Idly, sambar and coconut chutney

Delicious Idlis  with sambar and coconut chutney

 Last week we discovered an Asian store in our neighbourhood. I ended up buying a small bottle gourd and fresh coconut among other things. So, hubby wanted me to make sambar and coconut chutney with the idlis I was gonna make for breakfast. I use my mom's recipe to make sambar, and usually tastes great, but this time it was totally out of this world.  I thought I'd share this recipe with all of you.

You will need :

For the Idli batter:

• 1 cup urad dal (black gram /black lentil)
• 2 1/2 cups idli rawa
• 1 tsp methi seeds (fenugreek)
• 1/4 th cup flattened rice(Poha)
• Salt to taste
• Baking soda - a pinch

For the sambar :

• 1/2 cup Toor dal (yellow pigeon peas)
• Tamarind, the size of a lemon
• 2- Onions, roughly chopped(if you can find spring onions,chop and add them along with onions.)
• 2- Tomoatoes , roughly chopped
• Vegetables, cut into bite sized pieces (I usually use drumstick, ladies finger, raw mango, bottle gourd, brinjal, whichever is available)
• Curry leaves
• Cilantro / corriander leaves , finely chopped
• Mustard seeds 1 tspn
• Dry red chilies - 2
• Hing / Asafoetida - a pinch
• Oil/ghee 1 tbspn
• Green chillies - 2 slit horizontally
• Turmeric powder - 1 tspn
• Salt- to taste
• Red chilli powder - to taste
• Sugar 1 tspn

For the sambar powder:

• Chana Dal (dried, split chickpeas)- 1 Tbspn
• Corriander seeds (Dhaniya) - 1 Tbspn
• Jeera (Cumin) seeds - 1 tspn
• Dessicated coconut 1 tspn.
• Ghee / clarified butter a few drops

For the coconut chutney:

• 1/2 Cocunut cut into pieces
• 2 Green chillies
• 1/2 inch piece of ginger
• Mustard seeds 1 tspn 
• Dry red chilli 2
• Oil - 1 tspn
• Salt

The Process:

Idli:

Clean and soak the Urad dal and Methi seeds for about 5 hours. In a seperate container, soak the Idli rawa and Poha for approximately 2 hours. 


Grind the Urad dal and methi seeds to form a foamy and soft texture, now add the idi rawa and poha mixture to form a fine and frothy paste. Take this mixture in a container, add baking soda and leave overnight for the batter to raise. Mix with your hand to initiate the fermentation process. Read the details for fermentation in my post about Dosa batter. 


 Once the batter is fermented, it will rise to double the quantity. Now grease the idli moulds with oil / ghee and add the idli batter to each mould. Make sure you do not fill the mould to it's full as the idli will rise after steaming. Pressure cook for 15 minutes.


 Serve hot with sambar / chutney

Sambar:

Sambar is a staple in many south Indian homes. Though making sambar is an elaborate process, it can be done fairly quickly once you get used to it.

Soak the tamarind in warm water.  

Boil  the Tur Dal along with a little turmeric and salt. Drain the excess water and grind the dal in a mixie or mash it until it is a pulp. Keep aside


Heat a  little wok and add a few drops of ghee to this. Roast the ingredients for the sambar powder until a lovely aroma arises from it. Take off the heat and leave to cool. Once cooled, grind into a fine powder and keep aside.


In a large container, add a tbspn of oil. Add the mustard seeds and allow them to splutter, add the curry leaves and Dry red chilies. Once a nice smell arises add the Asafoetida and immediately add Green chillies and onions and stir quickly. Do not let the Asafoetida burn. 


Once the onions become transparent, add the chopped tomatoes, stir and reduce the flame. Cover and et simmer on a low flame for 2 minutes. Now remove the lid and add the remaining vegetables, stir and cover again. Let the vegetables simmer on a low heat for 3-4 minutes.


In the meantime, prepare the tamarind pulp by mixing the soaked tamarind in water. remove the solid tamarind and keep the pulp aside.

Now remove the lid of the container and  add the mashed dal , stir once and add the tamarind pulp. Mix well. Now add salt, turmeric and red chilli powder and the sambar powder, stir well. Add 2 cups of water and cover and cook on medium for 5 minutes.


 Remove the lid, add sugar and sprinkle chopped corriander leaves. Bring to a boil , Cover with llid and continue simmering for another 10 minutes. Sambar is ready to serve. Tastes great with rice, idli, dosa. 

Coconut chutney: 

Coconut chutney

Chop the coconut and grind into fine paste along with the green chillies and ginger.


Heat oil in a pan , add mustard seeds and allow them to splutter. Add curry leaves and red chillies. Once chillies change color, remove and add the mixture to the ground coconut chutney. Add salt and mix well.


This chutney goes well with idlis, Dosas and vada.