Kambu Idli, Pearl Millet Idli

          Many of us are opting for healthy options, trying to replace white rice and flour with whole grains, brown rice and whole wheat flour. Millets is another healthy choice, there are so many varieties, ragi/ finger millet, kambu/ pearl millet and thinai/ foxtail millet, to name a few. They are available whole or in flour form, and we can use them in the place of rice in so many dishes. I have used Pearl Millet today to make the common South Indian dish, idlis. Idlis are usually made with parboiled rice and urad dal/ black gram, I have replaced half the amount of rice with the pearl millet. The idlis turned out really soft and delicious and I also made dosas with the batter, they came out very crispy and we loved the sweet flavor of pearl millet..

Need To Have

• Kambu/ Pearl Millet - 2 cups
• Idli Rice Or Parboiled Rice - 2 cups
• Husked Whole Urad Dal/ Black Gram - 1 cup
• Salt - 4 teaspoon

Method

           Wash and soak the rice and pearl millet for about 4 hours, do the same with the urad dal too.

          Grind the rice and pearl millet in a grinder, adding some water, till you get a slightly coarse batter, remove and keep. Then grind the urad dal, till you get a nice smooth and fluffy batter, remove and add it to the rice batter. Add the salt and mix it well with the hand, cover and leave it to ferment for 8 hours, till you see a frothy and raised batter.

          Pour into idli moulds and steam them for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove and serve it warm with any chutney of your choice, we had it with tomato chutney.

Note
I have used the wet grinder ( used specifically for grinding batters ), a tip for new cooks, always grind the rice into a slightly coarse batter, and the urad dal, grind it for at least 25 minutes.
Pearl Millet batter takes less time to ferment, when compared to only rice batter, so keep an eye, the first time you make this batter.
Idli Rice is available in all Indian groceries, but if you can't find it, you can use parboiled rice in its place.
We can also use 3 cups of pearl millet and 1 cup rice, I will try out that ratio and update here.
The time taken for fermenting varies, depending upon how warm the place is.