Wednesday, September 21, 2016

High Protein Moong Idlis with Bell Pepper Chutney

I used to always be nervous about making Idlis. I never thought I could actually work with the proportions of the various grains to make Idlis a perfect dinner time delight. After a great tip from my MIL, I was able to get the ratios for the two dals and rice just perfect and now I make light, fluffy and protein rich Idlis for dinner often. Fermenting the batter is key and a combination of the oven with the light on (8 hours) and room temperature (daytime 4 hours) works really well! A good food processor is equally important to grind the soaked grains into a very fine batter. I use a Vitamix blender.

A nice red bell pepper chutney completes the meal. You can spice up the chutney with whole red chilies if you want or make it mild with the addition of ground black pepper. Serve with a nice salad on the side.

Batter:
1/2 cup split urad dal (black gram), washed
1/2 cup split moong dal, washed
1/2 cup sona masoori rice, washed
1/4 tsp fenugreek powder
Salt to taste

Soak the pulses and rice in warm water for about 4 hours. The water should be just enough to cover the ingredients. A lot of the water will be absorbed in the soaking process, re-hydrate if necessary. Grind all the ingredients into a smooth batter post soaking and add fenugreek powder and salt to taste to the batter. Cover with a lid that has a hole to allow for air circulation in the pot and ferment over 10-12 hours, the batter should rise as seen in the pictures I show below. Mix well post fermentation and refrigerate until ready to use. The batter keeps well in the refrigerator for about 4 days.



For the chutney, you will need:

2 red bell peers, washed, chopped
 20 curry leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp Asafoetida
1 small onion, chopped
1/t tsp sambar masala (http://aachigroup.com/cms/)
2 tsp oil (peanut, rice bran, canola)
1 whole red chili, optional

Sputter the mustard seeds in the oil in a sauce pan. Add the onions and curry leaves with the Asafoetida. Saute and add the bell peers and sambar powder. Cook covered until the bell peppers are just cooked. Add salt to taste, cool, blend and serve with the warm Idlis! Enjoy!