DRY FRUITS AND READYMADE FLOUR IDLI

I AM INDEED IN A LOOK OUT FOR HEALTHIER SNACKS; DONE IN FEW EASY STEPS!

Yes; I am aging. Its quite sometime, I am trying different hacks to get tasty idli, dhokla, cakes, hassle free and in less time. Some of my attempts fail; for some I get so good result that I myself get surprised. Thereafter, I get eager to share the beautiful experience with my readers! I am doing idli at home for many years now; ever since I got my own microwave oven in 2001; along with it came a free idli maker. In those days, I did not know what food blogging is; life was extremely busy bringing up a child; cooking and eating was a need. Once the toddler started going to school; of the few food items he could eat during the lunch hours, idli made in microwave was one. I used to traditionally soak the rice and dal separately, do a paste in the mixer-grinder; keep overnight! Only the last step was done in the microwave. Because I had this microwave proof idli maker; I never felt the urge to buy a steel or handulium one. A stronger reason may be this that I am a Bengali, I need not be too particular about the authenticity of an idli or dosa or dhokla. Moreover; my men just eat idli but are not great idli lovers, I am. They may want chicken or mutton beside a plain dosa or cooked minced chicken atop a dhokla! Cristine is fond of dosa; we three are not. A quick honey-apple-oats cake or a DRY FRUITS AND READYMADE FLOUR IDLI in microwave help us in this family!

I AM SHOPPING, COOKING AND TRYING TO HELP THE WORKING COUPLES!

Wasn't this my plan for the past 2-3 years? I was not starting because I was happily occupied with my baby! Now that no one is around me to say, "phone recharge korey de", "tokey merey debo", "tokey bhenge du tukro korey debo", "ekdom amar school e jabina; beshi katha bolbi na"; I can now concentrate on the long standing wish and bring it to reality. In the process, I know well I will not touch our savings and invest the man's hard earned money in bulk. I have so seen people getting bankrupt investing all their being and money in a business. Not everyone have business acumen. It is true people like me would always remain a mediocre because we cannot think or dream big, we refuse to take risk in life! I accept that and continue to carry on with my venture just the way I want it to; with very little investment and of profit. My purpose of taking Homely Bengali Food to households who want it but do not have the time to chop and cook "mocha-echor-shaak-thor"! I do not mind the less amount of profit if what I am doing makes me happy. A few years back, people had asked me if I have decided how to cope up with the void that will be created once the baby leaves the nest. I was clueless then but I seriously thought about it! The problem is I lack tenacity, communication skill; fear hard work.

DRY FRUITS READYMADE FLOUR VEGAN GLUTEN-FREE IDLI IN MICROWAVE; A LAZY LAME WOMAN'S PLEASURE TRIP!

Its about two years, I am trying different combinations in porota, idli! About idli, I had been desperately trying to make the process simpler. Not a single person from Southern India would approve of how I did it but trust me; it tasted very well and were fluffy. I ate it for three consecutive days and even packed the man's lunch box with idli made from the two day old refrigerated batter, they were still fluffy!

Here, the "Housebrand" line sells rice flour and Urad dal flour. I am a Bengali who is lazy and love idli; just wished to avoid that soaking the rice and dal separately; grinding them, mixing and then ask Cristine to wash 7-8 pots! I felt let me try, if the batter do not ferment; I will either add fruit salt or make crepes from it adding water. Then what happened you can see in the following pictures. If you are steaming them on stove top; they will be even softer & fluffier! But I am very happy with my microwave proof IDLI MAKER and I believe, this IDLI BATTER with READYMADE RICE FLOUR & DAL FLOUR would prove very helpful for busy homes. Idlis are HEALTH BITES; no doubt!

INGREDIENTS : 

RICE FLOUR : 1/3 COFFEE MUG

URAD DAL FLOUR / SKINLESS BLACK LENTIL FLOUR : 1/4 COFFEE MUG

BEATEN RICE : 2 TBSP [WE CAN USE COOKED RICE PASTE TOO]

SALT : 1/4 TSP

CHOPPED DRY FRUITS & NUTS : 2-3 TBSP

FEW DROPS OF OIL TO GREASE THE IDLI MOULDS

PROCEDURE :

We will soak the beaten rice in water for 15 minutes.

We will take the rice and urad dal / skinless black gram dal flour in a deep bottomed vessel.

We will drain the water from the beaten rice, mash it and add to the flour mix.

We will add the salt and also water little by little to prepare a thick batter; not paste like, nor a liquid! There should not be any lump.

We will cover it and place the vessel inside the microwave oven wrapped with a towel.

We will keep it like that for 12 hours. Thereafter, we see this; a light and fluffy batter.

We will chop the dry fruits and add to the batter.

We will mix it well. Mine is a microwave proof idli maker. I had added some water in the base and placed the stand on it. I had greased the idli mould with a bit of oil.

I have poured the batter little by little in each of the moulds.

I had put on the cover; placed the idli maker inside the microwave; cooked at 450* for 8 minutes. Every machine is different; your cooking time may differ a bit! I forgot to click one step!

We will take them off from the moulds with the back of a spoon and have hot with our choice of chutney, achar, sauce, dal!