Did you know that Idli, a very interesting group of cereal-based foods of South India finds earliest mention, in 990 AD, in a Kannada book, Vaddaradhane, which was written by Shivakotiacharya?
Idli is a small, white, acid leavened, and steamed cake made by bacterial fermentation of a thick batter made from carefully washed white rice and dehulled black gram dhal. It is breakfast food of extensive popularity.
There are several hypotheses, based on rich history, attributed to the origin of humble dish Idli. It finds mention in a Kannada book, "Vaddaradhane", written by Shivakotiacharya in 920 AD, as “iddalige”, but prepared only from a black gram batter. As there were no steaming vessels in India before 7th century, Hindu Kings who came from Indonesia (800-1200 AD) along with their cooks brought fermentation and steaming methods and their dish called "Kedli" to South India., where the name got changed to Idli. The earliest available Kannada encyclopedia, Lokopakara, describes the preparation of Idli by soaking black gram in buttermilk, making it a fine paste, mixed with the clear water of curd and spices. In the encyclopedia, Manasollasa (1130 CE), a Sanskrit text written by Western Chalukya king and scholar Someshwara III, reigning in the area now called Karnataka makes mention of the Idli recipe; this dish based on this recipe is now called Uddina Idli in Karnataka.
Gujarati historians claim that Idli was a dish of Gujarat introduced to South India during the 10th and 12th centuries. Their claim is that the Gujarati text "Varṇaka Samuccaya" (1520 CE) mentions Idli as Idari, and also mentions its local adaption idada (a non-fermented version of dhokla). It is also said that the Saurashtrian textile merchants introduced this dish in South India. The 17th century Tamil text "Maccapuranam, mentions Idli, then referred to as as Itali. It is Hitli in Konkani, also called sannas in Goa. Mudday Idli is a Bangalorean variant.
The importance of Idli is basically its high degree of acceptability as a food in South India, as it is protected against food poisoning and transmission of pathogenic organisms, because of acidity. This is because of the fact that the Idli fermentation can be used, in any parts of the world, using various combination of cereal grains, legumes to produce acids in the form of cakes products. No wheat or rye flour is needed. It is produced from washed, soaked rice and black gram (Phaseoulus mungo) dhal or Bengal gram dhal, and are widely consumed in Southern India. Besides fenugeek, other spices which can also be added are chilli peppers, cumin, ginger, coriander, mustard seeds, etc to make it tasty.
For the preperation of Idli, uncooked rice (idli rice or parboiled rice) and dehusked whole black lentil (Urad dal, Vigna mungo) in the ratio 4: 1 are soaked separately for either 4 to 6 h or overnight in some cases. For flavour, fenugreek seeds can be added at the time of soaking. Once soaking is done, the lentils are ground to a fine paste and the rice is separately coarsely ground, then they are combined. Once the mixture is left to ferment its volume will more than double. The savoury taste of Idlis can be replaced by the addition of sugar which makes the Idli sweet. The finished idli batter is put into greased moulds of an idli tray or "tree" for steaming. The perforated moulds allow the Idlis to be cooked evenly. The tree holds the trays above the level of boiling water in a pot, and the pot is covered until the Idlis are done (about 10–25 minutes, depending on size). A more traditional method is to use banana leaves instead of moulds. Modern cooking equipment for making Idlis such as microwave and automatic electric Idli steamers having convenient non-stick coating are also available in the market .
Fermentation of Idli batter results in both leavening caused by the generation of carbon dioxide as well as an increase in acidity. This fermentation is performed by lactic acid bacteria especially the heterofermantative strain Leuconostoc mesenteroides and the homofermantative strain Enterococcus faecalis (formerly classified as Streptococcus faecalis). Heterofermantative lactic acid bacteria such as L. mesenteroides generate both lactic acid as well as carbon dioxide whereas homofermantative lactic acid bacteria only generate lactic acid.
There are many variations of Idlis such as idli manchurian, idli fry and chilli idly. Thatte idly is a plate sized idly from Karnataka. Rava Idli (Sooji idli) is also specialty of Karnataka made with semolina. Rava Idli was invented during time of World War II in Karnataka when rice was in short supply. Rava Idli is ragi flour mixed with small portion of rice flour and urd dal. Sour flavour may be incorporated in the unfermented batters with addition of dahi (yoghurt). There are countless local variations.
Idli, as a fermented food (fermentation breaks down the starches so that they are more readily metabolized by the body), can help with detoxification, which is good for health. it is a sick man's diet. As it doesn’t have many calories and has high amount of digestive power, Dietitians suggest eating Idli regularly in a breakfast for weight loss.
Idlis are generally served with red , green or white coconut chutneys.
Narasipur Char
