Mallige idli, also known as khusboo idly is a soft idly recipe from Karnataka, the southern state of India.
My Amma says “we should award the person who invented idly”. I would say ‘yes’. May south indian households runs on idly/dosa. We get a panic attack when our weekly quota idly/dosa batter finishes up.
Idly with podi is an usual breakfast in many south-indian households. If you reside in Bangalore, you must be knowing Iyer idly, they are quite famous in and around malleshpalya. They serve just idly and chutney for breakfast and quite popular in their area.
Having a small tub of idly batter gives so much confidence to the women of the house, mine is not any different. i have shared many idly recipes in my kitchen here, listing a few below
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List of idly varieties
- Raw rice idly
- Varagu arisi/Kodo millet idly
- Kanchipuram idly
- Green gram idly/No rice Idly
- Brown rice idly
If you are someone who cannot wait for your batter to ferment 8-10 hours and want some easy peasy instant idlies, here is a list below
List of instant idlies
So coming to today’s recipe mallige idly, the word mallige means jasmine, a reference to how soft and white the idy would be. I referred to smitha’s recipe and Prathiba’s recipe.
The recipe uses, sago/poha with the regular rice and dal ratio, and also a fistful of cooked rice is added to the batter while it is grinding. Since i didn’t have sago i have used poha here.
The idlies came out soft and fluffy, adding cooked rice to the batter really enhances the texture. Loved the softness of the Idly and, the dosa too, feels like mallige dosa.
Few tips before we start
- Most of the idly recipes contains rice and dal as the main ingredient. We use Idly rice mostly, but i sometimes use boiled rice too, i buy the local supermarket brand boiled rice .
- I have used both whole urad dal and split urad dal for making idly/dosa. The yield is more while using whole urad dal, but i dont find any change in taste.
- Batter needs to ferment a good 6-8 hours during summer and 8-10 hours during winter. Winter here is just 4 moinths of normal cold, during which i keep my batter inside warm oven with the lights on.
- If you live in cold countries, please preheat your oven to 150C, turn it off and leave the batter inside the oven, with the lights on.
- Always refrigerate the batter and dont add salt to the whole batch. I remove the necessary amount from the fridge and add salt to it.
- Bring the batter to room temperature before making your idly/dosa.
Mallige idly
Equipment
- Wet grinder
- Steamer and idly plates
Ingredients
- 4 cups idly rice
- 1 cup urad dal black gram
- 1 cup thick poha rice flakes
- a handful of cooked rice
- salt to taste
- Gingely oil as required
Instructions
- Wash rice, dal and poha separately and soak them separately. Rice should soak for a minimum of 4-5 hours. Dal and poha for about on 2-3 hours.
- After the said time, drain the excess water from dal. Add it to the grinder and grind it to a fine batter with water. I use wet grinder for grinding idly-dosa batter.
- A well ground urad dal batter fluffs well in the grinder and makes a 'cluck, cluck' sound while grinding, because of the air incorporated into the batter while grinding.
- Transfer the ground urad dal batter to a clean vessel.
- Next drain the excess water from rice and it along with poha to the grinder and grind it to a fine batter.
- While the rice is 3/4th done, add the cooked rice to it and grind to a smooth batter.
- Once the rice is ground well to a smooth batter, add the urad dal batter to the grinder, grind for another 5 minutes for both the batters to mix well and then transfer the entire batter to a clean bowl.
- If you prefer to mix them well with your hands, then transfer the ground rice batter to the urad dal batter and mix it well.
- Make sure the vessel in which you transfer the ground batter is large enough to hold the fermented batter too.
- Mix the batter well and leave it on the kitchen counter to fermenthe for about 8-10 hours.
To Make the idly
- Before making the idly. Remove the required batter to another vessel, refrigerate the remaining batter. Add salt and a tsp of gingerly oil to the batter, give it a quick stir and let it sit on the counter for 15-20 minutes to come to room temperature
- Grease your idly moulds with little oil. Pour a ladle of batter into each mould. Steam cook for 10-12 minutes or until done.
- Once done, remove the idly from the plates, serve it hot with chutney of your choice. I always prefer podi with idly. Idly smothered with podi and ginger oil is heaven on my plate.
Notes
- I use wet grinder for grinding my idly/dosa batter, it gives light and fluffy batter
- If using mixie for grinding, use ice water for grinding the rice and dal. This will reduce the over-heating of the mixie.
- Do not add more than required water for grinding rice and dal. The batter shouldn’t be runny. Idly batter must be thicker than dosa batter.
- Bring your batter to room temperature before making idly/dosa.
These mallige idlies are served with mysore style chutney powder, these tangy and spicy coconuty gun powder is a perfect combinaton to these soft idlies.
If you are looking for some interesting recipes using idlies, check the list below.
Oh you got me drooling over your pictures priya..nothing can have the same fancy as podi idli for me…so so sinful!
Those podi dunked idlies are killing me, so so tempting and alluring. I want those idlies rite now..
These are indeed mallige idlis. They look awesome with the podi and oil…
The idlis with podi and ghee drizzling on top is tempting me to pick one from the screen. Awesome.
Ah ! u enter my comfort land with these soft mallige Idlis !! super shot 🙂
The idlis have come out really soft! I absolutely love idli with milagai podi, especially when we smother them with podi and take them on trips 🙂
Wow!!!Idly has come out so fluffy and the podi loaded idly makes me hungry..Lovely clicks.
Wow, those idlis look so soft and fluffy. I'm going to try this version with cooked rice.
idlies are so soft and with all that mallige podi, mouthwatering!
Love the combo, Priya. The idlis are fluffy and I need to check out the Podium version. It looks great too.
Looking forward to your Karnataka recipes. Are you doing dosas this week too?
Love the clicks with the podi-oil drenched idlis.
The idlis are great but the green plate wins me over. I loved the way they look so fluffy and soft!
Ahhh I love those Iyer idli's, we lived in mallesh palya Priya, you know if you go there after 9 am you don't get idli's they will be finished by the time. you are making me drool here with specially that podi idli wow. going to soak the rice and dal now:)
yumm.. can u parcel 2 idlis priya??
that last photo is just beyond awesome and they look so soft and fluffy
Mallipoo maadri irukke….romba tempt pannare
I have heard about these idlis. They look so soft and spongy. I will try them soon as Idli is my favourite among South Indian breakfast items.
Shobha Keshwani recently posted…AMROOD KI SABZI / GUAVA CURRY / NO ONION NO GARLIC RECIPES
Idlis are not my forte at all so really glad to learn so much from your Post. The idlis look delicious. Lovely photos.
Priya, I remember this idli discussion in the bm group. I was asking why is it called khushboo idli does it smell!
I love your pics as always they are great n so is the idli
Archana recently posted…Hand Whipped Dalgona Coffee
Love these soft and fluffy malice idlis. Beautifully explained .One of the most nutritious breakfast item.
Idlis look so soft and tasty. I used to make this one earlier but never added poha. Must try this version sometime.
idli, podi and nallennai – South Indian homes cannot function without this trio !! I know this is super soft (Bangalore beckons ;-(()
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Priya, idli is something my husband loves and something I am guilty of not making often. Your pictures are so tempting and I am literally drooling the picture where Idhayam Nallennai is dripping on the perfectly white idli. I don’t add cooked rice in my batter. I might try that next time.
I am a big big fan of idli and your mum is right, the person who invented it should get a huge award. I love having plain idli with a podi and ghee. Adding gingely oil… now that’s what I really have to try.
Wonderful detailed post Priya, with all the needed tips and tricks . so helpful for the first timers..Idlis look so spongy, sofy and fluffy!!