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.

Masala Dosa and Chutneys

 Dosa! The favourite breakfast of every South Indian. We had a few guests over last week and they were very curious about how dosas were made. This scrumptious tuesday, I share with you my Recipe for Masala Dosa along with two chutneys. Onion and Groundnut.

 The Dosa is a savory crepe or pancake made with lentils and rice. It is one of the staple breakfast meals in south India and is equally loved every where else.

Do remember that for the batter, different people have different measurements. Experiment with the ratios to see how you like you dosa.

You will need: 

For the Batter

• 2 Cups Rice
• 1 cup Urad dal (Black gram)
• 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds (methi)
• Salt to taste

For the Masala

• 2 potatoes, Boiled and mashed
• 3-4 green chillies
• 1 medium onion finely  chopped
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• Salt to taste
• 1-2 tsp cooking oil
• Finely chopped corriander leaves
• Finely chopped ginger 1 tspn

For the Onion Chutney

• 2 Large onions roughly chopped
• 1 Tbsp corriander seeds (dhaniya)
• 2 Dried red chillies
• Salt to taste
• a little jaggery
• Tamarind , the size of a gooseberry
• Oil 1 tspn

For the Groundnut Chutney 

• 1/2 cup ground nuts
• 2 green chillis
• 2 garlic cloves
• Tamarind, the size of a lemon
• salt to taste
• curry leaves
• Oil 1 tspn

The Procedure

The batter

Soak all the ingredients except salt for at least six hours. Grind to a fine paste, add salt and water. The batter should be a runny consistency. Keep this batter aside to ferment for a few hours / overnight. I live in a cold country so I leave the batter next to the radiator to ferment.

The Masala

Heat oil in a pan, add the green chillies and the ginger. Stir until lightly fried, now add the chopped onions. Fry until transparent. Now add the mashed potatoes and mix well. Finally, add the salt and turmeric and stir until the potatoes are well done. Top with finely chopped corriander leaves. Take the pan off the heat and leave aside to cool

Onion Chutney

Onion chutney is one of my favourites. My mom used to make this both with idlies and dosas. It is a healthy chutney and helps cool the body. Heat a little oil in a pan and add the chopped onions. Fry until transparent. Add the remaining ingredients except jaggery. Fry until the onions are firm but well done. Make sure the corriander and chillies do not burn. Take off the pan and leave aside to cool. Add a little jaggery to this mixture and then grind it to a fine paste. Serve at room temperature

Groundnut Chutney

Groundnut chutney is a very very delicious chutney and tastes amazing with dosas. It is a favourite with my husband. Heat a little oil in the pan and add all the ingredients. Keep stirring until you can smell the fried peanuts. Take care not to burn anything. Take off the heat and leave aside to cool. Grind the mixture to form a fine paste.

The Dosa

Heat a flat pan /skillet. Make sure that the pan is well heated before you start or else the dosa might break.

Sprinkle a little oil on the pan. Now scoop a ladle full of batter and spread on the heated pan. Start from the middle and spread outside in a circular motion.

Take a spoonful of masala and top it on the dosa. One the Dosa is well done (Brown on one side) , remove it from heat , fold it it half and serve with the chutneys.

Tips:

• Rub a piece of onion on the pan after every dosa, this keeps the pan non sticky.
• I always use very good quality non stick pans. This way I can use less oil and the food is healthier.
• For a brown dosa, use more oil.I don't add much oil, so my dosas are white.

I love eating Dosas on weekends. I hope you try this recipe and enjoy.