for people like me, food should be now. i know i love to indulge in long hours of cooking, slaving over a pot of chicken curry till it turns succulent. but most days, after a hard day's work, i want home-cooked awesomeness now! more importantly, i don't like to indulge in frozen varities or packaged goods. this makes the word INSTANT very difficult for me.
but when you are married to someone who loves, lets say idlies, things start getting tough. i've always been on the lookout for the quick and easy way to make soft fluffy idlies that can cure the question of CAN I HAVE SOEMTHING TO EAT - NOW?? I have been trying these rava idlies for a while now and they always turn out good - well, more OK than good. Beginning the blog with a post that encouraged experimentation, i just had to add my two cents of yumminess to the regular rava idli. here's how i managed it. so instead of soaking the rava in yogurt at all, i just did a total INSTANT on this dish. i took a cup or so of rava (sooji if you must!) and added an equal amount of nice thick yogurt. after the usual additions of salt and hing, i wanted soemthign extra. so i channeled dosa express (our favorite weekend takeout joint) and thought of those yummy chana daal bits in the rava idlies he sent home. the pantry gods produced not only chana dal, but some washed urad and methi seeds as well. this was definitely going to be yum.
so i heated up some oil, added the trusted companions on any southern indian journey - green chillies and curry leaves and lo presto! the kitchen smelled awesome. the addition of the 2 daals and methi seeds brought out the fragrances even more. but i wasn't done experimenting. just because there was the addition of daal, this time, i had to add hing for aiding digestion - and i did. turning off the heat, i added this tempering to my rava+yogurt mix and it instantly felt like a home run. i also added a dash of ginger - ginger has always proved so helpful while making chef sanjay thumma's rava dosas and i wanted a similar flavor going for me this time.
the batter, inspite of adequate water additions seemed just about right, but very heavy. one batch of idlies was good, but it wasn't EXACTLY what i had in mind. and while rummaging through my spice cabinet, i was inspired - yet again! there is something about the cabinets in this house i think. when i feel less than happy about things and rummage through my stocks, i always chance upon things that make a lot of sense once i do chance upon them. yes, i was looking at ENO fruit salt.
before i added any, i thought to myself. really? my brain kept telling me, go ahead, its like making instant khaman. but i wanted to be sure. so i googled fruit salts and here's what the mighty internet had to tell me:
fret not o'hungry idli seeker. a loving dash of fruit salt will make ur batter instantly lighter.
my feeble voice (needing glucose badly now, but not letting go of the yearning to learn): but pray o' might lord, how will that happen?
the lord repli-eth: o'hungry one, fruit salts cause instant effervescence which will afford your batter the overnightness of fermentation without the mess.
convinced now with the big words and chemical compositions that this website enlightened me with, i added a big heaping dash of fruit salt and stirred. the hissing goodness of effervescence greeted me and belive you me, the spoon suddenly felt lighter and easier in the batter!
these idlies, when steamed, came out soft and sooper fluffy, with small pockets of chana dal, urad dal & methi seeds that made for little bites of nuttiness in the middle of soft indulgence.
for a change, i ran to my camera (so delighted was i, that i actually gave up the thought of eating for a change) and clicked a couple of pictures of a heaped plate of my rava idlies.
note to those suffering with gout/ arthritis: fermented foods are a no-no if you are ailed by too much uric acid in ur blood. these instant idlies and dosas are a big help for those of us plagued with this condition.
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