Nostalgic Idlis

I always remember Sunday mornings at my home in Mumbai. Would wake up to the lovely smell of Idlis steaming away and the gentle whirring of the coconut chutney in the blender. The smell would waft through my bedroom door and the urge to sleep in a wee bit more would go away and I would quickly freshen up and rush to the kitchen to poke my nose around.

Mum would always smile at my eagerness for gulping down one of the hot steamed dumpling straight from the atti(steamer) after dipping it the then  untempered chutney before my ritual cuppa. I have never tasted such amazing Idlis anywhere in the world.

I wonder why it still makes my mouth water as I had eaten the same Idlis every single Sunday of every month of every year till the day I got married. The eager wait for Sunday breakfast would never fade away.

I have tried to make it every Sunday myself but in vain. Someday hopefully I would make it a ritual breakfast.

So here is the recipe for the most lovely Idlis which will be followed by the quintessential recipe of the white coconut chutney that complements it perfectly.

Ingredients
1 cup white Rice
1 1/2 cup of Urad Dal
Salt

Method

• Soak the Urad Dal and Rice separately for around 5-6 hours and grind it with little water to make a thick paste kind of consistency. It should be very smooth and fine paste. If you can feel any dal or ungrounded rice I suggest you put it one last time in the blender to have good results.
• Once ground cover it and keep it in a warm place to ferment overnight undisturbed. I usually follow my moms style of tying a towel around tightly. As though making the batter feel warm and cozy in its embrace.
• I usually soak it on Friday night since its cold here. Fermentation time is almost double. If you are in India or elsewhere where there is warm weather you can soak it on Saturday morning and grind it in the evening.
• In the morning, before you pour the batter into Idli moulds for steaming make sure the batter has double in quantity to get soft fluffy Idlis. I don't oil the moulds before pouring the batter but if you want you could.
• Steam it in a cooker or Atti.