Wednesday, March 17, 2021

Spiced Mooga Dali- Ukde Tandla Idly (Green Gram Dal- White Boiled Rice Steamed Idlies).


"Spiced Mooga Dali- Ukde Tandla Idly (Green Gram Dal- White Boiled Rice Steamed Idlies)" served with Coconut- Coriander- Mint Chutney and Veg. Kochla Nonche (Pickle)" ... there is always a vast difference in the outcome of batter ground in mixer grinder and stone grinder and I always rely on my wet grinder for Idlies ... the only problem is the batter yields more and runs for three days, so it is always Idly on first day, seasoned doddaka on 2nd day or appos and third day it's dosa with addition of any flour if it falls short ... tried out some variation of my own with this one ... the Idlies turned out soft and were delicious to be relished dunked in chutney with a dash of spicy pickle ... Yummilicious ....

** Everybody knows about Idly and Dosa now and I have always noticed recently that, whenever I get introduced to a north Indian they always compliment south Indians on their ability to prepare different varieties of Idlies and Dosas. Worldwide recognition is mostly only to the normal urad- rice idly and dosa specially Masala Dosa while the other various varities of combination be it in Dosa or in Idlies somehow are not caught on much. Times are slowly changing and now as everybody has access to smart phone almost all browse through network and check out on different recipes and also get motivated to try them out.

** Decades back when used to browse through net, though it was comparitively lesser than now, I have always been motivated to try out various dishes. But those days I was very busy in my business so could try out only a few unfortunately which I neither clicked nor wrote and Blogging was out of question as I did not have one and never thought would start one. So, I always saved them for future use thinking one day I would try them out and to my dismay the collection is over 10k and I really now have time to even check it out. I mention this coz. I am amazed at the growth the food blogs have taken, sort of limitless.

** Well, my Blog itself is now over 6 yrs old and I have not yet covered my own recipes of 2 decades old, so I am not at all sure if I will do justice to others. Time flies fast, so to all out there spare sometime to catch up on your hobbies be it reading, cooking, stitching, drawing, knitting, anything before its late. Even 30 mins spared for ourselves to do what we yearn to do is good enough in this hectic lifestyle. Everyday morning I decide that I will catch back on my reading from today and yet the day passes of with just a click and when night falls, I have not even read a page, the books are all waiting eagerly to be read in my bookstand.

** Cooking is my passion, so without fail I churn out something once in every 2-3 days, there are so many drafts yet to be released but then I storngly tell myself to relax and not go overboard on work, time takes its coarse and what has to happen will do so in due time, but I also remind myself that I must make a full attempt to do so giving my 200% this year and finish of all the backlog and I pray God to give me the strength to do so too. Do try out new dishes and enjoy with your family and friends. Life is beautiful when you go about it with positive attitude and not push back things to be done on later date, time waits for no man.

** Here is my recipe for "Spiced Mooga Dali- Ukde Tandla Idly (Green Gram Dal- White Boiled Rice Steamed Idlies)" … My Style …

** Wash 3 cups of white boiled rice/ ukdo tandulu and soak in plenty of water for about 8 hours in plenty of water.

** Wash 2 cups of moong dal/ green gram dal and soak in plenty of water for about 2-3 hours in plenty of water.

** Wash and soak separately 1 tblsp of methi (fenugreek) seeds in half a cup of water for 2-3 hours.

** Once the soaking period is over, wash the boiled rice and moong dal once again properly and drain off all water and then add them both into a wet grinder machine along with the with 2 cups of water and grind to a smooth paste till done. If necessary, keep adding water little by little while grinding. The batter should be thick like that of Idly batter, when done remove, and pour it into a large stainless steel vessel and keep it ready aside.

** In a mixer grinder add in the soaked methi seeds and the water in which it is soaked along with 7-8 green chillies (tarni mirsanga/ hari mirchi) and 2 inch piece of ginger (adrak/ alle’) cut into fine pieces and grind to a smooth batter, do not add in extra water. When done remove and add it to the batter in the vessel along with salt (namak/ meeta) to taste and mix well in clockwise direction until all the ingredients have been mixed in well.

** For Fermenting : Keep the vessel in which the batter has been mixed well covered aside for about 4-5 hours only. If staying in cold weather you can increase the time period keeping a check on the batter. Having said this there are some people who like their batter fermented well in which case you can keep it overnight, say for 6-8 hours too. Fermentation process actually depends upon weather from city to city and person to persons liking.

** Note : The proportion of this batter tends to ferments fast, hence I have cut down the fermentation time. Also being only 2 members at home, any batter pepared in wet grinder usually yields more batter and runs for me for almost 3 days for breakfast so I do not over ferment it in the first place. Once it is fermented for about 4 hours, I immediately put it in the fridge to avoid it getting fermented smell.

** To Prepare the Idlies : Beat the batter well in clockwise direction for a good 3-4 minutes before you begin to prepare the Idlies. This helps in airation of the idly batter and will result into softer spongier idlies. Once done, gently pour the batter with the help of a rounded spatula into the molds /vati (whichever mold you are going to use) to ¾ th level only. You should leave gap on top of the molds, as the batter will rise when being steamed.

** Note : Remember to apply oil to the inner sides of the molds before adding in the batter. Applying of oil to the molds ensures that the batter does not stick to it and comes off cleanly in one go, 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 plate/ vaties/ molds as is the design of your Idly steamer. Cover the lid tightly, increase the heat and steam for 5-7 minutes or till you see steam escaping through the lid, then lower the heat to medium and continue to steam for another 15 minutes.

** Note : 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/ vati and more in numbers, you can steam for about 45 minutes in all ie. 10 + 30-35 Minutes. Do use your judgment and check out in between in if need be, as over steaming of Idlies too makes them hard on cooling, so timing is important.

** When steamed and done, open the lid and immediately remove with the help of a tongs and keep it down to cool a bit, say for about 5 minutes. The Idly needs to settle to temperature, if you hurry and try removing them immediately they will not retain a beautiful domed shape. After cooling a little bit, run a blunt knife through the edges on the inner side of the vaites / molds and gently flip over the vaties / molds and tap it a bit to bring out the steamed Idly in one go. The come out in one go if done carefully, continue till all are done.

** Repeat the process of steaming in the same way as done before with remaining batter, for the second round you need not oil the molds again. Just add in the batter and steam as mentioned in the procedure till all batter is consumed. However, if you do not want to steam them all, see to it that you do not keep the batter at room temperature much, and keep it immediately in the fridge to avoid it getting excessively fermented, you can use it to prepare freshly prepared Idlies/ dosas/ appos etc. the next day.

** "Spiced Mooga Dali- Ukde Tandla Idly (Green Gram Dal- White Boiled Rice Steamed Idlies)" is done and ready to be served. Idlies always taste awesome when served freshly prepared with some chutney/ sambar or any curry of your choice. I serve it with chutney or pickle or gun powder/ chutney podi if it is for breakfast and if it is for lunchtime then I serve it along with any coconut gravy based curry and we love to relish it that way.

** Sharing a common link below to all the Idly recipes posted in the blog before, you may browse through them in liesure. They also include step by step pictures and if you are a newbie to preparing of Idlies, then those pictures will really help you in better undertanding of the process. There are many traditional and many more of my own recipes all tried in my kitchen and come out perfect and tasty, do give it a try and enjoy with family and friengs …

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