Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Mini Idli and chutney

This is just a small post, to show you all my new cute idli stand! When I first came to CA,I got my old but serviceable idli stand, which has been with us for as long as I remember! It is an old 3 idli, 4 tier thing my Mom used .. I would stand by her watching her ladling the batter in to the greased idli stand and set it on the stove top... and after the steam started coming out of the lid, I would glance at my watch to wait another 7 minutes before the idlis were all done ( that is what the Hawkins pressure cooker manual advised), sometimes humming the jingle.."Hawkins ki sitti baje.... khusboo hi khushboo ude... mazzedar, lajjatdar khana hai tayyar...." of course not to apt for idlis as we do not use the sitti (weight/ whistle) but at an age when commercials were not as frequent as now, I found these rather catchy and liked to hum them at odd intervals.
Unfortunately, when I came here I got the old stand and a new pressure cooker (oh a Hawkins alright!) which was smaller and my stand would not fit into it. I was very disappointed and after having borrowed a small stand from my friend a couple of times initially, I decided to go ahead and get my own.. the trouble with that was , the stand in the market here was not one that complied with the cooker size! So it was either don't buy the stand or buy a new cooker! Finally Ma-in-law came to the rescue!! My neighbor was coming to L.A. and Ma-in-law sent me this cute li'll stand!!

Cute, ain't it!!!

It sits perfectly into my cooker and makes 15 mini idlis at a time! i love it! the small idlis are so cute to look at!

I sometimes make idlis in the no-grind method (using urad flour & idli rava) but when time permits I go for the usual method of Soaking 1 cup urad Daal in water for a minimum of 5-6 hrs. Grinding it to a paste. Adding 1 1/2 cup Idli Rava and leaving it overnight to ferment. making Idlis after that is of course a snap! Grease the mould, ladle batter and set it in the pressure cooker without the weight and let Hawkins do the job for you in about 8-9 mins!

I served these mini idlis with coconut chutney

1/2 packet of frozen shredded coconut

3-4 sprigs of cilantro

2-3 green chillies (+/- to taste)

1 inch piece of Ginger

Salt to taste

Sugar (optional)

1 tsp. Cumin seeds

Grind together using little water. (I made this a bit thick so that it would be easier and *less messy* to carry in the lunch box, but you can add more water and change the consistency)

You can also add a 'Tadka' to it , heat 1 tbsp oil, add mustard seeds, when the pop, add a good dash of asafetida, add a few curry leaves and 1 red chilly broken in half.

Another variation to the taste of the chutney is adding a bit of chana daalA (not the one we use in daily cooking in the tempering! the other one, used in chiwda, the one that can be eaten as it is.. whaddya call it??!!!)


That's it guys.. hope to see u all soon ...!!! Pin It

13 comments:

bee said...

i hear ya on the struggle to get a proper idli stand. i had to combine tiers from wo different ones. your idlis look great.

FH said...

Hahaha! Fun reading the ads!:))

Mini idlis are cute indeed,looks great.I have a Cocktail idli stand which makes bite sized Idlis!;D

TheCooker said...

What a flashback! I remember the Hawkins ad, tune and all.
The idlis look good.
-TC

DEEPA said...

i also make mini idli's at home ..too good .

Anonymous said...

:) my idli stand is even miniature. i got myself a aluminium and the smallest version of idli stand available in kerala.

like asha i should call mine cocktail idlis too.

:)) i remember that hawkins pressure cooker and always wondered how much could one cook in that cooker.

Manasi said...

Hi Bee, Thanx a lot.. glad the mix n match worked for u!!

Hi Asha, Thanx.. I know the ones u mean, they are teeny tiny ones! the ones u can go on popping into ur mouth! great for making starters etc!!

Hi Cooker! u remember that jingle too! Cool!

hi Deepa, Too good is just about the best way to describe them!!

Hi Reena, i wish i had that mini idli stand too! it is so cute!!!

sunita said...

The stand does look cute and so do the idlis...as for the Hawkins tune, who can forget those catchy jingles...

Anonymous said...

great idlis...they look lovely and soft..hmmm...thanks for sharing

Coffee said...

You should blog more often...... Its always a pleasure to read your blog. :)

Anonymous said...

Your post got me humming .. and to my immense astonishment I belted out the entire ad ! The things the brain decides to retain :-) !
I faced the same cooker vs idli stand size dilemma. My solution was to buy a very large pot (crockpot ?) from Target/Kmart. It's a basic metal cylinder shaped vessel (usually speckled-grey in color and design) with a lid. I just fill the base with water, immerse the cooker base plate (with the holes) and then place the idli stand on it. Place the lid partially, leaving just a small opening for the steam. Steam as usual.
As for the chana daal - I think you are referring to daalia.
SD

Anonymous said...

The chana dal whcih u mentioned is called Dalia.

Gayatri said...

Hello,
been trawling the food blogs and came across your blog. very nice description and pictures too. I have a question. how do you use urad flour and idli rava to make idlis? could you please give me the measurements/method? that will be really great. Thank you.

Manasi said...

Hi Gayatri....To make no fuss - no grind idlis

1 cup urad daal Flour
1 1/2 cup Idli Rava
Water
Mix the urad flour and idli rava with water. cover and leave, preferably overnight, to ferment. I usually leave the batter in the oven and also switch on the oven to 'Warm' for 5-6 mins.
After the batter is ready, add a couple of spoons of oil , salt to taste, mix well. Make idlis as usual!

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