Uthappam

 Hi
Today for the alphabet U, under the theme of street food, it is our own south special..uthappam.If you have been to the Kapaleeswarar temple in Mylapore, chennai and have walked around the narrow streets adjoining the temple around 5 PM, you will be surprised that a particular window of a building which is in a dipilated condition is thronged with peopleWhen I first saw this scene, I was under the impression , that it might be a ticket counter for some seva or darshan, but then my husband explained to me that it is a "kai endhi Bhavan".Did I know the meaning of this atleast...sadly no :-( . He went on to explain that it was a street food vendor doing his regular round of business and the people thronging there were making sure that they did not miss out on the delicacies. Seeing that scene,a doubt definetely arises if the economy is going down!!The vendor does real great brisk business. The menu is Idli, Dosaia, Uthappam, Vadai, sambhar, chutney, pongal and upma and I have heard that the uthappam here is very soft. So here comes my version of soft uthappams!!!

INGREDIENTS
Par boiled rice                     2 cups
Black gram dhal                  1/2 cup(without skin and the whole dal, not te split ones)
Fenugreek seeds                 1/2 tsp
Salt                                     to taste
Oil                                      as necessary
PREPARATION
Wash and soak the rice and fenugreek together for 4 hours
Wash and soak the dal for 4 hours too
Grind the dal first in a wet grinder/Mixer till smooth and fluffy. Take it out and keep it aside.
Now grind the rice fenugreek mixture till smooth with minimum water and when it is very smooth add the dal batter to this, continue to grind till everything mixes well, add salt, mix and take it out.Te consistency should be that a thick fluffy batter and not a runny one
Keep covered for it to ferment over night
Next morning, heat a tawa and pour a ladle full of batter on to it.It will spread a little by itself, Do not spread it if you want a fluffy soft uthappam
Put some oil on it and around the uthappam
Cover with a lid and cook in a low flame for 2 minutes
Take out the lid, and see if it cooked well(There should be no raw batter). We can now see nice holes all over
Take it out with a flat ladle and serve hot with coconut chutney and idli molaga podi!!!
NOTE:
Use par boiles rice or Idli rice.
  To get a soft uthappam, we should not add too much water during the grinding process. It should never be runny
Fenugreek gives a soft texture
Fermentation is a must 
You can always add toppings like onion, tomato, capsicum or mixed vegetables.




Logo courtesy : Preeti

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