Since, I am Food Writing and not, I repeat, and not writing a Recipe Book… let’s discuss and write food…
After having been incognito for months now, I wish to break the silence today, with the story of my time-tested relationship…
When someone ordered Idlis the other day at this famous restaurant in Houston…I was pretty appreciative (I repeat, appreciative)
My childhood days have not been any different…same old condescending looks if my mom served me idlis at home (IDLIS for tiffin??) , same usual haughty scorns if my dad ordered idlis at the restaurant (IDLIS at a restaurant??) and same routine I-know-what-to-order-better-at-a-resturant orders “blah…”
But my post-20 days are even, no less different! the sight of IDLIS in the USA makes me crave for more and some more (no, I am not in the family way yet, but that’s what the USA does to you…makes you realize the value of time, money, Indian food, people and most importantly IDLIS)!
So…basically, today’s star is IDLI and the supporting star, DOSA!
Dude, you really think this is one of my melodramas…think again!
Neither am I exaggerating the facts about this extraordinary culinary find nor am I campaigning for a Nov election with a hurried new immigration law!!
Although,
This picture IS in NO way a representation of the number of idlis I can gobble in one single day…No matter my ultimate fascination and no matter my most-flaunted-about food romance…
Now…that said…the ode on a grecian urn is some poem…I remember that day just like yesterday (even though I had matured from my studious self to a-decent-agreeable-engineering-college-product and even though I was not caught in class for yawning or yapping right under my principal’s nose (because…only school principals teach you the poems from your literature book middle of your school year, because…they have majored in literature and because…they like only those students who major in engineering, medicine or CA))…I have no clue about John Keats…or about the Grecian Urn…but what the poem did inspire was just one single word “ODE”…and after all…after all these years of being together…I wish to do that to my Idlis!
Although, I would owe my former principal for having cultivated some sort of interest in poetry and writing…I can be called what you call a novice-wannabe-pseudo-poetess…I started writing poems in the 9th std (read:grade), because I had to stay awake, because I didn’t want to be caught, because he picked students randomly to read the poem in front of the class and because he had the sole right to chuck anyone from school!
But if you still think this is all a melodrama..DUDE! seriously..Get a Life! Get an Idli!
Idlis are awesomely good, for all ages, for all stages, to be bought at all restaurants, for all people healthy or sick, for all patients with a curable or non-curable ailment, full of Nutritional Content because,
1. the rice and dal (flour) is a rich source of B vitamins, proteins and carbohydrates
2. carbohydrates present in the idlis is a good source of energy and proteins are required for muscle repair
3. urad dal is a good source of carbs 13% (dietary fiber 32%), proteins, calcium 30% and iron 8%
4. one idli contains some amounts/traces of iron, calcium, folate (blood, metabolism and cell growth), potassium (organs) and Vit A (eyesight)
5. the flour is fermented before steaming, which means this food is very easily digestible and not like breads
6. Idli is steamed and not cooked, which means it is a very safe food
7. Idlis taste good with almost all of the side dishes, even sugar
8. Idlis do not contain any oil and so is very low in calories (compared to your daily intake of 2000 calories or for people dieting 1200-1600 calories)
9. Idlis do not have any spices and is not harmful in any which way
10. it does not increase the blood sugar levels irrespective of the quantity of intake
11. it reduces the risk of heart diseases as it contains no oil (no fat, no saturated fat, no unsaturated fat and no cholesterol)
12. idlis contain very less amount of sodium (1% or 65 milligrams) which is way less than the appropriate daily quantity of in take(2,300 milligrams)
13. though we all know all of the above, we are pretending not to admit it because idlis are not malai koftha or paneer pizza!
14. My “dude” might be a little over-stated, but my idli…never!
and you get a gazillion like-home-made-batter at the Indian stores. My personal favorite has been Gits though people now have a growing concern about deeps brand (the inventory house is infested by rats!)
All controversies apart, let’s get creative and hands on…Ina garten always says that a cook’s best tools are clean hands…so literally and truly, get clean-hands-on for idlis with an Overview of My Recipes
PREPARATION:
Leave alone the different recipes for idlis, just preparing the batter alone has so many variations
India being a diverse country, you wouldn’t have even realized that a simple idli recipe has this much diversity…well, I admit! I hadn’t…
1. perfect tamilian idli recipe: if you think Murugan Idli is the best shop to buy idlis, as I do, then this is the recipe you are probably looking for: 2 c par-boiled rice, 1 c urad dal, some cooked rice, salt, fenu greek – soak and grind them all separately and then ferment in one single bowl overnight. Makes absolutely delicious and light and fluffy idlis.
2. other family recipes: 3:1::parboiled rice:urad-dal or 4:1::parboiled-rice:urad-dal and all ingredients and methods ditto above
3. In karnataka (this recipe was included in their cooking encyclopedia by some great King, so think thrice before contesting) : only urad dal soaked in butter milk, yogurt and spices(absolutely no rice! in fact, till around the 17th century, people never used rice for the idli recipe: to be noted!!)
4. Sanna, the Goan Idli: contains plain rice, coconut, yeast, sugar, salt and luke warm water
5.Muday, the manglorean style: (contains all forms of rice basically) par boiled, plain, puffed, poha, urad dal, salt and yeast
6. rava idli: has very finely roasted rava (semolina) in butter milk batter
7. Another new recipe: basmatic rice, par boiled rice, urad dal, fenu greek, salt
It also matters as to how much you grind the batter! If ground too well a silk duppatah might slip off the smooth edge of the idli, fine, it will taste…but I personally enjoy the sight better with a waxed hand!
