There are so many things I have tried in my life. But I have not stuck to anything till the end. I did paintings for like 10 years. Now I dont even feel like holding a brush. I took piano classes for over a year. I still like it when I can sit and play - but I judt don't do it. I took swimming classes and I totally enjoy swimming but I wouldn't just drag myself to the pool. I love cooking but there days (many of them) when I dont want to go to the kitchen. My new addiction is to plan vacations that never happens - for reasons ranging from no time all the way to civil unrest in the countries we planned to go! Now thats a sign.
I just feel brain dead. Like there is nothing to do! What do people do - like everyday?
Monday, May 24, 2010
Why do you wake up in the morning?
For a long time now, I have been struggling to wake up early in the morning. I recently realized I have no reason to wake up early. There is nothing to do even if I wake up early in the morning :( Lunch is packed on the previous day after dinner (if we cook). I cannot exercise yet, thanks to my injury. I am not expected at work until 10:00PM. What do I do, even if I wake up?
Sunday, May 16, 2010
How to make soft idlies?
Many people have asked me this questions before. SO I finally decided to post this, so from now, I can just send them a link:
It took me a while to figure out idlies - so don't be disheartened if they don't come out well the first few times. I use a counter-top grinder. You can buy them for $250 here. They ship it home and its very convenient. I just couldn't make good ones with mixie/blender. The batter is always rubbery when I use a blender.
The ratio is 4 cups of idly rice and 1 cup of white whole urad dal. From my experience, the two most important thing to get good idlies are
1) Idly rice - just any parboiled rice do not give soft idlies. Get idly rice from the Indian store. Any brand would do. They have to be short and fat.
2) How you grind urad dal - there is a point after grinding it for 20 minutes in the grinder when the volume of the urad dal increses to twice or thrice of what you started. When u put a spoon, it wont stick to it. Thats when u need to stop. This is the trick to make fluffy idlies.
Soak urad dal and rice seperately for 3 hours.
First grind urad dal as mentioned above. Remove it from the grinder.
Grind rice till its smooth - it can be a little grainy - it doesnt matter. Grind for above 20 minutes with adequate water.
When the rice is done, add the urad dal batter to the rice batter and let it spin in the grinder for a minute - so they mix properly. Also add salt at this stage.
Store the batter inside the oevn. I prehead the over to 125 degrees - and turn it off - and put the batter in the oven. It takes me 1.5 days or two nights for the batter to ferment. You can heat the oven to 125 degrees for 5 minutes and turn it off every day while the batter is inside - it quickens the fermenting process.
There are also little secerts that no one really tells you. You should store the batter in multiple batches. You HAVE to use the entire batch on one day to make idlies. Lets say you use half of the batter and store the rest, you wont get soft idlies the next time u use it. Its like some bonds are formed between the molecules - you have to make idlies as soon as u use a spoon and mix it all up. Else you wont get soft idlies the next day. So what I do is, I divide the batter into three batches. When they ferment, I put them in fridge without mixing it. I mix the batter with a spoon only before making idlies. I completely use one batch at a time. If there is extra batter, I make idlies and freeze it. Microwaving the frozen idlies will be as good as making them fresh.
Also, I have a special pan for making idly - where you use a cloth on top of the idly plate and put the batter on the cloth. So there is NO oil at all. Its just steam. And these idlies are better when frozen and micro-waved later. But you can make only 6 idlies at a time. I felt idlies made with this pan was usually softer than the ones from pressure cooker.
I make fresh batter almost every week. With these tricks in place, I really have to try hard to screw up idlies anymore ;-)
It took me a while to figure out idlies - so don't be disheartened if they don't come out well the first few times. I use a counter-top grinder. You can buy them for $250 here. They ship it home and its very convenient. I just couldn't make good ones with mixie/blender. The batter is always rubbery when I use a blender.
The ratio is 4 cups of idly rice and 1 cup of white whole urad dal. From my experience, the two most important thing to get good idlies are
1) Idly rice - just any parboiled rice do not give soft idlies. Get idly rice from the Indian store. Any brand would do. They have to be short and fat.
2) How you grind urad dal - there is a point after grinding it for 20 minutes in the grinder when the volume of the urad dal increses to twice or thrice of what you started. When u put a spoon, it wont stick to it. Thats when u need to stop. This is the trick to make fluffy idlies.
Soak urad dal and rice seperately for 3 hours.
First grind urad dal as mentioned above. Remove it from the grinder.
Grind rice till its smooth - it can be a little grainy - it doesnt matter. Grind for above 20 minutes with adequate water.
When the rice is done, add the urad dal batter to the rice batter and let it spin in the grinder for a minute - so they mix properly. Also add salt at this stage.
Store the batter inside the oevn. I prehead the over to 125 degrees - and turn it off - and put the batter in the oven. It takes me 1.5 days or two nights for the batter to ferment. You can heat the oven to 125 degrees for 5 minutes and turn it off every day while the batter is inside - it quickens the fermenting process.
There are also little secerts that no one really tells you. You should store the batter in multiple batches. You HAVE to use the entire batch on one day to make idlies. Lets say you use half of the batter and store the rest, you wont get soft idlies the next time u use it. Its like some bonds are formed between the molecules - you have to make idlies as soon as u use a spoon and mix it all up. Else you wont get soft idlies the next day. So what I do is, I divide the batter into three batches. When they ferment, I put them in fridge without mixing it. I mix the batter with a spoon only before making idlies. I completely use one batch at a time. If there is extra batter, I make idlies and freeze it. Microwaving the frozen idlies will be as good as making them fresh.
Also, I have a special pan for making idly - where you use a cloth on top of the idly plate and put the batter on the cloth. So there is NO oil at all. Its just steam. And these idlies are better when frozen and micro-waved later. But you can make only 6 idlies at a time. I felt idlies made with this pan was usually softer than the ones from pressure cooker.
I make fresh batter almost every week. With these tricks in place, I really have to try hard to screw up idlies anymore ;-)
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