As we cling onto the last few cool days here, it’s a perfect time to
take a leisurely wander around Old Delhi and enjoy some some of the
winter specialities that are still available.
One of the never-ending delights of walking in Old Delhi is coming
across the tiny markets within markets, the little lanes devoted to one
commodity. This winter I discovered a market tucked away in Kothi Shri
Mandir near the Khari Baoli spice market and devoted almost entirely to
Chikki – a type of nut brittle made from jaggery in the winter months.
Kothi Shri Mandir is so narrow there is hardly any daylight and it
almost feels like walking through a secret underground passageway where
your path is lit on either side by piles of magical sugar.
There’s chikki everywhere you look made from sesame (also called
gajak), peanuts, cashews even dried rose petals which come in all shapes
and sizes – bars, rolls, discs, slabs, golf balls, tiny coin-sized
pieces and hearts.
This is my favourite shop, Lal Chand Rewri Wale – beautiful fresh
chikki and I love the way the owner is practically wearing his
merchandise.
There are also some namkeen shops in the street like Pappu Caterers
who sell everything you could possibly wish for to put a bit of crunch
into your chaat – the spinach matri was particularly good.
You can see the chikki being made in some of the shops – these guys are pounding slabs of sesame and jaggery
And this is the peanut brittle being shaped
As you come back out of Kothi Shri Mandir, take a minute to
appreciate Gali Batashan itself – a whole street devoted to all things
sugary, pickled and candied – like these carrots, ginger and amla.
The gali is also home to some excellent snacks. The Bombay Sandwich
wallah often makes a stop here and there is a chana puri stall doing a
roaring trade on the corner of Kothi Shri Mandir. But my new favourite
chaat is made by the Guptas who told me they had been in the gali for 45
years – verified by a happy customer who said he’d been visiting their
stall for over 40. They run a hugely popular, very spic and span cart
from which father and son dish up all kinds of fresh and flavoursome
chaat.
Finally, on the corner of Gali Batashan and Khari Baoli there is a
seasonal vegetable stall – look at all these gorgeous black carrots,
fresh green chick peas, star fruit, sweetcorn, lotus roots and fresh
turmeric…
Gali Batashan runs between Khari Baoli and Naya Bans. If you’re coming
from Khari Baoli, Kothi Shri Mandir, where you’ll find all the chikki
wallahs, is the last turning on the left before reaching Naya Bans.
Gupta Chaat wallah is on the left of Gali Batashan before you turn into
Kothi Shri Mandir. Here’s a map of the exact locations. Go soon,
though, the hot weather is on its way!
this very popular idli recipe post has a lot of tips on making idli batter and step by step photos for making soft idlis at home. so take your time to read this detailed guide on making soft idlis at home and enjoy the pics
after a lot of requests, i am finally writing a detailed post on how to make fluffy and soft idlis at home…. i don’t know what took me so long to write a post on idli…. it is something i make home regularly. idlis…. one food that i grew up having…. idli was a regular breakfast at our home. come sunday, and there would be idlis & dosas for breakfast as well as lunch.
i would see the way my mom would soak the rice, dal and then grind it
and then leave it to ferment. this was a regular saturday ritual in my
house and i knew that on sunday we would get steaming hot idlis with chutney for breakfast. for lunch it would be dosa with sambar and a veggie.
i never knew that when i would start making idlis, i would run into
problem the very first time i make these. i had seen countless times
idli preparation in my home. i was least expecting, that the idlis i
made for the first time for my mom-in-law would become
an embarrassment for me. i was working hard to make the idlis soft the idlis were not soft and fluffy at all. i had done
everything so perfectly and yet the idlis became a little hard. i know
the aroma of the batter when they are being ground and mixed… i know
the slightly sour aroma of the fermented batter.
when i had seen this batter, i knew that the batter had not fermented
well in the cold winters of delhi. still i made idlis from the batter…
and all of us had not so soft idlis…. much to my agony and
embarrassment….. but now i am good in making idlis. the hubby just loves the idlis i make at home.
having a food science background i also know how fermentation is important to get the best results in certain food products like wines, cheese, yogurt, breads etc. idlis and dosas also fall in the fermented food category.
what contributes to fermentation in the optimum temperature conducive
for that specific food to get fermented and to give desired results. in
the case of idli batter, the temperature is very important. generally
the warmer indian temperatures are the best for making idlis. the ideal
temperature is between 30- 32 ยบ C.
the wild air borne yeast causes the fermentation process and it is drawn from air by the urad dal & fenugreek seeds. at home we would never add fenugreek seeds. idlis were just made with rice and urad dal. still they would be soft and fluffy. when i make idlis, i do add fenugreek seeds, as i add split urad dal and not whole urad dal.
the wild yeast on the whole urad dal aids in the fermentation process. a
point to note is that it is not only yeast, but some anaerobic bacteria
also that also help in the fermentation process. so remember temperature and wild yeast are your best friends while making idli. this is also the case with breads….
temperature and baker’s yeast are my best friends when i make breads.
luckily i have not had a single disaster when making breads at home.
now we come to the type of rice that is used for idli. from my personal experience i have used basmati rice, sona masoori rice, kolam rice
for making idlis and never had any problem. i also make idlis using
half-half of basmati rice and parboiled rice. they have also come out
well.
