Idli / Dosa batter

Idli / Dosa batter is a common batter made in every Southindian household. I always prepare idly/dosa batter in bulk which I use for nearly 1 week. It is very much useful for working as well as home staying moms when prepared in bulk. This batter given here can be used to prepare soft idlis and crispy dosa and uthappams (pancakes)

I always prefer using wet grinder to grind the idli/dosa batter which leads to soft idlis and crispy dosas. I use par-boiled rice and whole uradh dhal alone. No other extra ingredients. Measurement actually matters for a soft idly.

Before fermentation

After fermentation

Ingredients:

Parboiled rice – 800gms

Whole uradh dhal – 150 gms

Water – as needed

Salt – 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Soak the par boiled rice for about 5 hrs
2. Rinse well and Soak the whole uradh dhal seperately and keep it in fridge for 3 hrs
3. In the wet grinder, first grind the uradh dhal using ice cold water. Donot add too much water initially while grinding uradh dhal.Sprinkle ice cold water at frequent intervals. This helps in producing a fluffy uradh dhal batter.
4. It takes nearly 1 hr to grind in to a fluffy batter. Collect it in a seperate container.
5. Rinse the parboiled rice well and add it to the wetgrinder and pour little water.
6. Normal water can be used for grinding rice. Grind it into a smooth batter not too thick nor too thin.
7. Collect it in the same container in which you have collected the uradh dhal batter.
8. Add the required amount of salt and mix well.
9. Now leave this in room temperature for about 6 to 7 hrs to ferment.
10. Batter is now ready to prepare idly or dosa.

By using the Idli/ dosa batter, you can prepare

Soft Idlis:

Crispy dosa:

Spongy Uthappam / Kal dosai:

Note:

• Fluffy uradh dhal batter is a key to soft idlis. So grind dhal till fluffy.
• Quality if the parboiled rice and the uradh dhal you purchse is also important
•  In my place, the room temperature is around 28 degree to 33 degrees. you can calculate the time to ferment according to your temperature.