There was a time when there was a mad craze in Tamilnadu restaurants – shops for Kushboo Idli. Popularly named after the Tamil actress (whoever named it was clever), is nothing but idli made with the addition of sabudana (javvarisi) and baking soda. The resultant idlis are so spongy and soft. These idlis were originally called as Malligai Poo Idlis or Mallige Idlis. Â So its time to make some voluptuous Malligai Poo Idlis – Kushboo Idlis!!!!
If you are making Idli for the first time, Please READ this post before you begin.
https://www.kannammacooks.com/tips-tricks-making-idli-batter/
Soak the sabudana in a cup and a half of water. Soak the urad dal and idli rice (par-boiled rice) in lots of water (soak all the ingredients separately) over-nite. About 8 – 10 hours.
Do not drain the water from the sabudana. Add the soaked sabudana along with the water to the mixie. Grind it in a mixie to a smooth paste. The sabudana might take some time to grind. Make sure there are no lumps after grinding. Soaking the sabudana over nite helps. Set aside to a bowl.
Add the soaked and drained urad dal and add upto a cup of ice water to grind. Grind to a smooth fine paste. Set aside to a bowl. Do not add too much water at any stage. Watery batter doesn’t ferment well and the resultant idlis will be flat and hard.
Using ice water helps in not heating up the mixie while grinding.
Now grind the drained rice in 3-4 batches. Add up-to 1 cup of water while grinding. Remove the ground rice mixture and add it to the vessel.
Add in the salt and mix the batter well with hands.
Close the vessel with a lid and allow the batter to ferment for 8-10 hours. It might take longer if you live in a cold place. Mix the idli batter after it has fermented and store it in the refrigerator and use it within the next 3 days.
Now lets make Malligai Poo Idlis – Kushboo Idlis!!!!
Take about 3 cups of batter in a bowl. Add in a pinch of baking soda and mix well.. Baking soda is an optional ingredient. You can omit it if you do not want to use it. I did not use any baking soda today.
Put some water in an idly vessel and put it on medium flame. Oil the idli plate and gently fill the rounds with the batter. Put it inside the idly vessel and let it steam for 6-7 minutes on medium flame. The key to good idlis – Do not allow it to over cook. It might become hard and dry. Just keep an eye and remove the idlis after 6-7 minutes. Insert a back of a spoon and if the spoon does not have any wet batter, the idlis are done. Do not remove the idlis immediately. It might stick. Leave it undisturbed for 4-5 minutes and then spoon it out.
Serve Malligai Poo Idlis – Kushboo Idlis hot with your favorite chutney and salna.
Malligai Poo Idli Recipe, Kushboo Idli Recipe
Recipe for Tamilnadu style Malligai Poo idli, Soft and Spongy Idli recipe. Also called as Kushboo Idli in many places.
- Total Time: 24 hours 15 mins
- Yield: 25-30 idlies 1x
Ingredients
- 3/4 Cup Sabudana (javvarisi)
- 1 Cup Urad Dal
- 3 Cups Par-Boiled Rice
- 1 Tablespoon Salt
- Optional – Baking Soda (as needed)
Instructions
- Soak the ingredients over-nite in water.
- Add the soaked sabudana along with the water to the mixie. Grind it in a mixie to a smooth paste. Set aside to a bowl.
- Add the soaked and drained urad dal and add upto a cup of ice water to grind. Grind to a smooth fine paste. Set aside to a bowl.
- Grind the drained rice in 3-4 batches. Add upto 1 cup of water while grinding. Remove the ground rice mixture and add it to the vessel.
- Add in the salt and mix the batter well with hands.
- Allow the batter to ferment for 8-10 hours. It might take longer if you live in a cold place. Mix the idli batter after it has fermented and store it in the refrigerator and use it within the next 3 days.
- Take about 3 cups of batter in a bowl. Add in a pinch of baking soda and mix well.. Baking soda is an optional ingredient.