when i was working for a project one & a half year ago, we had a
cook who would make very soft idlis. i asked her once how her idlis were
so soft. she told me that she adds some poha/flattened rice or cooked rice to the idlis… just a handful and these would make the idlis soft. my mother would never add poha or cooked rice to the idlis and her idlis also used to be soft.
but my mom would put damp muslin cloth on the idli mould and then steam
the idlis. as a result the softness of the idlis would be more
pronounced.
the recipe posted here is what i follow now after listening to our cook’s advice. for this recipe i have used basmati rice and goan red parboiled rice…. i do not get idli rice here. so i make idlis with the goan red parboiled rice along with regular rice. this is my standard recipe for making both idlis and dosa now….i have also added methi seeds along with urad dal and some poha. the proportion of rice and urad dal
is always a matter of controversy. so i suggest experiment with
different types of rice and come to your own standard measurements which
will give you perfect idlis. the day the batter was fermented i made idlis. i served the idlis with mom’s recipe of kerala sambar and coconut chutney. the next day i made masala dosa
with the same idli batter. the dosas became crisp and got a nice golden
color due to the addition of poha. don’t believe me. take a look at the
pic below.
this is a step by step recipe for making soft idlis at home:
1: pick and rinse the urad dal & rice. soak the urad dal with
fenugreek seeds in a separate bowl or pan. soak the rice with the poha
separately. soak for atleast 4-5 hours.
2: drain the urad dal, but don’t throw away the water. reserve the water.
3: in a wet grinder, add the urad dal.
4: add 1 or 2 tbsp of the reserved water and grind the urad dal. keep
on adding a few tbsps of water in between grinding. the batter should
be light and fluffy when completely ground.
5: pour the urad dal batter in a deep pan or bowl.
6: drain the rice & poha. this pic is before i drained the rice and poha.
7: add them in the wet grinder.
8: use the urad dal strained water to grind the rice and poha too.
keep on adding a few tbsp while grinding. the rice should be completely
ground. when you feel the batter with your finger tips, the batter
should not feel grainy. it should be smooth and paste like. don’ t add
too much water in the beginning. keep on adding little water in between.
remember that batter should not be thick or thin. i hope all the pics
give you an idea about the consistency of the batter.
9: now add the rice batter to the urad dal batter and mix well.
10: add salt and mix it with the rest of the batter.
11: mix the batter well. cover the bowl or container with a lid and
keep the batter in a warm place. it should be left undisturbed for 8- 9
hours. don’t use an air-tight lid.
12: next morning you will see this. the batter will rise and double
up and might even throw away the lid as it happened with this idli
batter. you can see the fermented batter bursting from the edges. my
calculations of the batter versus the pan went wrong
13: time for making idlis now
take your idli steamer or pressure cooker. add some water and keep it
on the stove with the fire on. grease the idli mould with oil. gently
and lightly swirl the batter. don’t over do. now with a spoon pour
portions of the batter in the greased idli moulds.
14: keep the idli mould in the steamer or pressure cooker. if using a
pressure cooker, then cover the pressure cooker with its lid. remove
the vent weight/whistle from the lid. steam the idlis for approx 10-12
minutes.
15: check for doneness by inserting a tooth pick. if it does not come
out clean, then keep again for a few more minutes. when done remove the
idli mould from the cooker. remove the idlis. they come out easily.
don’t overcook as then they become dry.
16: serve hot idlis with sambar and coconut chutney.
if you are looking for similar recipes then do check idli recipe with idli rava, idli chaat, rava dosa with video, idli dosa faq and making idli in microwave.
I
love schezwan cooking..People who love spicy foods can never hate those
dishes. I am one of the spice freak. I go for anything that is spicy.
Now you get how i love my spicy foods. So i dont want to tell you how
much i love this cooking..
Couple
weeks back i wanted to try out schezwan recipes because i found that
yummy tummy lacked some schezwan foods. The main ingredient for schezwan
cooking is the sauce. You could use store bought sauce but why would
you use that bottled stuff when you can make it from scratch. So i made
my fiery sauce...Now you know that some yummy schezwan foods are on the
way..
Preparation Time : 20 mins Cooking Time: 30 mins Makes : 1 cup of sauce Ingredients: Dry Red Chillies -30 Garlic - 20 cloves crushed Ginger - 4 tblspn grated Tomato ketchup - 3 tblspn Soya Sauce - 1 tblspn Salt to taste Black Pepper Powder - 1 tsp (if you have schezwan pepper use them) Sugar - 2 tsp Oil - 1/4 cup Method: Take
dry chillies and cut the top open. Remove the seeds out of it. You can
just invert it and roll between your hands, the seeds just fall off. Now take the chillies and add it to a sauce pan. Add 1 cup of water and bring it to boil. Simmer it for 5 mins. By this time the chillies must have plumped up. Drain chillies. Reserve the water, you need that for grinding. Take the chillies in a blender add the reserved water slowly and make them into a paste. Set aside till use. Now heat oil in a sauce pan. Add in garlic and ginger. Fry it for couple of mins. Now add in the chilli paste and mix well. Now add in ketchup, soya sauce, salt, sugar and pepper. Mix well. Simmer this sauce for 5 to 8 mins. Now the sauce is done. Cool this and store in a clean air tight container refrigerated. Notes: 1) Use clean sterlized jar an spoons. 2) Keep the sauce refrigerated. 3) This sauce stays good for a week when handled properly and refrigerated. 4)If you have schezwan peppercorn use that. 5)Removing seeds is important, else it will make the sauce so spicy. Pictorial:
