Idli (Steamed Rice and Black Gram Bread)

Ingredients

• 4 cups parboiled short-grain rice
• 1 cup skinless white urad dal
• 2 tsp non-iodised salt
• 1 tsp fenugreek seeds (methi)
• 2 cups chlorine-free water for fermenting (see note)
• Fermentation starter (optional; see note)

Method

1. Wash rice and urad dal thoroughly.
2. Soak the rice and urad dal in separate bowls for no more than 2 hours. Soak methi seeds along with the urad dal. You will need about twice as much water in the bowl as urad dal, as it expands as it soaks up water.
3. Drain the rice and urad dal. Do not discard the dal soaking water, but do discard the rice soaking water.
4. Grind the urad dal to a fine paste in a blender. If needed, add some of the reserved soaking water.
5. Grind the rice to a paste with about 1 cup of chlorine-free water (less if you can). Grind coarsely if the batter will only be used for idli, but grind finely if it will later be used for dosa.
6. Mix the rice and urad dal pastes together well, and season with salt.
7. If desired, stir in the fermentation starter and mix well (see note).
8. Set aside somewhere warm like to ferment for 8 hours (see note).
9. Grease one or more idli pans well with ghee or vegetable oil.
10. Gently spoon the batter into the round indentations of the idli pans. Do not stir or otherwise break the batter. The trapped bubbles should not escape as they are necessary for a fluffy texture.
11. Steam for 12 minutes in a steamer (16 minutes if using brown rice).
12. Remove idli from pans with a sharp knife or thin spatula.