- Put some water in an idly vessel and put it on medium flame. Oil the idli plate and gently fill the rounds with the batter. Put it inside the idly vessel and let it steam for 6-7 minutes on medium flame.
- Prep Time: 24 hours
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Breakfast
- Cuisine: Tamilnadu
hi mam when v grind rice should it be grainy or smooth.
if i grind sabudana in mixie i don not have to add it while grinding ural dal.. i am grinding rice and dal in wet grinder
how long do i grind urad dal and rice in grinder
15-20 minutes each.
mam can v use salem rice?
can v make this in wet grinder?
mam if v can make in wet grinder then just sabudana can i grind in mixie as in wet grinder it does not grind properly
Hi Richa, yes. you can use Salem rice. Wet grinder is fine.
Grind the sabudana in mixie and add if using wet grinder.
thank u mam…. so mam salem rice measurement will be same….
nd mam can v add aval to above recipe nd if yes how much
nd mam for all ur idlis u use whole white urad dal
Yes. Measurements will be the same.
No need of aval in this recipe
And yes. Always whole urad dal.
Fluffy yummy idli. Just like its name. Combined with the darshini style sambhar from your recipe book, the combination was fantastic
Thank you very much. Glad you liked the recipe.
Thanks for sharing this. Just wondering if we can make dosa also out of this batter
Hi Vidhya, Yes you can make thick dosas.
I made this with darshini hotel style Sambar. It tasted great however when I steamed it for the first time I felt like it was not fully cooked(I steamed it 13 mins) but the second time I steamed it for 23 mins and that worked perfectly. I just don’t know what went wrong with the timing, but now it’s our once a week favorite food!!!
very useful and simple explanation.Great.Keep it up
Can I use the same batter for making dosas?Because we all like idli but my son likes dosa.
Sure you can make dosa.
But for a regular idli plus dosa batter, Use this recipe.
https://www.kannammacooks.com/how-to-make-soft-idli-recipe/
Will this batter work for dosa as well?
You deserve an award for this write up.keep the good work going.god bless.
Thank you!
Can I use idli Rava instead of par boiled rice. Plz tell me the quantity for above mentioned ingredients.
Eagerly waiting for your reply.
Thank u.
In your idli batter recipie can we replace acal with javvarisi? If yes how much to add?
Dear,i have become an expert in making soft idlis by following this method.
My hubby & daughter had told me hereafter never ever restaurant idlis.Bundle of thanks dear.
I like your blog so very very much.GOD BLESS..
Thank you so much Jincy.
can we use the grinder to do the same recipe instead of a mixie?
Sure you can.
Hi ka,
If i hav to use poha instead of sabudhana, how much poha shld i use and how long shld i soak it? And also its winter here, and any kind of batter doesnt rise up, so if i make it in this season will d idli be soft as u mentioned?
You can use 1 cup poha for 4 cups of rice.
Refer to this post
http://www.kannammacooks.com/tips-tricks-making-idli-batter/
Thanks I was going to ask the same question on proportion to use poha. I have found that if I heat the oven to the lowest temperature allowed 170 and then turn it off and put the idli batter in the oven it works in aiding with the batter fermentation.
Yes Rupa. Keeping the batter in a warm oven aids in fermentation.
Hi,
idli”s came out perfect. Thank you!!!
Made them today. The idlis were so soft. I never tried adding sabudana before . Definitely will make it this way as over the years I have tried multiple things to get soft idlis. Thank you so much for posting these recipes. I always turn to your website for inspiration . I also love the stories behind some of the recipes.
Thank you Rupa. Glad you liked the idlis. Sabudana makes them soft. So does poha ( avalakki ).
I made it just couple days ago and it is super soft and the taste is soooo good.
Thank you Raji Ravi!
it was indeed really soft!
Thank You!
Thank you Suguna for all the lovely recipes!!!
Thank you!
very very interesting recipes . thank u very much. I like to keep in touch with u
Thank you!