Murugan Kadai Idli Recipe |Soft Idli |How to Make Idli Batter in Mixie

My craze for idlies has made made a non stop searcher looking for soft idlies..I usually make idli with idli rava and sometimes make idli with idli rice and urad dal..This time while surfing I came across Murugan Kadai Idli recipe.So without wasting time I tried these soft and yummy idlies.

What is Murugan kadai Idli ?

Murugan Idli shop or more popularly known as Murugan Idli “kadai”, it is by far the most authentic and most popular Idli and dosas in town. Once, this chain of restaurants had 2 branches in Chennai. One on GN Chetty road and the other on North Usman road.Today, they have 10 branches in Chennai, 3 in Madurai and 2 in Singapore.

The queues outside most of the outlets will tell you of its popularity.This shop is so popular and so well known for its idlis, something must be special about their idlis right? their idlis are prepared in a traditional chettinad way and they source very select varieties of rice and dal from Theni and Virudhunagar.the difference maker is the absence of baking soda in their batter. They allow the batter to ferment on its own without adding any baking soda which would normally take more than 10 hours. I guess hard work never fails to pay.

Ingredients:

Idli Rice - 2 cup
Whole White Urad Dal / Ulundu Paruppu - 1 cup
Fenugreek Seeds / Methi / Vendayam - 1/4 tsp
Cooked Rice - 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Water as needed

Method:

1.Wash and soak urad dal and fenugreek seeds separately for 4 hours.

2.Wash and soak rice separately for 5 to 6 hours.

3.Drain both. Take urad dal mix in a blender and add little water at a time and make it into a smooth batter.

4.Transfer this to a large container. Now take rice in the same blender and add little water and make it into a smooth batter. Once it reaches a smooth mix add in cooked rice and make it into a smooth batter.

5.Pour this over urad dal mix, add in salt and mix well.

6.Cover batter with a lid and Keep the batter in a warm place overnight(say 8-12 hours). I keep it on warm gas stove, after all the cooking has been finished.Check in the morning if the batter is fermented. The volume would have increased.
7 Grease the idli stand with oil .pour 1 laddle of batter to individual moulds .Steam them for around 10-12 mins (if using cooker, do not use the whistle add 2 glass of water to cooker). 
8 Leave it for around 5 mins before opening the steamer/cooker (or else, the steam falls on idlis and make them mushy).

9.With a wet spoon cleanly remove the idlis.

Tips :

1)The urad dal should be ground till it super smooth and it should be thick. Even though it is ground for a long time, rice will have some grits in it and it is perfectly ok.

2)The batter should be thick, not thin or runny.

3)Use a large container when you are fermenting, because my batter rised too much and a little over flowed.

 4).Proper fermentation of minimum 8-10 hours is very important to get soft idlis but in winter it may need much more time .If living in cold places you can even place the batter in a preheated oven and turn the oven light ON.