Sep 11, 2007

Takka Idli - Sweet and Tangy Buttermilk Idlis

Takka Idli
Takka Idli translates to Buttermilk Idli. Its a sweet and sour Idli paired up with a spicy side - sweet tooth's delight and a perfect breakfast for all.



1 cup white rice
1 cup poha
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup jaggery, finely grated
1/2 cup yogurt, preferrably homemade buttermilk
1/4 tsp methi/fenugreek seeds
2 cardamom pods, powdered
few raisin and cashew halves for decor

Soak rice along with methi seeds for 2 hours. Grind coconut into a smooth paste. Add jaggery and continue to grind till well incorporated. In the meanwhile, soak poha till its soft, squeeze and add the batter, continue to grind. Rinse rice well and add to the batter. Add the buttermilk as needed to facilitate grinding. Grind till the rice is broken into tiny pieces like soji rava. Adjust salt. Let the batter ferment and raise upto 8 hrs. Mix in the cardamom powder. Pour the batter into greased Idli moulds. Decorate with raisins and cashews. Steam the idlis till a tooth pick inserted comes out clear approx 10-14mins.

Serve with maple syrup or sambar or pickle.

Takka Idli

How does fermentation work?

Have you ever wondered how does Idli and Dosa batters ferment? Whats the science, chemistry or biology behind the sticky lentil and rice batter turning into fluffy batter next day? Well, I was quite intrigued by this phenomenon a few years back and did quite a lot of research on the net.

All the batters need some kind of leavening agent to turn the batter into spongy or fluffy texture. In pancakes you use buttermilk and baking soda. See..Baking soda is alkaline and needs some acidic agent to work with. Hence combined with buttermilk! On the other hand use baking powder. Its a mixture of acidic and basic agents, hence works all by itself.

Yeast is another way to get the leavening, usually used in breads. Yeast ferments the sugar in the batter releasing carbon dioxide, therefore causing the batter to rise.

But we don't explicitly add either of these in our Idli/Dosa batters, Do we? Looks like our ancestors had found natural ways to tackle these ingredients. After a lot of research all my questions were answered here .
The urad dal and/or the fenugreek seeds used in the batters capture the wild yeast from the air and facilitate in the fermentation. Spring water contains some wild yeast too. But the changing lifestyle with air filters and chlorinated water have made it tough for the natural process to work. An alternative is to use some store bought natural yeast in the recipes.

Regional Cusines of India - A blog event
Takka Idli is my contribution to the Regional Cusines of India - Karnataka, a blog event hosted this month by Asha of Foodies Hope.
RCI Karnataka

24 comments:

Sharmi said...

until now did not know such idlis exist. what a lovely creation. very pretty looking idlis.

Anonymous said...

Manjula Takka idli, I have never heard of it. Tausha idli yes, dudhi idli yes, but not this. The picture looks beautiful too.

Richa said...

hey, the template with all those spices etc looks sooo pretty :)
jaggery idli sounds yum!

Anonymous said...

Brilliant Entry. Its almost like sakkarai pongal in an idli :).

musical said...

Hey Manjula, i make my rave idlis with buttermilk but never thought of this! Brilliant entry for RCI and a must on my list now!

Raaga said...

Didn't know about this... but was planning something similar :-)

Nice, I have one more recipe

FH said...

YAY!!! Very very very authentic recipe M, I am so happy to see this dish. Takka Idlis look fabulous.Thank you, hugs!:))

Shivapriya said...

Hey Manju, how are you, its really nice to see u back with all these yummy recipes. I was totally surprised when I read jaggery in Idly..... very unique. I'm sure it taste delicious.

TBC said...

I love your header.
I think I may have finally met an idli that I might like( never liked the regular ones though I am a South Indian:-)

Anonymous said...

Never heard of this dish before. They looks fabulous. Nice entry for KCI :).

Rachna said...

never heard of this idli before... will def give it a shot

Anonymous said...

Dear Manjula
you have done fantastic job with this blogspot. i was looking for fish curry and that is how i discovered this fab site.. u have given all ur heart and soul to this task. everything is so much in details and very precise. i got married and travelled to UK so anytime if me and my husband fancied authentic konkani food. we would call up in india to either of our moms and ask for the recipe .. but now that i have found this site. m sure our moms dont have to wake up in middle of nights just for recipe sharing. and all the pictures on ur site is so very much tempting .. i might try making all of them one by one and hope... me and my hubby wont put weight on.. hehe:-)i would like to know what inspired u into this... as all the food details show u r from some culinary background at the same time detailed site shows u r computer literate too. just curious if u dont mind.. all the best.. keep up the good work

Gia Nayak said...

Dear Manjula
you have done fantastic job with this blogspot. i was looking for fish curry and that is how i discovered this fab site.. u have given all ur heart and soul to this task. everything is so much in details and very precise. i got married and travelled to UK so anytime if me and my husband fancied authentic konkani food. we would call up in india to either of our moms and ask for the recipe .. but now that i have found this site. m sure our moms dont have to wake up in middle of night just for recipe sharing. and all the pictures on ur site is so very much tempting .. i might try making all of them one by one and hope... me and my hubby wont put weight on.. hehe:-)i would like to know what inspired u into this... as all the food details show u r from some culinary background at the same time detailed site shows u r computer literate too. just curious if u dont mind.. all the best.. keep up the good work

Manjula said...

Sharmi, Redchillies, Richa , Lakshmi, Musical, Raga, Asha, Shivapriya, Shilpa, Rachna, tbc,
Me too was surprised when my hubby asked me to make takka Idli for his Bday! I had to make it the next morning and had no clue what was it. Had to wake up my MIL for the recipe! Its a regular now.

Richa, tbc,
Thanks. All that hard work paid off :)

Manjula said...

Gia,
Its comments and emails like yours that keeps me going. Thank you gal for those nice words.
Culinary background?? ha ha yeah..If you consider assisting mom in chopping veggies and drying dish. My mom never allowed me to cook anything on my own but she insisted that I stand next to her and observe. She would give me some QA sessions and reasonings at times.
Later it was my roommates who patiently bared my cooking experiments. bakraaaa..Now my hubby. lol.
All credits to my Mom and MIL.

Chef Jeena said...

Hi Manjula great post it was interesting to read about idli batter. Your recipe sounds lovely they look they tasty nice pic. :)

Dori said...

First time to your blog and I find a treat like this...never had them, but wish I had :)

Seema Bhat said...

Manjula, Hope you are doing fine buddy. Really missed your posts. The idlis look beautiful.

Unknown said...

Hey, this one is so very different!!!!!! lovely looking ones too :)
will definitely try them out when I get bcak to cooking next month!! and btw, thanx for sending me the link to that post with my recipes in it.... another case of plagmarism!! :) I have been off the blogging world since the time I came to India and so, haven't kept a close watch.... thanx again!! hoping to get back to my kitchen soon!!!hope u had a lovely festival too!!

Sona - quick picks/pick quicks said...

first time here..nice presentation, the idli's luk yummm, and great way of presentation of ur blogname...Dalitoy

Sia said...

never heard of takka idlies manju but would love to try this soon. the ingredients are very much same for majjige dose we make(plus addition of uddu).

DK said...

Hi,

This is my first time here and i came through one of your comments in 'dining hall' regarding copyright. And thank god that I did cos otherwise would never ever have come across smthing like Takka idli! Good one to try in my kitchen next..

Purnima said...

Manjula, takka idli wt little haldi, giving it a dashing yellow colour was my tiffin on a picnic day, all of it used to get over within no time! We didnt use nuts then, but lovely variation and thanks for posting..as it is your bb dosa is weekly addition at my home! Tks for posting!

Chef Jeena said...

Manjula we are looking forward for some more of your lovely recipes... Hope all is well :)