1. Have an Interesting Snippet to Share : Click Here
    Dismiss Notice

Battle With Batter

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by jskls, Dec 12, 2018.

  1. DocDough

    DocDough New IL'ite

    Messages:
    8
    Likes Received:
    9
    Trophy Points:
    8
    Gender:
    Male
    @jayasala42

    You make me laugh. Yes, I think the use of a-amylase was intended for the commercial sector where prep time + fermentation time + packaging time would like to fall within a single work shift. But that does not make it inappropriate for home use, though perhaps not preferred and in most cases unnecessary.


    As for using exogenous LAB and yeast, the paper that I read suggested that the species used for making sourdough bread were successfully deployed to make idli. And since I bake sourdough bread often [some photos here], I maintain a starter that is suitable, though I have not yet tried to transfer it to rice or urad flour (or some combination). There too, naturally occuring amylase enzymes are required to make maltose from broken wheat starch, with further decomposition to glucose for use by the yeast. That is on my list of things to do - maybe this week, at least to see if I can get the starter to grow on fine rice flour. If that works then I will attempt to run a batch of idli and see what happens:wink:

    Doc
     
  2. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    13,370
    Likes Received:
    24,115
    Trophy Points:
    538
    Gender:
    Male
    Can we use magic mushrooms while grinding dough for idlis before we start the fermentation process to have Psychedelic Idlis? People can eat tasty idlis and simultaneously have spiritual experience. :)
     
    satchitananda and jskls like this.
  3. jskls

    jskls IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    6,896
    Likes Received:
    24,888
    Trophy Points:
    490
    Gender:
    Female
    Y this kolaveri sir ? :roflmao:
     
  4. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    13,370
    Likes Received:
    24,115
    Trophy Points:
    538
    Gender:
    Male
    @jayasala42's drugged Idlis message triggered my thoughts.

    Of late, @Viswamitra, @jayasala42 and @Gauri03 were all found to be researching a lot on psychedelic mushrooms and their influences over the mind. If Idlis and Sambhar could provide heavenly (spiritual) experience, why not try it? :beer-toast1:
     
    Gauri03 and jskls like this.
  5. Gauri03

    Gauri03 Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    6,211
    Likes Received:
    13,034
    Trophy Points:
    445
    Gender:
    Female
    @Viswamitra Thank you for tagging me. Thanks to the tag I finally got around to reading the snippet.

    @jskls The title of this snippet had drawn me in the moment I saw it but I was at work and put it off. Took me this long to rediscover it. Another one of your straight from the heart snippets -- profound simplicity I call it -- yet not without some heartwarming humor. I'm glad I read it.

    My husband and I have this playful feud that's been going on since we first started seeing each other. People loved to tell us how the cultural differences were insurmountable and we wouldn't make it. So we played up the faux North-South feud as a joke between us. Now every time one of the kids does well at school or wins a contest, I say see what smart kids I gave birth to. Pat comes his reply, "It's the power of the idli in their genes." :smash2::lol:

    Took me a long long time to master the idli batter, but even now I like to call MIL once in a while and ask her the right way to make batter. Her ego puffs up like a perfectly steamed idli and I earn some good DIL karma. ;)
     
    satchitananda and jskls like this.
  6. Gauri03

    Gauri03 Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    6,211
    Likes Received:
    13,034
    Trophy Points:
    445
    Gender:
    Female
    Sadly I haven't made any progress in my quest for psilocybin so we won't be having ego shattering idlis I'm afraid. I might regret saying this but I make darn good pot brownies. They might not elevate the soul but they can make you feel pretty zen! :D
     
    jskls and Viswamitra like this.
  7. jskls

    jskls IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    6,896
    Likes Received:
    24,888
    Trophy Points:
    490
    Gender:
    Female
    @DocDough interesting to read the information you have shared i do not have much clue about the scientific process that goes behind the scenes. But adding Methi results in softer idlies as well as Methi is good for health. I prefer natural process of fermenting with the right consistency. For now InstaPot is a big help in maintaining consistent temp. Batter doubles without tasting Sour. That’s good enough. Enjoyed reading both your fb s. Maybe suitable for industry prep. Thanks for sharing
     
  8. jskls

    jskls IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    6,896
    Likes Received:
    24,888
    Trophy Points:
    490
    Gender:
    Female
    Thanks Gauri for your heartwarming feedback

    Ha ha tell me about the Gene-talk. Never knew about idli gene :):p I still heartily praise my MILs cooking including idlies I can never perfect like her. For a NI to make SI idlies is no easy task. Having looked at your yummy plates I am sure your idlies would come out well too.
     
  9. DocDough

    DocDough New IL'ite

    Messages:
    8
    Likes Received:
    9
    Trophy Points:
    8
    Gender:
    Male
    I like the idea of using an instapot in yogurt mode to maintain the temperature. But I will have to find somebody who has one (I think I must have a neighbor who meets that criteria) and measure the temperature it uses for yogurt. I use a combi oven for temperature control for large batches, and a lab water bath (with little floating cups) for small samples. But I also make yogurt at 113°F/45°C and idli at 86°F/30°C though Leuconostoc is tolerant of higher temperatures and should work well in a yogurt growing environment.

    I have started the process of transferring my sourdough starter to idli by inoculating some urad flour, some fine rice flour, and some mixed rice flour/urad flour (4:1), and I am monitoring the weight loss of each sample as the LAB/yeast make CO2 which escapes from the (non hermetic) container. They are showing exponential phase growth so it will be interesting to see what the process limits are. I am also running a sample of urad flour + water to see how long it take for the native bacteria to grow without any external inoculation. I expect this one to take longer to exhibit measurable weight loss.
     
    jskls likes this.
  10. DocDough

    DocDough New IL'ite

    Messages:
    8
    Likes Received:
    9
    Trophy Points:
    8
    Gender:
    Male
    It took me a long time as well to figure it out, but I have come to a slightly different conclusion: it is not in the hands, it is in the beans.

    In the two photos available below you will find a trick that I have discovered to work reliably to tell me when I have urad gota that will ferment well and when I have a batch that will not.

    A batch of bad beans after soaking for four hours looks like this
    while a batch of good beans after soaking for the same four hours looks like this

    The difference is seen in the density of the bubbles that float to the surface during that four hours.
    The bubbles are from CO2 originating from the natural fermentation of the urad gota by heterfermentative lactobacteria (in this case Luconostoc mesenteroides). The higher the population density of these good bacteria, the faster they produce CO2 and the more bubbles show up on the surface of your soaking dish. You just need to wash the beans well and get rid of any initial bubbles that may form as you swish the water around. It is useful to make a small batch of bad beans by heating a few tablespoons of beans in the oven for a while (150°C for 30 min should be enough), then make up a bowl of beans that you know ferment well and a bowl of these now dead beans and soak them both side by side so that you can look at the result after 4 hrs (or more). Once you have seen what the bubbles look like in your soaking dish from a batch of good beans, you will know what to look for in the future. And when you buy a new bag of beans, try it out and make sure that they are fresh and have not been overheated in the supply chain or otherwise depleted of active bacteria.

    If you have another method that works as well, I would love to hear about it.

    Doc
     
    creativemumma and jskls like this.

Share This Page