My Food Story: From an acquired taste to a tradition

For over a decade, this humble South Indian delicacy has become a cherished family favourite in our North Indian home. Weekday lunch box demand, occasional festive experiment, or lazy weekend brunches, idlis, paired with our lip-smacking chutneys, never fail to delight.

What began as an acquired taste grew into a tradition, celebrated for both flavour and nourishment by everyone including my kids and guests. The healthier version is the satisfying part these days as we look for oil free protein rich options at home. The best part is leftovers are also good to consume if fried in ghee or butter and still loved for one and all.

Idlis with lip-smacking chutney

Ingredients

For Idli batter (Regular version)

Rice – 3 cups (~750 g)

Urad dal (split) – 1 cup (~250 g)

Poha – 100 g

Fenugreek seeds – ½ tsp

Salt – to taste

Water & oil/ghee – as needed.

*Healthy version: Replace rice with this protein rich mix of urad dal, yellow & whole moong dal, chana dal, black gram, peanuts

*For Chutney

Coconut – 1 cup (grated)

Roasted peanuts – ½ cup

Tomato – 1 medium, chopped

Coriander leaves – ½ cup, chopped

Green chili – 1–2

Garlic – 3–4 cloves

Salt – to taste

Optional tempering: oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves, dried red chili, asafoetida.  

Method

To prepare the idli batter, soak 3 cups (~750 g) of rice, 1 cup (~250 g) of split urad dal, 100 g of poha, and ½ teaspoon of fenugreek seeds in enough water for 3-4 hours. Drain the mixture and grind it to a smooth, thick batter, adding water as needed. Mix in salt to taste and allow the batter to ferment overnight for 8-12 hours in a warm place. Lightly grease idli molds with oil or ghee, pour in the fermented batter, and steam for 10-15 minutes until the idlis are fluffy and cooked through.

For the tricolour chutneys, start with the white coconut chutney by blending 1 cup of grated coconut, 1-2 green chilies, 3-4 garlic cloves, and salt to taste into a smooth paste. Optionally, temper it with 1 teaspoon of oil, ½ teaspoon of mustard seeds, a few curry leaves, 1 dried red chili, and a pinch of asafoetida.

For the red/orange peanut-tomato chutney, blend ½ cup of roasted peanuts, 1 medium chopped tomato, 1-2 green chilies, 3-4 garlic cloves, and salt to taste into a smooth paste, with the same optional tempering.

Finally, for the green coriander chutney, blend ½ cup of chopped coriander leaves, 1-2 green chilies, 3-4 garlic cloves, the juice of half a lime, and salt to taste.

My Food Story is a collection of stories and recipes that celebrate India’s traditional plant-based ingredients sourced from local biodiversity. You can see these recipes on our interactive dashboard (https://www.cseindia.org/page/myfoodstory).

Reena Singh is a homemaker from Delhi