Sprouted Ragi Idly

I gladly admit that an error led to this enjoyable experience and I am more than ready to repeat such mistakes in the future.



Following a recipe of M's SIL, I had sprouted some ragi. I sprouted ragi longer than intended and could not use it in her recipe and also was not in a mood to use it in a salad because of the size of the sprouts.
Trashing them seemed like a sin since I carried ragi all the way from India during my previous visit. Again a talk with her led to the idea of using them in dosa/idly batter and here I am with sprouted ragi idlies.
They were no different from the regular idlies and were very soft, fluffy and yummy. Drown them in a bowl of sambhar or chutney, you have melt in your mouth beauties.

Ingredients needed to make around 25 - 28 idlies:
1 cup uraddal
1 cup ragi sprouts
1 cup idly rava
1 Tbsp salt

Preparing Batter:

• Wash separately uraddal and idly rava with two exchanges of water. Then soak them separately, for a minimum of 3 - 4 hours.
• Grind uraddal and ragi sprouts individually into smooth batters using a grinder/mixer/blender. Use only as much water as needed. Do not add more water and make the batter runny. Runny batters ruin idly preparation. It is important not to mix the uraddal and ragi while grinding since ragi does not grind properly with uraddal.
• Drain the water from the idly rava completely. Using your hand, squeeze out any water left in the rava. There is no need to grind the rava.
• Then combine the ground batters of uraddal & ragi sprouts and rava. Add salt and mix well.
• Place the batter container in a warm place, overnight to ferment.

Making Idlies:

• Next morning, pour the fermented batter into greased idly mounds. Place the idly stand and steam in an idly cooker or a pressure cooker with out the whistle / weight on. (I know some novice cooks doing this. :)). Cook for five minutes on high and when the steam begins to escape, lower the heat and cook for about 10-15 minutes.
• Drizzle a tsp of ghee over the idlies and serve with chutney / sambhar.

                Ragi idlies served with sambhar and chutney.

Tips from my kitchen:

• Ragi can be substituted for ragi sprouts. If using ragi, wash and soak it in water and grind separately.
•  Idly rice can be substituted for idly rava. Idly rice also needs to be soaked separately. It can be ground into a smooth batter  together with uraddal.
• For batters to ferment well, put the batter in the oven, with the light on. If that doesn't work, preheat the conventional oven and turn it off. Then place the batter container, with the light on. I always had well fermented batters even during Chicago winters.
• Here is a way to check whether the idlies are done. Carefully remove the lid. Wet your fingertips and touch the idlis. If they don't stick, the idlies are done. Do this with out getting into the way of the hot steam. :)
• Use a container with enough room for the batter to rise. Put a large plate or aluminium foil sheet under the container to catch any drips after the fermentation. Yeah, it happens sometimes. The batter rises more than you expected and you may end up with a messy oven.
• Idlies can be refrigerated or frozen. If frozen, you may need to thaw them. If you refrigerate them, you can put the idlies in a container and place it in a pressure cooker with out the weight on and steam for 5-10 minutes. They will be piping hot as the freshly made ones. Or sprinkle a few drops of water and place it in a microwave safe bowl covered, for 1 - 2 minutes depending upon the quantity.

This goes exclusively to my Jihva - Breakfasts,  Indira being the creator of the event.

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