STEAM COOKED is quick to digest and faster digestion pave way for voracious appetite and so good for growing children, infants or babies and always easy to order and get fast in hotels when you are famished.
    :hello: These are Whispers of lover of idli.
    2. In ancient South Indian it was known as Italy. According to food expert, idli has history of 800 years and did not originate in Tamil Nadu or madras Presidency.

    3. When I saw this thread title in home page, I thought it is World Idli Day.
    A popular idli caterer from Chennai in 2015, made 1,328 varieties of idlis to commemorate this day. To celebrate the day, a giant 44-kilogram idli that was cut by a bureaucrat to seal the deal and declared that March 30 as World Idli Day.

    4. Benefits of physical making wet dough in the backyards of ancestral homes that the women and at times men too who engaged in this long duration activity were able to maintain their figure and exercised the upper part helping their muscle mass at appropriate place. Mechanical device in modern world eliminated this natural gym forcing persons to earmark separate time to visit gym or and exercise.

    5. You had posted a perfect recipe. I suggest that in case of farm fresh Ulind, on has to add additional 25 % of Ulind in making the idli dough. Fermentation hours may vary according to your geographical conditions. Cooking time also depends on equipment used to steam it.

    6. There are numerous varieties christened by name of the city. Madurai is famous for idli available 24x7. One can not forget KUSHBHU idli from COIMBATORE.

    7. Idli served with vadai sambar hot on banana leaf is heavenly at any hour of the day.

    • [​IMG]



    • [​IMG]
      Plate size idli in Karnataka


    • [​IMG]
      Mini 14 idli submerged in glistening ghee-
    • Goa channas
    • Mudhey idli of mangalore

    • [​IMG]
      Rava idli of Karnataka


    • [​IMG]
      Ragi idli with addition of kelvaragu ( in tamil)
    I trust I had given a tasty wholesome idli for virtual eat.
    Thanks and Regards.
     
    Last edited: Jul 7, 2020
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  9. blackbeauty84

    blackbeauty84 IL Hall of Fame

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    Thanks ma'am.
    Yes Idlies doen't turn up well when ground in mixie..
     
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  10. blackbeauty84

    blackbeauty84 IL Hall of Fame

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    In our house hold too..But I used to rely on Rava idly mix...I get you..seems ages since we hosted/visited others.
     
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