Culinary Makeover 101

I've been going over this point ( almost ad nauseum) about how South Indian cuisine lags so far behing when it comes to plating & have also given some possible reasons as to why this is so. Without belaboring on this much further, let me get to the point. A before and after makeover for that much loved comfort food that most Tam Brahms go crazy for... Idli & Chutney. Mind you, the end result as far as the taste is concerned is identical and would pass muster with the most orthodox in-house senior resident.
Recipes for Idli and chutneys are available for download by the dozen but here is the basic list of ingredients:
3 measures parboiled rice (or Idli Rice)
1 measure whole Urad dal (both available in ethnic Indian grocery stores)
Wash & soak the rice & lentils separately for about 5-6 hrs. Grind the rice till the consistency resembles that of pourable concrete!. Do the same for the lentil except that the lentil batter ideally should be that of thick whipped eggs. ( the Urad Dal has a mucilaginous texture when made into batter, which helps the idli hold up its shape and spongy texture).
Add salt to taste and half a tsp of baking yeast to kick start the fermentation, especially if you do not live in the tropics. Mix thoroughly & let it rest overnight in the oven ( with the light on). Grease the idli molds with sesame oil, pour a ladle of batter into each mold & steam for 10 mins. Allow to cool slightly before extracting from the molds

Idli in its most traditional form, is steamed in concave molds giving rise to the ubiquitous lentiform idli that we are familiar with. Traditionally, it would be served as with 2 bowls, one containing coconut chutney, the other with sambhar and. at times, a little pile of 'milaga podi' with sesame oil spreading out on the plate, meant to be mixed . (but not before its coated part of the idlies, and the bottom of the stainless steel katories with the chutney & sambhar)!

This is the time honored method of making Idlis..

Now, I believe in the idiom "Necessity is the mother of Invention" or to put it slightly different a la the one & only Calvin, "Mothers are the necessity for Invention". Either way you look at it, there is nothing that delights a child more than a cutesy variation of a comfort food. and miniature idlis, I discovered, will only take you so far.
Most kids adore cupcakes in any form & guess what? Idlis are no exception, So I started making idlis for my kid in silicone cupcake molds. This process it turns out is great, since its very easy to remove the idlis without distorting them and also made for an elegant presentation when guests come home.
So here is my process for plating: Add a dollop of green chutney to the center of the plate & swirl around. Place 2 idlis inverted on the chutney, drizzle with sesame oil & sprinkle with desired amount of podi!

Sputtering back....

I seriously feel like this scene from the movie 3 idiots .. remember this one? The way I kept racking up drafts and eventually stopped doing that as well. Lulled into complacence by the quick high from Instagram posts. Recipe measurements hastily scribbled into a Moleskine notebook faithfully depending upon my moods. The truth is that I keep over thinking the backstories needed to make the post more interesting while in reality the truth is that ideas and inspirations just occur spontaneously (like little itches , sneezes or twitches) whenever the opportunity happens to strike. Some really cool ideas that scare the beejeezus out of me and yet prove to be utterly delightful and simple in the end. Others, that seem so trivial that I feel it wouldn't be worth crowing about -- even if there are enough other recipes in that genre that get so much publicity simply because the author happens to have the right marketing knack. So in the past 4 years that I've been...

Unusual Ingredients - Unripe Blueberry Achar

T'was just another Summer afternoon, The kids were home for the summer holidays, getting bored, there's only so much summer reading you can force them to do, and the Indian mommy in me could no longer caution them against going out in the afternoon (I've solemnly refused to use that horrid excuse of 'You'll get a dark tan if you stay out in the mid day sun'), and so we decided to head out to Terhune orchards for the blueberry picking. The kids never say no to outings to the orchard, they LOVE the trip there, the cute yellow dogs and the cats, the chocolate crinkle and Snickerdoodle cookies, and they positively trip over grabbing buckets and heading joyfully towards the berry bushes... ... And there it ends, the younger one loses herself in her delightful imaginary worlds where she probably thinks she's hacking her way through virgin Amazon jungle, sighing at every branch that brushes against her legs, picks 2 or 3 berries as if they were a new as ...

Product Review: Ninja Mega Kitchen system and a recipe for Masala Dosa

One of the biggest reasons for attending conferences is the priceless experience of meeting fellow bloggers and get an invaluable exposure to all things culinary. This includes vendors with new products to savor and get inspiration from. I had no complaints about whatever appliances I had for making traditional Dosa (Traditional South Indian rice & lentil crepes) batter, a sturdy tabletop stone grinder that you could add the Urad dal, turn the timer on , and 30 minutes later, come back to a container full of fluffy, batter with the consistency of whipped egg whites. The The cons of this is the cleaning up, of the various parts, the roller, the grinding bin, the multiple trays on which the rollers need to be placed while transferring the rice & lentil batter, the invariable drips of thick batter on the counter.... you get the point, It takes quite a bit of time. I was pleasantly surprised when the appliance company, Ninja asked me if I'd like to try an...

Rupa MohanSeptember 5, 2010 at 3:48 PM
That looks very cute - I completely agree with your view that TamBram cuisine suffers from a lack of presentation, and it's not just food. I think the same applies to an inability to market tourist attractions in an attractive, presentable way. The idli cupcakes look great - finally food which doesn't look like it's just a bunch of gloopy, sloppy mounds - well done!

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