Hot and Sour Idli

Tired of eating the regular idlis? Here is something different for you…tanginess brought about by tamarind, spice added by the red chillies and sweetness added by the jaggery. A little sweet, a little sour and a little spicy…presenting Hot and Sour Idli 🙂

My daughter loves south Indian snacks. May it be idlis, dosa or appe, she likes it all and varieties of it too. Hence I keep experimenting a lot with these items. I try to come up with new varieties of dosas and appe. Frankly, I never could understand how to come up with a different version of the traditional Idli. Then, a few years back one of my friends gave me this recipe which I tried with some changes . I cannot recollect the exact source from whom I got this recipe as it was a long time ago and I dont really remember :(. I had it noted in my notebook since then. I made it again this weekend after a long time and again it was enjoyed a lot by everyone. These idlis are a little more dense as compared to the urad dal idlis, but I like them nevertheless.

Serves: 3-4
Preparation Time: 15 minutes (+ Soaking time+ Fermentation time)
Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients :
Toor Dal: 1 cup
Idli Rice: 1 cup
Red Chilies: 3 big
Tamarind Paste: 2 tbsp
Jaggery: 1 tbsp
Asafoetida(hing): A pinch
Turmeric Powder: 1/2 tsp
Onion: 1 big finely chopped
Green Peas: As required
Salt: to taste

Method of Preparation:

1. Soak rice and dal separately in sufficient water for 4-6 hours.
2. Grind dal, red chilies, tamarind paste and hing and keep aside.
3. Grind the rice smoothly and add to the dal mixture.
4. Add to it jaggery, turmeric powder, onion and salt. Mix well. Keep aside for 4-5 hours.
5. Grease idli moulds with oil. Pour the batter in the moulds. I garnished with green peas and carrot to get a smiley. My daughter loved it 🙂
6. Let steam for 20-25 minutes. Demould and serve with tomato ketchup or date tamarind chutney.