Again, time and time again, Google kind of comes out victorious as the superior knowledge source! Also, for idli making!
Anyhow…the difference between IDLIS and DOSAS batter…QUICK USEFUL TIP, in my strong defense!
IDLIS: batter has more urad dal/black lentils (2:1::rice:lentils)
DOSAS: contains more rice (3:1::rice:lentils)
Now for the variations:
RECIPES FOR IDLIS:
1. you can just make plain idlis and serve them with any side or make plain dosas
FOR IDLIS:
2. before steaming after pouring into the molds, idlis can be seasoned with mustard seeds/urad dals/fenugreek/other lentils/cilantro/curry leaves/grated carrots/spices etc and steamed
3.you can make small idlis in smaller molds and soak them in yogurt and garnish with masala or soak them in rasam/sambar
4. you can grind pepper balls, jeera, asafoetida and add to the idli batter and steam the mixture in cups in your pressure cooker to make kancheepuram idlis
5. you can make a potato-peas curry add it to the idli molds, add idli batter on top and steam the idlis. later on, after having cooled you can fry these patties and make a nice and tasty idli burger
6. you can add chocolate chips to the batter, steam the idlis. later on cool the steamed idlis, fry them and sift powdered sugar on top making idli beignets
FOR LEFT-OVER IDLIS
7. you can cut the idlis into smaller pieces, fry them and stir it in with a good tomato-onion gravy for making kaima idlis
8. you can disintegrate the idlis and make a nice upma with mustard, urad dal, asafoetida, curry leaves seasoning
RECIPES FOR DOSAS:
1. you can make an excellent roast with ghee and call it paper/ghee roast
2. you can make an aloo masala and stuff it in for a masala dosa
3. while making the dosa, you can spread red curry paste/chilli powder/milagai podi on the white side of the dosa, cook it on both sides, stuff it with a masala: aloo, peas, paneer, onions and tomatoes and call it mysore masala dosa
4. or make a whole new batter with rava (semolina), maida, rice flour (which doesn’t require grinding or fermenting) in butter milk, season it with pepper balls, jeera, curry leaves and before making, onions and call it rava dosa
5. you can make a vegetable dosa by adding all the vegetables you like to the white side of the dosai and cooking it on both sides so that the vegetables cling onto the dosa and not fall out like a stuffing
6. you can spread milagai podi, onions and tomatoes to the white side of a thick dosa and call it uthappam
7. you can add cheese, vegetables and pizza sauce to a dosa and make an easy dosa pizza
8. you can add chocolate chips and what not to the dosa and make it a pancake
9. before keeping the batter for fermenting, if you add some coconut and little yeast and then set aside the batter for fermenting you can make appams that day! Once the batter has fermented, take a bottom-rounded frying pan, add a spatula of batter to it and oil, rotate the batter inside the pan to get the shape of appam and cover the pan with a lid to prevent steam from escaping. You get awesome appams in minutes!
Well, a little bit of this and a little bit of that…and you get a whole new recipe with a newer dimension…cooking is fun, cleaning is horrible, but starving is horrendous!
IF you do not want to keep making the batter and the idlis over and over again, you can make the batter one time, make 40-50 idlis and freeze them in ziploc bags, so say expert chefs! All you have to do is treat it like a frozen food and each time you feel like having idlis, just microwave them on high and that is ready in seconds!!
Interesting Fact: the large Frozen Foods company Mc Cain Foods (originating in Canada) has world wide operations. During one of the McCains’ recent visit to India, he observed that Idlis were the most consumed food all over the country (with an exploding population of 1.22 billion). Idli having huge benefits, he found it intelligent to launch the Frozen Idli Packets with a side of sambar. Today, that is a success story!
If you haven’t yet checked out this place…I suggest you do, at least once, especially in Madurai – where it originated! Do not expect the ambiance or the location to blow you away…but if the idlis, the variety of chutneys, the milagai podi and humungous variations of crispy dosas don’t, well, they will and they definitely will!
also the Jigir Dhanda, on the side bill board!
and you thought all this while that “I” was the one creating a huge propaganda for idlis…. (justification grunt!) check out what a holy person of India did(read: growing faith through idlis!)
“Idli is considered the most nutritious and the best food in the whole wide world (also read: you follow me, you eat idlis)!” said (whose title – not my concern, my blog, my concerns!)
😀 And..until I come up with my next food list…Hope you enjoy reading my articles..it’s going to be food and talk…and only food talk all the way, Signing off…
References:
1. http://www.indiastudychannel.com/experts/24145-Why-idly-best-recommended-for-patients.aspx
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idli
3. http://padmasrecipes.blogspot.com/2009/10/idli-mangalore-style.html
4. http://indianfood.about.com/od/ricerecipes/r/sannas.htm
5. http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-laxmi-brand-urad-dal-i265558
6. http://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/idli-recipe-how-to-make-soft-idlis/
7. http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/nutrition-idli-2667.html
8. http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/5553.html
9. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCain_Foods
10. http://xray-delta.com/2012/06/08/idli-and-growing-the-top-line/
11. http://www.indiaonlinepages.com/population/india-current-population.html
Eating Makes Me Happy 