Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Can you guess the main ingredient? - Polenta Idlis

IMG_0075

Cornmeal Idlis served with No-Coconut Chutney (green) by Asha &
Peanut-Onion Chutney (brown) by Latha

You guessed it right!!! Are you smart or are you smart?! It is indeed coarse cornmeal or Polenta or Makai ka Rawa. I was sooooo sure that it was hard to guess. (Meaning: I would have never guessed it right, had this been a guessing game on someone else's blog.) Well, I underestimated you, Darlings. :)

IMG_0061

Coarse cornmeal / Polenta/ Makai ka Rawa

The recipe is quite simple. I just followed a recipe for Urad Dal-Semolina/Rawa idli that I have got from my mother-in-law. Why did I use Polenta then? Well, I bought it a few months back because I wanted to try making (guess what!) Polenta, the Italian staple. Somewhere down the lane, I totally forgot about it. When I found the pack of Polenta again, I just instinctively wanted to make Idlis with it. (This happens just too often to me, don't you think?) So, Idlis is what I made with them. Here's how.

Recipe for Polenta Idlis (Or Rawa Idlis, for that matter)

Serves 4. (No point in giving the number of Idlis here. As you can see, mine are the 'giant' versions.)

Ingredients:

1 cup Urad Dal
2 cups Polenta (or wheat Rawa/ semolina)
1/2 tsp Methi/ fenugreek seeds (optional; I always use)
water, as required
salt to taste

Method:

1. Soak the Urad Dal and Methi seeds (if using) in water for approx. 8 hours or till a point, where you see tiny bubbles on the water (and the Urad Dal starts giving a slightly unpleasant smell).
2. Then grind it to a fine paste. By fine I really mean fine. Leave it again to ferment; overnight, if you plan to make Idlis for breakfast the following morning. If you are left with some of the water in which the Urad Dal was soaked, keep it aside too. It will be useful in making the batter thinner, once the Polenta/Rawa is added.
3. In a piece of cloth as big as a handkerchief, tie the Polenta or Rawa in a bundle. Put this bundle in a vessel and steam it in your pressure-cooker / steamer for about 15 minutes. Like so.


IMG_0071

Steamed Polenta

4. Take the bundle out and let it cool. Once cool, add it to the fermented Urad Dal batter. Add salt and mix well. The batter should be the consistensy of Milkmaid condensed milk. (Do you Guys think of another equivalent?) If the batter is too thick, add the Urad Dal water that you have kept aside the earlier evening.
5. Oil the Idli stand/cups in which you want to make Idlis. I usually use steel bowls/Katori (Hindi)/Vaatya (Marathi) because I don't have my Idli stand here. You can see those bowls here and here.
6. Steam the batter in a pressure cooker/steamer for 10 minutes. Take the stand/bowls out and wait for about five minutes. This makes unmoulding them easier.

Unmould Idlis and serve warm with chutney or Sambar. As you can see in the caption for the first photograph, I served them with two chutneys blogged by Asha and Latha.

I would like to send this post to Nandita's Weekend Breakfast Blogging. Let's see what she says. :)

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38 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mmm.. seems like dal idlis (mixed dal).. which konkani's make... My guess...

Anonymous said...

i guess its moong dal

Anonymous said...

Is it cornmeal or arhar ki daal?

Great Blog by the way, I am a frequent visitor now!

Cheers,Trupti
truptishukla200o@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

corn meal?

Unknown said...

i think its roasted sooji or crumbled bread..

FH said...

I would say Idli Rava or coarse semolina or it could be Thari which is crushed coarse rice or it could be ......never mind :D:D

Anonymous said...

Is it Corn?

Krithika said...

Moong dal ?

Anonymous said...

Something yellow;) My best guess...corn meal. I am guessing it is not moong dal since you already have disclosed udad dal.....or maybe it is a mixed dal idli as annu says. Uh?

Anonymous said...

Don't tell that you used the "yellow peppers" for this :D. Why else have you kept them with idlis ??? (that guess was just to have a 'jara-hatke' guess than others :D)

Anonymous said...

