Urad dal~Moong dal Spicy Idly.

"Urad dal~Moong Dal Spicy Idly" ... This is a simple Idly from Konkani Saraswat Cuisine that is prepared with only two pulses with addition of ginger and chillies for added spiciness ... Tastes awesome when served with some green chutney or sambar though personally I prefer ekpani or sambarpalli chutney to go with it ...... Yummy Yumz .....

** I grew up relishing this Amchi / Konkani Saraswat's special Idly that has only Urad dal~Moong Dal and is a Idly that can be removed instantly or in a matter of few hours. No need to ferment overnight or for 8-10 hours like other Idlies. This is supposed to be a Diabetic friendly  Idly and was prepared at least once in a week in my Mother's home as my father was diabetic. We children grew up with lots of food but it was always less of salt etc. as we did not want our father to miss out on any of the food stuffs. Those days there was ignorance about what to eat and what not to for diabetic patients. My Mother too never knew much, but luckily for us we had  Dr. Shetty a heart specialist as our neighbor and his wife was a very warm person without an attitude of being rich or the wife of a famous specialist. To her credit she was so beautiful that we always were in awe of her. Aunty still is the same when i met her a few years back at my nieces marriage function to which both of them had attended. 

** I can write reams about them as I have learnt so much from them. My reading habit credit goes to Uncle who always bought all comics for their children and they were such a wonderful family, who always shared them with us. There were times when I took home Amar Chitra Katta books to read before their children finished reading them too. I will never in my life meet such a couple who are so gracious and their hospitality is something unheard off. God Bless them and their family I owe a lot to them, my only regret is I wish I had seriously learnt to cook from Aunty who was good at cooking non-veg dishes. Also she made first class cakes and ice creams too. It was Dr.Uncle who gave my father guidance on food etc. and we always went to him for a simple cold and he never ever felt bad about it and always asked us the next day if we were fine. Who says there are no good people in this world, I have come across some of the best one's in my life and I thank God for it. 

** Coming to the Idly recipe, this is a simple one and is supposed to be very healthy for even those who want to healthier options in cooking. The recipe can be used both in preparing dosa or idly too. I prepare dosa more than Idly as it does come out crisp in texture. In my home this Idly is preferred with any green chutney, be it coriander, pudina, ajwain etc. Though most of the time its a mixture of all three. Some prefer to have these Idly with onion sambar and that tastes delicious too. One should use those small single pearl onions available particularly for sambar and they taste simply awesome when added on to sambar. A bit tedious in peeling the outer skin as they are small and you will have to have some patience to do so in quantity. But do try out the same too and enjoy this one with your family and friends. And if you come across any diabetics in your family do suggest this Idly to them, they are really recommended for them.  

** Here is the simple recipe for Urad Dal~Moong Dal Spicy Idly .... 

** Soak 1 cup each of Urad Dal and Moong Dal separately in water for 3-4 hours. Wash well and drain the water and keep both separate. You can soak them together and grind the same too. Many people follow that method and it works out fine. I prefer to soak separately, grind them separately and then mix them as I learnt from my sister that the Idly turns out spongier if moong dal is ground slightly into rava texture. But Mom used to soak together and grind together and that used to turn out good too, so you may choose any method suitable to you. 

** Rinse the Urad Dal, drain and grind to a smooth paste adding ½ cup of water only. Sprinkle more water if necessary. Do not add in more water as the batter will thin out and you will not get Idly batter consistency. So be very careful with water. Remove in a large vessel and keep aside.

** Wash, rinse and drain the soaked moong dal, put it in a mixer grinder and grind it to a fine rava like textured coarse paste with as little water as possible. Just sprinkle water and grind and be careful with addition of water. Remove and add the mixture to the urad dal paste in the vessel. Add salt to taste and about 2 tblsp of coarsely ground ginger and green chilly paste and mix well. The urad dal paste and moong dal paste should be mixed evenly. Keep this aside for 2-3 hours. Do not leave this batter to ferment overnight, you can also use the batter instantly.

** Now beat the mixture once again well. Gently pour the mixture into the molds /vati to ¾ th level only. You should leave gap on top of the molds as the batter will rise when getting steamed. I have used round 1.5 inch deep vati / cups / tumbler /molds here to get rounded shaped Idlies, you may choose whichever is suitable to you. Remember to apply oil to the molds before adding in the batter. Applying of oil to the molds ensures that the batter / mixture does not stick to it and comes off cleanly without crumbling once the Idly is steamed and cooled a bit.

** Keep the Idly steamer / pedavana with required amount of water to heat on high level. When it reaches full steam, lower the heat and gently place in the steel vaties / molds one by one in a single layer, then keep the separator and place some more vaties in layers and so on. I have a three tiered Idly steamer, where I can place four vaties in each layers in all adding to 12 Idlies. Cover the lid tightly. Increase the heat and steam for 5-10 minutes or till you see steam escaping through the lid, then lower the heat to medium and steam for 20 minutes. 

** The time for steaming process here depends on the size of the molds. Smaller one’s take lesser time while larger one’s should be steamed a little bit more for evenly cooked Idlies. If using larger molds you can steam for about 45 minutes in all ie. 10 + 30-35 Minutes. Remove and cool a bit. Run a blunt knife through the edges on the inner side of the vaites / moulds and gently flip over the vaties / molds and tap it a bit to bring out the steamed Idly in one go. 

** "Urad dal~Moong Dal Spicy Idly" is done and ready to be served. Always serve the Idly hot with any Chutney of your choice or sambar. I served it with green chutney and pearl onion sambar.  Personally I prefer this Idly with chutney as it tastes great. Do prepare and enjoy this dish with your family and friends. 

** You can use the search option for "Idly and also Chutney" separately in the blog, where you will get many more dishes prepared using it. Do try out various types of dishes to relish with dosa / Idly / roti etc. or with dal-chawal too. Enjoy the dishes with your family and friends and do give me a feedback if possible. 

** An Earnest Request : There are many more recipes of similar type in the blog. For all my Recipes, use the search option or the label section in the Blog. If you are still not able to find it please leave a message in comment section or mail me the same. You can also go to my page (add on the left side of blog) and leave a message and I will try my best to get back to you as soon as possible … Thank you.