Protein Idli

Idlis are the top-most comfort food for people in South India. There are a huge variety of idlis from plain to rave, rage to protein idli. In many South Indian homes you will always find a batch of idli batter ready in the fridge. They are easy to digest, light and full of nutrients. Idlis traditionally are made with rice and urad dal soaked overnight, grinded and then fermented for a day without use of yeast or any other rising agents.

This recipe is however not with the classic idli batter. In this recipe I have substituted the rice with another dal making these Idlis protein packed, vegan and gluten free and they taste divine with rasam and red coconut chutney.

The recipe is very basic and uses only 3 ingredients – Moong dal, Urad dal and salt. Its the technique with which you make the batter that makes the idlis soft. Grinding the batter well is an important part. I use the wet grinder for all my idli and dosa batters. Since the stones in the wet grinder, grind the dal slowly and fluffs up the urad dal without making it hot, use of this tool is usually the best. If you do not have a wet grinder, a blender or a food processor can be used but the batter won’t be quite as close to that from a wet grinder.

Since the two dals have different textures and take different amounts of time to grind we ground them separately. The dals must be soaked for a minimum of 4-5 hours.

To make the batter in a blender

Add the drained urad dal in the blender. Add in a cup of ice water. Grind for 3 minutes till the urad dal is perfectly smooth. Remove the ground urad dal mixture in a large mixing bowl. Now grind the drained moong dal. Add up to 1/2 cup of ice water while grinding. Remove the ground dal mixture and add it to the urad dal mix. Add salt and mix well with hands for 2-3 minutes. Cover and keep in a very warm place.

.

Helpful Tips and Tricks to make Protein Idlis :

• The batter should have a nice pouring consistency. If your batter is too thick or too runny it will not ferment properly and the idlis will be flat and hard.
• The batter thins out a bit after fermentation. So be careful not to add too much water when grinding the dal.
• Fermentation of the batter is very important, the texture and the softness of the idlis depends on it. Always place the batter in very warm place. If you live in a warm country you can simply leave the batter on the kitchen counter to ferment. If in a colder clime, you can pre-heat the over to 40-50 degrees C, and switch off. Then you can leave the batter in the oven – the oven should be just warm and the temperature should not be above 40 deg C. If you have an Instant Pot use the setting for yoghurts and place the batter in it. It gives great results!
• To check if your batter is fermented, fill a small bowl with water, drop a small teaspoon of batter into the bowl. If it floats then the batter is ready to use.
• The fermentation time of the batter depends a lot on where you live. In warm places the batter can ferment in 6-7 hours while in cold places it might take upto 12-14 hours.
• You can make dosa from the left over batter , they will not be very crisp, but they taste equally good.
• Make sure you drown the idlis in really hot rasam for the flavours to seep in.
• If you are serving it topped with rasam, then make sure you pour in a generous helping of rasam, as the idlis tend to soak up a lot of it.

.

.

Protein Idli

Serves: 20-22 Idlis Prep Time: 50 Minutes + 1 Day for soaking and fermenting Cooking Time: 15 Minutes 15 Minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 1 voted )

Pin

Print

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole white urad dal
• 2 cups splint moong dal
• Salt to taste
• Water

method

1. Wash both the dals separately and soak them in separate containers with enough water, for a minimum of 3-4 hours. Drain the water using a strainer and keep aside.
2. Now transfer the soaked and drained urad dal to the wet grinder (if using a blender please check the tips and tricks). Add half a cup of water. The tip in grinding urad dal is to add the water slowly. If you add all of the water at once, it will not fluff up well. The dal should fluff up and fill the grinder. It should have increased about 6-8 times of its original volume. Grind for at least 20-25 minutes. After 25 minutes, transfer the dal mixture into a bowl and set aside.
3. Now grind the soaked and drained moong dal for 20 minutes until smooth. Add just enough water while grinding. Once ground, transfer the batter to the urad dal mixture bowl and mix both well.
4. Add salt to the batter before fermenting. 
5. Usually the batter needs to ferment for 8-12 hours, depending on where you live.
6. Once the batter is fermented it should have increased in volume. Your batter is ready.
7. For the idlis : Oil the idli moulds and gently fill the rounds with the batter. Put it inside the idli pot or steamer and let it steam for 8-10 minutes. Do not allow it to over cook as it might become hard and dry.  Leave it undisturbed for 4-5 minutes and then spoon the Idlis out if you remove them immediately they will stick to the bottom of the mould. Serve hot with your favourite chutney or Rasam.

Did You Make This Recipe?

If you did, take a picture and tag me on Instagram at @poetryofspices!