Black urad dal idli/ Karuppu ulundhu idli is a soft, fluffy and very healthy idli as black urad dal has high protein value also being an excellent source of Vitamin B, Calcium, Iron etc. Black urad dal idli/ karuppu ulundhu idli looks a bit grey in color compared to the regular Idli but the taste and texture remains just like the regular Idli. During my childhood I have seen my grandma soak black urad for batter then remove the skin and then grind, always chewed on those dal skin, felt those were yum at that time and even now so tried making Idli’s with black urad dal and loved its taste. I have earlier posted recipe like this and it was super hit in the blog BLACK URAD DAL VADA. Now back to the idli, this Karuppu ulundhu idli goes well with any chutney like:
I love Idli’s and have posted many varieties of Idli in the blog like sweet and savory version and the recent one is Idli without steamer like this SPOT IDLI. Check out the others below:
| PREP TIME | COOK TIME | TOTAL TIME | SERVES |
| 8 hr | 12 min | 8 hr 12 min | 6 |
Ingredients
- Idli rice – 2 cups
- Black urad dal – ½ cup
- Poha/ Aval – 1 tbsp
- Salt – to taste
- Oil – 1 tbsp ( for greasing idli plates)
How to make Whole black urad dal/ Karuppu ulundhu idli with step by step images
- In a bowl add urad dal and poha together. Wash 3 to 4 times until you see clear water. Soak it in enough water for 5 to 6 hours.
- In another bowl add idli rice, wash it 3 to 4 times until you see clear water. Soak it in enough water for 5 to 6 hours (measure both rice and urad dal in same measurement cup)
- After 6 hours, in a wet grinder add little quantity of the soaked black urad dal.. Switch on the grinder, when it starts grinding gradually add little by little of all the soaked black urad dal. Grind the mixture into a smooth, thick and fluffy batter adding water in regular intervals when needed. I used around 1 cup of water for grinding but it may vary according the soaking time. But the measurement is just a guideline to get a perfect batter. Also scrap the inner sides of the grinder often to get rid of coarse mixture using the scrapper provided along with grinder.
- When done grinding transfer the mixture to a bowl and keep it aside.
- Now in the same grinder vessel (after removing black urad dal batter) add little water say around ¼ cup first then add little rice. Switch on the grinder and then add rice gradually when its grinding. Grind it into smooth flowing batter adding water in regular intervals. Add water gradually so that you don’t loose the consistency.
- When the rice batter looks done with flowing smooth consistency add the black urad dal batter to it gradually when the grinder is still grinding. Allow the batter to mix well for 3 to 5 minutes.
- Now transfer the batter to a bowl, add salt and allow it to ferment for 8 to 10 hours. (If you are in cold country leave the batter in microwave undisturbed or keep it in the oven with just the light on so that it creates warm atmosphere for the batter to ferment. Also suggested time is soak rice and urad dal in the morning, grind it in the evening and let it ferment overnight) When the batter has fermented it can be used to make dosa and idli.
- For idli we will need thick batter as shown in the image. In the morning heat water in idli pot. Grease idli plates with few drops of oil. Pour ladle of batter in each idli mold and place the batter filled idli plates in the idli steamer and steam it for 12 minutes.
- When done remove the idli plate from the steamer and keep it aside for few seconds then wet a spoon with little water (wetting the spoon with water helps to scoop idli from the idli plate and serve it hot with chutney of your choice!
Notes
- During winter season/ if you live in cold country keep the batter in oven with oven light on for fermentation
- Try adding 1 tbsp of old fermented idli batter to the freshly ground batter for quick fermentation.
- Add little water at a time so that you don’t miss the consistency of the batter, as thick batter yields fluffy idli’s and also helps in easy fermentation.