On second..actually third thoughts, it is SALT! I know you put some in there:)

Anonymous said...

Yellow Cornmeal or couscous ???

Unknown said...

Is it toordal idly?..may be corn meal as everyone guessed..

Anonymous said...

is it wheat samilina or soaked bread?any way it looks delish..

Anonymous said...

leena,
i visit ur blog often,is it course or fine corn flakes(or something with corn),moong dal powder.

Anupama said...

Is it ordinary roasted semolina?

Ashwini said...

Looks to me like mung dal...but whats more important is your idli steamer!!!!
Please o please give us a glimpse..my mum had one in which the moulds were shaped liked yours and I am just dying to have a look. A mention of the place where you got it wouldnt hurt either :-)

Anonymous said...

Looks to me like corn meal

Anonymous said...

How did they taste, Vaishali? What was the texture like? I never would have thought to make idlis using polenta - very neat idea. :)

Meena Kandlakuti said...

vaishali,
coarse corn idli..great thought..i think they taste good too.pictures are looking great.thanks for sharing

Prema Sundar said...

Hi vaishali,
U know I guessed it right whe I saw the picture.. but Iam late..
Ok how was the idli was it soft?

Anonymous said...

idlis with polenta looks delicious...my guess would be corn based ingd ..:)

Unknown said...

Each time i take a two day break from your blog, i end up with a huge backlog of reading!

Nice way of adding the fibre content in idlis. How was the texture though??

Shammi said...

Wow... polenta idlis. Were they good even cold?

And ofc gorgeous photos! What's it about you ladies living in Germany that you take such great pics? Perhaps I should move there too... :)

Vaishali said...

S, you are bang on! I appreciate it.

Trupti, RP, Hema, Priya, Maheswari, Usha, all of you are correct. What can I say? I would have never guessed it right. Honest. :)

All Others, thank you all for guessing. And the wrong guesses were interesting too. For example, crumbled bread. It has definitely set me thinking. :)

Asha, what exactly is Thari? *Hope* you blog about it sometime. :)

Hema, SALT? Not bad. :)

Ashwini, I don't have that proper stand which gives this kind of Idlis. I have seen it, though. As I have written in the post now, I use Katoris.

Payal, Prema and Nandita, the texture of the Idlis was slightly coarser than than the usual ones, but they tasted very good. Different, but really good.

Shammi, I did not try them cold. Maybe you are asking because you want to take them in your lunchbox? They should not taste bad, I guess. I am only guessing, though.
As for us in Germany, please feel free to move in here. There is anyway going to be one empty place soon. :)

Krithika said...

Polenta ??? never would have guessed it. Great idea !

Luv2cook said...

wow..Vaishali...that is a great idea to use polenta..never would have thought of that :)

Lakshmi said...

Hi Vaishali
thanks for our comment, and the idlis will have to try ..nice recipe

Anonymous said...

Polenta idles... thats very interesting. Never would have guessed it. It looks delicious :)

FH said...

OFCOURSE I knew it!!! NO...just kidding! :D
Ragi Idli at Shilpa's, Polenta idlis now..Idlis are baaaaack!!!
Polenta or yellow corn meal are good idea for idlis, I must try!!
Thanks for endorsing my chutney!!:)

Anonymous said...

Oh no! I can't believe I missed this guessing game :( There is something wrong with my computer at home. Sometimes I pull up the blogger sites and see no updates for days -- then when I look from work (where I am now) I see the updates. I'll have to read at work from now on ;)

Polenta idlis look super-delish! Thank you for the very detailed recipe Vaishali, and the lovely photos. Esp like your red/green bowl with the yellow polenta.

Anonymous said...

nice way of using corn meal. i have a whole lot left over from a recipe trial so thanks. does the idlis feel more granular than normal if made like this?

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Somewhere straight Cheap RS Golddown the lane, I completely forgot about it. When i discovered the wrap up of Polenta again, I just instinctively desired for making Idlis with it. WOW Gold(This happens just too usually to me, never you think?)

Sangeetha said...

Check out the different types of idly recipes at dialbe.com