Salem Idli - a unique dish

Idli Sambar is something  I make on every Sunday… my daughter Ria does not like to eat South Indian food but I ensure both kids eat whatever is cooked at home and try to ignore their fuss about food on Sunday’s.   My husband can eat Idli Sambar every day and to make his day special I ensure to make Idli / Dosa and Sambar every Sunday :).

Recently, I was going through a Vlog and found this interesting dish named Salem Idli that was served at Idli Manjanna which is based in Banagalore which serves varieties of Dosa and Idli dishes.   Why this dish is named Salem Idli??? The owner says that a customer wanted to eat hot Idli but since the Idli was not very hot, he requested the owner to add butter in the pan and toss it well.. he requested him to add in some Idli Podi on the  tossed Idli and add in some onions and served it with some chutney… The dish was named Salem Idli because the customer was in a hurry to go as he had to board the Salem Express…

The same day I soaked the ingredients to make the Idli the next day and the batter was perfect the next day to make the Idli’s.   I made Thatte Idli’s for this dish.  Thatte or Thattu means plate in Kannada / Malayalam.   I steamed the Idli batter in the lid of a steel tiffin as I did not have small plates… this was served steaming hot with chutney and cut onions and I observed that my girl was enjoying the dish without any complaints… I complimented myself saying if she has eaten the Salem Idli and wanted additional serving means it’s worth sharing with all of you who have challenges in feeding your kids with Idli :)

I am planning to make this again tomorrow as I am also in love with this unique dish… So let’s get cooking.

Ingredients for Thatte Idli:

1 cup Urad Dal – Soak in water for 5 hours

2 cups Rava Idli – Soak in water for 5 hours

Salt to taste

Water for grinding

Plates for making Idli

Other Ingredients for serving Idli :

Finely chopped Onions

Butter

Podi Idli (recipe shared check the link below)

https://premasadukkala.blogspot.com/2020/03/podi-idli-popular-chutney-powder-for.html)

Gingely Oil

Coconut / Groundnut chutney 

Method :

Wash your hands well before you start your work….Wash the soaked Urad Dal and grind it to a thick batter.  Wash the Rava Idli and squeeze half of the rava from water and add to the ground Urad Dal batter and balance rava grind it in the mixer jar and add to the ground dal mixture.   Mix the batter well without your hands.  Close it with a lid and keep it to ferment for 8 hours.  You will see that the batter has risen well the next day morning.

Mix the batter well before use.  Take required batter in a bowl and add salt and mix well.  Take small steel plates or lid of tiffin that I have used and grease it with oil and pour the batter into the plates. (One Idli is equivalent to 2 normal Idli’s).   Heat the Idli cooker or Dhokla maker and water into it.  Once the water is hot, place the plates with the batter, close and steam the Idli’s for 10 minutes.  Allow the Idli’s to cool down.

Take a pan and add in a tsp or more of  butter and toss the Idli well  in the butter on both sides.  Now add in the Idli podi to this Idli and also add in cut onions and serve it hot with chutney.

It tastes delicious and am sure your family would love this unique dish… Don’t forget to share your feedback and comments on this recipe!