Idli

[lizby1]

Has anyone tried making these?

Also, anyone have a simple recipe for naan? I tend to be a bit rubbish making bread.

[HalcyonDaze]

Princess of Penguins had a good recipe for Naan the other day.

[HalcyonDaze]

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/12508/naan-bread

[sophie]

I just made idli the other day.. I use a made-in-India mix and I have an idli steamer..tasty little morsels. At their best when freshly made!

[HalcyonDaze]

I have never had idli, think I'm missing out

[lizby1]

Same here, halcyon - that's why I thought I'd try making them. Thanks for the recipe.

[MacademiaNut]

We are terribly lazy and make them from a ready mix. You'd probably get some brands in an Indian shop... that might be easier than sourcing the right kind of lentils and rice and then grinding them at home. The ready mixes do the job, but there's nothing like the ones my mother-in-law does.

[sprite]

ok, so new food discovery. but if they're made with black lentils, how are they white??

[MacademiaNut]

Black skin. The skin's removed and the inside (white) lentil is sold as an ingredient in idli, dosa, etc.

[cakemonkey]

Lizby, they sell the mix in Tesco.

[sprite]

ah!

[Deleted]

I've never even heard of them! Now I must have one!

[MacademiaNut]

cakemonkey, curious, do you have an idli steamer (the metal contraption) or do you use some othr moulds? If other moulds, what?

And alright, everyone who wants an idli should come over so we can go out and get you some. Superb ones at the tiffin place nearby. With coconut chutney.

[itch4travel]

Aug 29, 2013 5:01:13 GMT -5 MacademiaNut said:

And alright, everyone who wants an idli should come over so we can go out and get you some. Superb ones at the tiffin place nearby. With coconut chutney.

I've never had it either - when should I arrive?

[MacademiaNut]

Anytime you like, itchy!

[Deleted]

So a trip to India and a yummy food item. Erm, hell yeah!

[MacademiaNut]

I'm having some sort of vague fit at the idea of people not having eaten idlis... we grew up eating them ever so often. They're not traditional to my family, so we almost always ate them in restaurants or at other people's houses. But we make something similar, it just substitutes the lentils with palm alcohol and gets served with super spicy meat curries instead of with a vegetable curry and coconut chutney. And I have lived on idlis when I couldn't stomach most food due to illness.

[itch4travel]

I grew up on toast.

[MacademiaNut]

We *also* had toast.

[itch4travel]

Yes but just by location it's definitely more exciting:)

[Deleted]

Hahahaha! Itchy you crack me up.

Nuts, you're making me drool and now I want to make a curry instead of my planned meal!! I am desperate to try these amazing sounding things!

[lizby1]

Tesco! How exciting. Must do a search. I have just ordered thirty quids worth of spices/ ingredients , including the lentils (skin removed). The website also had the moulds, not sure how I will improvise. They sound like amazing comfort food.

[cakemonkey]

Aug 29, 2013 5:01:13 GMT -5 MacademiaNut said:

cakemonkey, curious, do you have an idli steamer (the metal contraption) or do you use some othr moulds? If other moulds, what?

And alright, everyone who wants an idli should come over so we can go out and get you some. Superb ones at the tiffin place nearby. With coconut chutney.

You have no idea how much I would love that right now, MacNut.

I've never actually made them but have seen the mix so I don't have a mould. It hadn't occurred to me before but is obvious now you say it.

[sophie]

I love idlis, but as they are seen here in Canada as belonging to southern Indian cuisine, they are hard to come by in this region. Most of the Indian restaurants here are northern or punjabi. There is ONE southern Indian restaurant in Vancouver that I know, and none in the Victoria area. The only way I get them is by making them. I also love dosas, but those are more difficult to make at home. Masala dosas...mmmmm...

[MacademiaNut]

Aug 29, 2013 14:49:40 GMT -5 sophie said:

I love idlis, but as they are seen here in Canada as belonging to southern Indian cuisine, they are hard to come by in this region.

They are southern, no argument on that point; so they're available in all the big Indian cities but go to a smaller northern town or village and you'd never see them. And yes, most of the food people abroad eat and look on as Indian is either just Punjabi or has originated in the UK, I realize!

[HalcyonDaze]

Just looked at the few restaurants in Sydney that are meant to be shining examples of southern Indian cuisine, can't see idli listed anywhere on the their menus.

Not that I could have realistically have gone anyway, the nut risk is too great to take LC.

[MacademiaNut]

Halcyon, link to menus, please! I am curious to see what they serve.

[HalcyonDaze]

www.malabarcuisine.com.au/Malabar_%40_Crows_Nest/MENU.html

www.sibisindian.com.au/sibis-south-indian-restaurant

[Deleted]

I checked my local too, but they're not on there. Possibly not suited to the Western tastes *rolls eyes*

[MacademiaNut]

Those actually look good, having skimmed the menus. They've excluded the vegetarian cuisines but included some really interesting meat, poultry and seafood/fish dishes, which makes sense, considering the market. They've also picked from different southern cuisines and have included a few things that seem more Punjabi/north Indian to me, but that's also probably because it makes sense to have a few familiar options. And then of course, there are some things they've probably just bunged in under different names because the names in Malayalam or Tamil are tongue twisters.

Reason #1 there are no idlis on offer: Idlis are breakfast food or an anytime snack (but even here, I'd never expect to find an idli at tea-time, because they're usually over by then -- the restaurants steam them in bulk for the morning and thehn will serve them as long as the stock lasts). They won't usually go onto a lunch or dinner menu. I see vadas on one menu, but those do get served at lunchtime, so that's not so odd. Dosas, well, you can eat them in the morning, eat them in the afternoon, eat them in the evening and in the night. Anyhow, if you have a place that does what we call "tiffin" or that does a south Indian breakfast, you might get idlis... otherwise, I can see why they're missing.