How to make soft idlis (Homemade Idli, Dosa Batter)

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I surely must have not thought of making a separate post for idli dosa batter, if I havent had a reader request for it. We prefer making idli dosa batter at home as I dont prefer the store bought ones as to me, its a big compromise. Even attimes of busy schedule, I would rather choose upma, chapathi etc to idli, dosas using store bought batter. I love idlis best with idly podi

Idli, Dosa Recipe - Ingredients

• Idly rice - 3 cups
• Whole urad dal / Ulundhu(no skin variety) - 1/2 cup
• Fenugreek seeds/Vendhayam - 1/2 tsp
• Water - as needed
• Salt - to taste

The above ratio is from the handwritten book from amma and it works perfectly. I use my measuring cups for most of the recipes mentioned in this space. Amma uses the traditional ulaku, veesam with the same measurements. I converted it to the measuring cups for ease and convenience :)

Method:

Measure each ingredient as per the above measurement and keep seperately. Soak rice and urad dal with fenugreek seeds in water each seperately for atleast 2 to 3 hours.

Then drain water from urad dhal and add it to the grinder. While adding urad dhal take care the grinder doesnt get stuck. Sprinkle water then and there and grind it for 40mins in total. Its always better to stand near atleast during the final stage of till the proper consistency is reached. Keep sprinkling water in between at regular intervals. The batter should be light and nice fluffy.

Collect the urad dhal batter in a container(big enough to hold the fermented batter). Now drain water from rice and add it to the grinder, sprinkle little water and start grinding.Grind it for 30mins on the whole, keep adding water in between. Grind it smoothly with a slight coarse texture. The rice batter should be slightly thicker than urad dhal batter.

Now take the rice batter and urad dhal batter, add salt and mix well. Keep aside in a warm place to ferment well for atleast 10 - 12 hours. After that, if you see the batter would have raised well and now your idli dosa batter is ready to use. Take a laddle full and add it to the idly pan and steam it for 10-12mins. Sprinkle little water while removing to avoid stickiness.Hot soft idlies ready to be served.

For dosas : First see whether the batter is in pouring consistency, if not add little water and mix well. Then take a laddle full of idli dosa batter and add it to the dosa tawa and keep spreading in circular motion outwards. When the dosa gets slightly browned turn over to other side. Crispy dosas ready.

My Notes:

• The texture of the batter depends purely on the qaulity of urad dhal. Also the volume varies each time when I get urad dhal from a different store.
• The water quantity I've given is approximate and may vary depending on the quality of rice and urad dhal.
• Also while making idlis you can place a cloth before pouring the batter which gives even more soft idlis. I use it on and off :)
• Idlies taste best when the batter is fresh, so after a week we use it for dosas and kuzhipaniyaram.

Just cut and place each idli into 4 pieces in a bowl, add hot sambar generously, drizzle ghee on top. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. It tastes divine.

This is my favourite in most of the veg hotels - I make it at home too whenever we make sambar

I have tried my best to explain the making of idli, dosa batter. Have included the tips I got from amma too, do feel free to mail me your queries if you have any.