Lakshmi Nair tells you the right way to prepare idli-dosa batter

Deliciously soft idli and crispy dosa could be easily made by adding a few 'special' ingredients while preparing the batter. Here's vlogger and culinary expert Lakshmi Nair sharing a few tips to make the perfect batter for your favourite breakfast dishes.

Ingredients
2 cups idli rice (doppi rice)
1 cup urad dal
½ cup sago pearls
2 tsp fenugreek
Salt as required
1 cup flattened rice
2 cups water in which urad dal has been soaked

Preparation
Wash the rice, urad dal, sago pearls and fenugreek.
Soak them separately for at least six hours.
Save the water in which the urad dal has been soaked.
The ingredients have to be grinded by adding this water. This is what makes the idli and dosa soft and delicious.
Grind the urad dal first in a mixer. Add the urad dal in the jar of the mixer and pour a cup of urad dal water and grind.
Pour half cup more and grind for at least 5-7 minutes. It shouldn't be too loose. Store this in a vessel.
Now grind the soaked rice without adding water first.
Then add a cup of urad dal water gradually and grind for 10 minutes.
Into it add half of the soaked sago pearls and grind. Mix this into the previously ground urad dal batter.
Grind the rest of the sago pearls with fenugreek until they froth up nicely. Add this into the batter.
Soak the flattened rice in the urad dal water for at least 5 minutes.
Now grind the soaked flattened rice into a paste like consistency. Add this into the batter.
Into it add some salt and mix everything well together using your hands.
Cover the batter using a lid and allow it to rise. However, do not close the lid tightly; instead leave an opening for the batter to rise nicely.
The batter would take up to 8 -10 hours to rise. Around 30-40 soft idlis could be prepared using this amount of batter. Add some water to loosen it before making dosa.
If you are preparing the batter in a grinder, add half cup and a bit more urad dal for 2 cups of rice. For half kilo rice, add 150 grams urad dal in a grinder. However, the quantity of urad dal should be more if you are using a mixie, so that the batter would be smooth. In a mixie, 1 cup urad dal should be added for 2 cups rice.

Notes
After soaking the urad dal and rice for six hours, place it in the fridge for a while before grinding them. It prevents the mixer from getting heated up rapidly. To check whether the urad dal has been grounded well, add a bit of the urad dal batter into some water. If the batter floats atop the water, then the urad dal is grounded well and has the perfect consistency. Fenugreek is added to make the dosa crispy and golden. Flattened rice is added to give the batter a nice white color. Sago pearls make the batter extra smooth.