How to Make Super Soft Poha Idlis at home

Soft and Fluffy Poha Idlis

This is the third video in my series on Quick and tasty breakfast recipes. Today I’m going to show you how to make instant super soft poha idlis without the bother of overnight fermentation. Traditionally, you have to soak rice and dal for several hours, then grind them, and after that let the batter ferment overnight for another 8 to 10 hours before you can make idlis for breakfast. This quick recipe does away with all of that hassle and lets you make idlis from scratch, but within minutes.

Please also check out my two earlier quick and easy breakfast recipes for instant white dhokla, and quick wheat flour pancakes.

Ingredients

Idlis

¾ cup thick pohe (grind coarsely)

1 cup rava (regular)

¾ cup yogurt

Salt to taste (3/4 tsp)

¾ tsp Eno fruit salt + 1 tsp water (1/3 tsp baking soda)

½ cup water, approximately

Hotel-style chutney without coconut

½ cup roasted peanuts

¼ cup roasted gram (chana)

3 cloves garlic

4 green chillies

Coriander leaves, a handful

Small ball tamarind / OR 1 ½ tbsp lemon juice

½ tsp salt, approximately

Tadka

2 tsp oil

¼ tsp mustard seeds

¼ tsp hing (asafoetida)

Curry leaves

Dried red chili pieces

Procedure

Idlis

1. Grind the poha coarsely in a grinder. Transfer to a bowl. Wash and drain.
2. Wash the rava and drain. Add in the ground and washed poha, yogurt, and ½ cup water. Mix. Cover and keep aside for 20 minutes. (In the meanwhile, prepare the chutney.)
3. Add more water if necessary to adjust the consistency to a thick dropping consistency. If it’s a little too loose, add a little more rava. Mix in salt to taste.
4. Lightly grease the idli moulds. Add water to the steamer and bring it to a boil.
5. Mix the Eno + water into the idli batter.
6. Add the batter to the moulds.
7. Steam the idlis for around 15 minutes or till done.
8. Instead of idli moulds, you could also use a shallow plate or a cooker container / baking pan and make plate idlis. After unmoulding these idlis, cut them into wedges.

Chutney

1. Mix all the ingredients in a grinder jar with a little water. Adjust the taste adding more tamarind, green chillies, or salt as needed.
2. Heat the oil. Add the mustard seeds. When they stop spluttering, add the hing, curry leaves, and broken red chilli pieces. Turn off the heat and pour the tadka over the chutney.

Enjoy!