IDLY....IDLI இட்லி
Idly or Idli, occupies a place of utmost importance in south Indian cuisine. I can say that Idli is the flag bearer of a long line of wonderful southern foods which IMHO are most stomach friendly, easy to digest and full of energy, fiber and easy to prepare.
Gujarat and Karnataka has a very old link. The link is Jainism. There are words in Gujarati like DHOSA, IDADA (idali?) which no other region shares.
I think it was Jains who migrated to Gujarat from Karnataka and Jain Munis who came for vihar to Gujarat from South, must have brought Idly with them.
Even today, Idada are made using Black gram and Rice. They have been wrongly
classified as a type of Dhokra/Dhokla.
Idada is prepared exactly like Idlies without any addition of spices.
So let us go into the history of Idli or Idly.
As per Wikipedia, History of Idly is as follows.
History
Idli has a long history in southern Indian cuisine. One mention of it in writings occurs in the Kannada writing of Shivakotiacharya in 920 AD,[1] and it seems to have started as a dish made only of fermented black lentil. Chavundaraya II, the author of the earliest available Kannada encyclopedia "kopakara" (c. 1025), describes the preparation of idli by soaking urad dal (black gram) in butter milk, ground to a fine paste and mixed with the clear water of curd, and spices.[2] The Kannada king and scholar Someshwara III, reigning in the area now called Karnataka, included an idli recipe in his encyclopedia, The Manasollasa, written in Sanskrit ca. 1130 A.D. There is no known record of rice being added until some time in the 17th century. It may have been found that the rice helped speed the fermentation process. Although the ingredients used in preparing idli have changed, the preparation process and the name have still remained the same.PERIOD
I follow a traditional recipe as follows.
INGREDIENTS
3 parts Par Boiled rice (Idly Rice) (600 gms)
1 part de husked whole Black gram/ Split Black gramm Dal (200 gms)
1/2 tsp Fenugreek seeds
1.5 tsp salt
1.25 liter water
Method of preparation
Soak Black gram and rice separately in non chlorinated water for 3 hours. Wet grind both separately using wet grinder or Indian food processor into thick paste. Rice paste should have fine granular feel and should not be turned into smooth paste like that of dosais.
IDLY BATTER AFTER WET GRINDING
When done, mix both pastes and add salt . Mix thoroughly.
Leave it over night in a warm place to ferment.
Generally the batter increases to 2.5 times in volume.
FERMENTED IDLY BATTER
Next day, taste for salt and agitate the batter to remove excess air.
Pour ladleful of batter into pre oiled Idly plates and steam cook.
POURED IN IDLY MOLDS
IDLIES AFTER STEAM COOKING
IDLIES SERVED WITH SAMBAR,CHUTNEYS AND IDLY PODI
Enjoy with chutneys, sambar and Idly podi.
No comments:
Post a Comment