Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Tomato Onion Chutney & Idli(Steamed Rice & Lentil Dumplings)

Know what you Eat - If you are looking for a fat free food Idli(Steamed Rice & Lentil Dumpling) is the top food on the list. Idlis are made from a combination of rice and urad dal which is fermented and then steamed. Both these processes are very good for the digestive system and involve cooking with no oil at all. Most restaurants however use baking soda to speed up getting the idli batter ready and while too much baking soda does destroy nutrients and affects the digestive system in the long run. This is a very popular breakfast item in South India.



Now coming to the nutrition in this food, the carotenoid lycopene found in tomatoes (and everything made from them) is a very useful antioxidant and has cancer-preventing properties. Urad Dal(a type of lentil) is a very good source of dietary fiber and protein. Parboiling rice drives nutrients, especially thiamine, from the bran into the grain, so that parboiled white rice is 80% nutritionally similar to brown rice.

From yesterday's Chole puri from the North we are travelling down to the traditional Idli chutney of South. I always have Idli batter in my refrigerator and this is one of the quick breakfast item on a time crunchy day.

Tomato Chutney

Preparation Time - 1o mins
Cooking Time - 15 mins
Serves - 4


Ingredients

Tomato - 2 big ones ripe and firm but not over ripe
Onion - 1
Red chilli - 4 or to taste
Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Split Urad dal - 2 tsp
Asafaoetida powder - pinch

Method

1) Chop tomato and onion into small pieces and corsely grind in a blender along with red chillies(do not puree, otherwise it will become like tomato ketchup).
2) Heat oil, add mustard seeds. Once they stop spluttering add split urad dal, asafoetida powder and saute till urad dal becomes slightly brown.
3) Now add the tomato, onion, red chill paste and simmer in the gas stove for 10 to 15 minutes till the water evaporates.
4) Add salt to taste and serve with hot idlis.

Idli


Ingredients

Urad Dal(whole) - 1 cup
Idli Rice(Puzhungal Arisi/ ParBoiled Rice) - 2 1/2 cups**
Salt to taste

Method

1) Rinse and drain Urad dal till you get a clear water. Now soak in enough water for 2-3 hours.
2) Rinse and drain Idli rice and soak in enough water for 6 hours.
3) Using a stone grinder/blender grind the urad dal adding the soaked water little by little till you get a smooth fluffy batter.
4) Now grind the rice into a fine paste adding water little by little.
5) Mix the Urad dal batter, Rice batter and Salt and mix them thoroughly.
6) Leave it over night for the batter to ferment nicely, on cold winter days switch on the oven light and leave the batter inside the oven overnight. The heat from the light will make the batter to ferment.
7) The trick to get a soft spongy idli is proportion, the grind urad batter and rice batter should be in equal quantity, so based on how much batter you are getting from the urad dal adjust your rice batter.
8) Now use cooking spray and grease the idli plates, thoroughly combine the fermented batter and pour the batter in the greased plates and steam them for 15 minutes on medium heat in a pressure cooker or pan till they are cooked.
9) Serve with Chutney.

Event Participation

This dish goes to My legume love affair twelfth helping event hosted by Annarasa started by Susan.

This dish goes to Delectable Combinations hosted by Kamalika originally started by Sunshinemom.

This goes to EFM June Breakfast series hosted by Srish.



*This rice measurement depends on how much batter comes out from the urad dal, for most of the varieties available in India you can add as much upto 5 cups of rice. But the ones available here i use anywhere between 2 1/2 to 3 cups of rice. The fluffy urad batter and the rice batter should be in equal quantity to get a soft idli. So adjust according to the quality of your urad dal)

26 comments:

Purva Desai said...

love the sizzing red colour of the chutney....
must have tasted yumm....with the idlis

Malar Gandhi said...

Who could resist this healthy plus tasteeee breakfast, dear.

Parita said...

I love tomato chutney especially with onions, should be very tasty with idlis and dosas :)

Pooja said...

Idlis look soft n spongy. The chutney looks delicious too! Always a comforting food :)

Ann said...

So colorful and yumm. Great and my fav combo for idli n dosa

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

I love tomato chutneys... Your looks yum...

chakhlere said...

I love the tomato chutney too.!!
Grt combo of Idli and tomato chuteny!!

sangeeta said...

i am craving for it in the middle of the night here....

Superchef said...

love that nice bright red colour fo the tomato chutney!!

Kalaivani said...

Can you pass it to me.Heavenly combo.Nice picture.

Gita Jaishankar said...

Nice picture! Idlis with tomato chutney is my favorite combination :)

kittymatti said...

the idlis look yumm! Feel like rabing it with the tomato chutney

Kalai said...

Lovely version of tomato chutney! Unfortunately, hubby can't stand tomato chutney of any type. So, will have to make this for myself! :)

Sumi said...

Its 2'o clock in the night now, and I desperatly want to eat this Idli and tomato chutney,Its very tempting.

Pavithra said...

Wow thats one of our fav comforting food

A 2 Z Vegetarian Cuisine said...

Thanks all for your comments, really appreciate it.

Preeti Singh said...

I loooveeeeee idli.... lookks too tempting . and will taste fantastic with tomato chatni, I m sure....

Prathibha said...

That is an amazing combo dear..Nice entry for the events..
You can even send to divya's show me your breakfast..

Priya said...

Delicious combination yaar!!!idlis looks spongy and yum!

Kitchen Flavours said...

Oh wow......drool worthy combo....

Ashwini said...

idli looks wonderful.. and tomato chutney is perfect combo

Mangala Bhat said...

wow! lovely combo ...That chutney is looking wonderful ..My mouth started watering

Mangala Bhat said...

wow! lovely idli never heard of it ..Looks soo yummy

A 2 Z Vegetarian Cuisine said...

Thanks all for your comments. Prathiba we had already sent couple of entries for the Divya's event, the max limit is only five.

Sunshinemom said...

Idli is always welcome with some spicy chutney and yours looks delicious. Thanks for sending this combination to FIC!

Rohini said...

Wow.. Idli and Tomato Chutney.. I can eat it anytime of the day.. The pic is fab!
Thanks a lot for dropping by. You guys have a great blog with such healthy recipes. Thanks to you, I am planning to use your recipes to cut down a couple of pounds!
Following you! :)

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