PLAIN UTTAPAM

Soaking Rice and Lentils

In a bowl take the whole urad dal and fenugreek seeds. Rinse both the urad dal and methi seeds for a couple of times. Then soak them in 1 cup water for 4 to 5 hours.

In another bowl take the parboiled rice or idli rice. Rinse the parboiled rice or idli rice for a couple of times and keep aside. Add 2 cups of water. Mix well and soak everything for 4 to 5 hours.

Blending and Fermenting Batter

Strain the urad dal and reserve the water. Keep this water for blending/grinding the dal.

Use the wet grinding blade in the jar for grinding both urad dal and rice. Add the strained urad dal in the grinder or blender jar.

First add ¼ cup of the reserved water and blend for some seconds. Then add the rest of ¼ cup water and continue to blend till the batter is light, smooth and fluffy. Quantity of water depends on the freshness of urad dal. So add water as required.

Pour the urad dal batter in a large bowl or pan. The batter should be fluffy, smooth and light. To the same jar, add half of the rice.

Then add ¼ to ½ cup water and blend till smooth. A fine grainy consistency of rice is also fine in the batter. You can blend the rice in two to three batches. Pour the rice batter in the bowl containing the urad dal batter.

Add 1 teaspoon rock salt or as per taste. In very cold temperatures, avoid adding salt. Instead add ¼ teaspoon sugar. Sugar aids in the fermentation process.

Mix both the batters very well with your hands or a spoon or spatula.

Cover and allow the batter to ferment overnight for 8 to 20 hours. The timing will vary depending on the temperature conditions.

The batter should increase in volume and double or triple. It will also have a pleasant sour aroma and many tiny air pockets.

Just lightly stir the batter. Check the consistency. If the batter looks too thick, you can add about ⅛ to ¼ cup water or more if required. Mix well.

Making Uttappam

Heat up a tawa or a cast iron pan, brush or spread some oil on the tawa. Pour the batter with a ladle or spoon. The tawa has to be hot. While making uttapams, you can regulate the flame from low to high. Before pouring the batter, reduce the flame to low.

Gently spread the batter to a thick pancake. Note that the quantity of batter to make Uttappam will be more than what you would normally use for a dosa. The Uttappam should be thick.

Cook them on a medium flame. Drizzle some oil on the top and sides.

These takes a longer time to cook than dosas. Cook till the base is golden.

Then flip and cook the other side.

Both sides should be cooked well. Prepare the Uthappam this way with the rest of the batter. Serve Uthappam hot or warm with coconut chutney and Sambar.