Idlee
Editor's note: These instructions are excerpted from Julie Sahni's book Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking. Sahni also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page.
This recipe originally accompanied Steamed Rice and Bean Dumplings in Spicy Lentil and Radish Sauce (Idlee Sambaar).
Idlee is the world-famous south Indian breakfast or tiffin treat. It is made with a fermented batter containing soaked black gram bean paste and rice semolina (cream of rice). The batter is poured into the depressions in the idlee molds and steamed to yield porous, spongy cushions called idlee. The proportion of beans to rice is the most crucial element in making light and airy idlees: The rice is always twice the quantity of beans. The dumplings expand when they are steamed, and their nutritive value goes up with the fermentation of the batter; they become rich in proteins that are easily digestible.
These dumplings are traditionally served with coconut chutney and Red Gun Powder (see tips at bottom of Idlee Sambaar recipe). Children usually like to eat them with palm jaggery syrup, which is somewhat difficult to find here in the United States. However, unsulphured molasses, natural honey, and maple syrup make wonderful substitutes.
The best way to keep the dumplings warm is to put them in another steamer over hot (not boiling) water. You may use any kind you want as long as the steamer is large enough to accommodate all the dumplings without crushing them.
• An idlee steamer looks like a a multitiered serving platter with egg-shaped indentations in each round tier to hold the batter. The indentations are perforated to allow the steam to pass through as the idlee are cooking (which keeps them light), and the whole stack fits into a covered pot. Idlee steamers are available online at www.innoconcepts.com/idleez.htm. If you don't have one, an egg poacher can be used, but the idlee won't be quite as light.
• Split white gram beans are available online at www.ethnicgrocer.com, under the name urid dal.
• Part of the vegetarian cuisine of south India, this dish, which is traditionally served at tiffin (a lunch or midmorning snack), contains the perfect proportion of rice to beans to create a complete protein—the combination of various sources of protein that vegetarians must consume in order to get all the amino acids present in meat. "And," says Sahni, "because the beans are fermented, their molecules are broken down in a way that makes them easier to digest."
