As a mother, I always try to find healthy and tasty snack options for my kids. While it’s easy to resort to junk food for hunger pangs, it’s a habit I consciously like to avoid. Nothing is better than homemade food and making it interesting for their liking is a welcome challenge. We tried Masala mini idlis at a South-Indian restaurant and loved how amazing they looked and tasted. The cute mini idli mould came home on our next shopping day and, voila, we had the same treat at home! Sharing this simple recipe that’s sure to make your life easy.

Ingredients:

For Idli batter:

Rice – 1 and ½ cup

Urad dal – ½ cup

Chana dal – 2 tbsp

Fenugreek seeds   – 1 tsp

For tadka:

Oil – 2 tbsp

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Asafoetida powder – ½ tsp

Turmeric powder – 1 tsp

Chilli powder – ½ tsp

Salt to taste

1 tbsp Sambhar powder

Oil for greasing

For garnish:

Podi powder

Chopped coriander

Procedure:

Preparing mini idli batter:

Wash the rice, urad dal and chana dal nicely and soak them in water for 7-8 hours along with fenugreek seeds. Grind them until they form a smooth paste and leave the batter to ferment for 7-8 hours or overnight. Add salt and sambhar powder to the ready batter.

Making mini idlis:

Take a mini idli mould and grease it with oil. Add the batter to the mould and steam till the mini idlis are nice and fluffy. Demould carefully when the mini idlis have cooled down for 5-10 minutes.

Tadka time:

Heat oil in a kadhai and add mustard and cumin seeds to it. Add asafoetida after they’ve spluttered. Take the kadhai off the flame and add turmeric and chilli powder. Pour hot over the mini idlis and mix well.

Final garnish!

Serve the mini idlis on a nice plate or banana leaves and top them with chopped coriander and Podi powder.

You can add different vegetables like spinach, carrot etc to the batter to make it healthier. These mini idlis are a great lunch box option and don’t need chutneys or ketchup to go with them. What’s more, they’re perfect for weight-watchers too. Wouldn’t you like to try them?

This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon 2024

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