We all love food. No one is an exception, I guess. Sometimes, the foods that are rich in nutrients and easily digestible have no taste, or the foods filled with taste miss healthy ingredients. But we can’t give up either thing, right?
Good news for you: you don’t need to sacrifice any of those things because I am now going to share a worldwide popular recipe for idli batter, and more specifically, Idly and Chutney.
Actually, this cool idli recipe came to my mind when I thought about preparing healthy and delicious food to serve people of all ages.
The surprising thing is that the batter of idli has all the nutrients that the body needs. Plus, it is easy to make, and it is tasty. Idly is undoubtedly a full-fledged healthy breakfast for you, yet, you should have it with a superb and spicy side dish to enjoy a number of idlies. That’s where our idli batter recipe comes in handy.
Although there are many chutney varieties and other side dishes you can prepare for Idlies, I have chosen Coconut Chutney.
So, let’s get started with this idli recipe batter.
Before getting into the steps, I want to tell you about the goodness that idlies have.
We only need five ingredients to make spongy idlies, but all five ingredients’ nutritious value is incredible and remarkable.
Here are the five key ingredients that will make your batter for idli both tasty and healthy.
Rice
It is the major portion of idlies (besides water, of course). Being filled with magnesium, fibers, carbohydrates, vitamin B, and iron, rice keeps you energetic and fills your stomach up.
You don’t have to be afraid of cholesterol hereafter because rice has no cholesterol but provides good calories to give you a sufficient feel when you are hungry. Essentially, it makes your digestion process more comfortable. Plus, it prevents aging problems, too.
White gram
You can’t even imagine the benefits of taking white grams in your daily diet!
It is a gift for women since it reduces most of the health problems we face. More importantly, when you consume white or black gram regularly, you can avoid lower back pain that mainly occurs due to childbirth.
Being rich in iron strengthens our bones and levels up hemoglobin as well.
Fenugreek seeds
The bitterest tasted seed, I should say. At the same time, it plays a crucial role in treating most of the diseases we have.
Its iron content stabilizes our hemoglobin levels while acting as a cooling agent.
Note: If you have diseases such as stomach burn, heartburn, eye irritation, acne, or ulcer, you can routinely intake soaked fenugreek seeds to cure the problems. Of course, it will take some time.
Water
No need to explain all the benefits of water; we all know it is a predominant ingredient. Water contains scores of values, and it turns out it is important for making idli batter.
Salt
Salt is what makes us recognize and feel the taste of any food. More significantly, no food can be tastier without salt. It has even been used to make sweets too, for enhancing the taste.
Moreover, salt kills harmful bacteria and stimulates our energy. So, we are going to add this to our idli batter recipes too.
Note: As long as you consume salt to your taste (no matter what the quantity is), you won’t have to worry about kidney disease.
Okay, back to the point now.
Interesting facts about Idli
- Idli originated from Indonesia.
- It is considered one of the traditional foods in Southern parts of India, particularly in Tamilnadu.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared idli as the best food.
- It is even preferred for patients to ease their digestion.
Indian Idly
Ingredients
- 4 cups idly rice
- 1 cup white gram
- 2 tbsp fenugreek seeds
- Water as much as required
- Salt as much as required
- ½ cup coconut grated
- 4 green chilies
- 5 shallots
- 2 inch ginger
- 1 inch tamarind
- 2 tbsp oil
- 3/4 tbsp mustard
- 1 tbsp white gram
- 7 curry leaves
Instructions
- Wash off the rice and white gram separately.
- Take the washed rice, and soak it for 2 hours; and the white gram for 1h15m.
- You can add fenugreek seeds to the white gram for soaking them.
- Drain the water, and grind the gram and fenugreek seeds until you get a fine paste (add as much water as needed).
- Place the paste into a bowl.
- Grind the rice a bit coarsely (add water accordingly). Make sure the batter is a little thicker.
- Take a large vessel, and pour both the batter and the salt.
- Use your hands to mix the batter with the salt, so that it can ferment quickly with a fluffy texture.
- Set that aside for 5-6 hours.
- Once it is well-fermented, whisk it nicely.
- Take the idly cooker, and place it on the stove.
- Preheat the cooker for 2-3 minutes, with 2 cups of water.
- Grease the idly mold with oil, and pour the batter into each mold. Don’t fill the mold fully. Leave a little space for the idlies to rise.
- Cover the cooker with a lid. Put the weight or whistle only when the steam comes out.
- Cook for 15 minutes, and turn off the stove.
- Take out the stand using gloves or any other clothes. Then, with the aid of a butter knife or spoon, scoop the idlies out of the mold.
- Prepare the delicious chutney while the idlies are getting ready.
- Take a mixer and put (grated) coconut, shallots, green chilies, salt, tamarind, ginger, and some water.
- Grind them well (no need for it to be a fine paste).
- Transfer that into a bowl.
- Heat a pan, pour oil as mentioned, and add mustard seeds when the oil becomes hot.
- Once the mustard seeds started spluttering, add white gram, and fry until it turns golden brown.
- Put the curry leaves, and fry them until they become crispy.
- You will get an awesome and tempting aroma.
- Switch off the stove, and immediately pour the tempering on the chutney.
- Serve the hot idlies with spicy chutney.
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