Barnyard (Kavadapullu) Idli | Kuthiravalli Idli ~ Step by Step Pics

Breakfast for every malayali or a south Indian is invariably made of rice, rice flour as base and mainly it is idlis, dosas ,appams or pathiris. But the increasing number of diabetics per year in our state and our sedentary life styles have forced us to think of better alternatives than the rice alone. Millets were long back used by our grandparents and little did I know in our age. However people have now started incorporating millets to daily use and is also readily available these days in super markets.

Barnyard millet has become a part of our staple since four years now and most of the times millets find its place to sneak in idlis. Taste wise there is no much change in tastes to regular idlis. Colorwise its a bit off white than regular rice idlis. Nevertheless none had any vivid reactions and so I continued to make idlis with this millet. The fermentation time is lesser than that of rice idlis and in summers I generally grind them late so that it doesn't over ferment by morning.Thgough millets have a few side effects but soaking them overnight or 5-6 hours solves most of the issues. We have been frequently using this millet and finger millet. Do give this a try if you get hold of millets, am sure you will like this idli.

Soaking time ~ 5-6 hours

Cooking time ~ 10-12 minutes

Serves ~ 16-20 idlis

Author ~ Julie

Ingredients

barnyard millet / kavadapullu 1/2 cup

raw rice 1/2 cup

whole uzhunnu / urad dal 1/3 cup

salt to taste

Method

Clean the barnyard millet, rice for any stones,dirt. Wash the millet and soak in water for 5-6 hours or overnight (Soaking millets overnight or for >6 hours reduces bloating and other gastric issues).

Wash and soak the rice for 4 hours (the water should be just above the rice/ millet so that we can grind the rice using the same water else we will be throwing off the nutrient rich water). I generally wash my rice and then soak but there are people who soak and then wash the rice before grinding too, you can use whichever is comfortable to you. I have added the washed rice to soaked millet to soak and have ground them together.

Similarly soak the uzhunnu (urad dal) for 3 hours in water(uzhunnu needs more water to soak than rice/ millet as it swells up).

Add the rice and millet together in a blender jar and grind to a smooth paste using little water (I add ice cubes to cool down the batter else the batter may not ferment nicely). You may see very small black speckles of millet when the mixture is ground.

Grind the urad dal in the similar way until smooth and mix both batters together using hands preferably as we can aerate the batter using hands so well unlike spoon.

Leave to ferment for 6-7 hours and I generally leave overnight. Add salt to the fermented batter and then pour in oil smeared idli plates. 

Add enough water to idli cooker/ steamer and place on heat. Place the batter filled idli plates in the idli cooker/ steamer and steam cook for 10-12 minutes on medium flame. Remove from idli cooker and leave to cool slightly (helps easy transferring). Scoop out the idlis and lace in casserole.

Seve warm with chutney and sambar (I served with ulli sambar /shallots sambar).

NOTES

* I generally use whole unpolished urad dal.

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