Where it comes from
The idli's ancestor appears in a 10th-century Kannada text. Steaming a naturally fermented batter makes the protein far more digestible — an accidental piece of food science practised daily for a thousand years.
Method
- 1
Soak and grind
15:00Soak rice and urad dal separately for 5 hours with fenugreek in the dal. Grind to a fluffy batter, salt it, and ferment overnight in a warm place.
- 2
Steam the idlis
12:00Spoon batter into greased moulds and steam until a skewer comes out clean.
- 3
Cook the dal
15:00Pressure cook toor dal with turmeric until completely collapsed. Whisk smooth.
- 4
Build the sambar
15:00Simmer vegetables in tamarind water with sambar powder until tender, then add the dal and salt and bring to a rolling boil.
- 5
Tadka
02:00Pop mustard seeds in sesame oil with curry leaves and asafoetida; pour over the sambar and cover immediately.
Cook's notes
- Batter should rise and smell pleasantly sour, not sharply alcoholic.
- Shallots (sambar onions) give a sweetness that large onions cannot.
