Whenever we think of eating South Indian cuisine, it is usually dosa, idli or uttapam. The South Indian cuisine is replete with a plethora of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. You have plenty of dosas to try, ranging from coconut rava masala dosa, onion dosa, chettinad dosa and what not. Similarly, uttapams also have variety like tomato uttapam, onion uttapam, mix vegetable uttapam and the like. Usually served with condiments like sambhar and coconut chutney, the dishes taste amazing. I usually opt for a rava idli and a medu vada. However, these idlis have made me curious.
Recently, a food blogger called @eatographers shared a reel of some unique idlis and we are drooling. The video was captioned saying, “Anna selling Leaf Idli at just INR 10”. He also mentions that the idlis are available at Kukatpalli in Hyderabad. These tempting and interestingly-made idlis are quite mouth-watering. Here is what we are talking about.
Source: Eatographers/Instagram
In the video, the vendor has a pre-prepared batter of idli in a large utensil. He takes a few leaves which have been tied together in the shape of a basket. He pours the idli batter in the leaf basket. He then places each of them in a large steamer and turns on the flame. Once ready, he removes the lid of the steamer and takes out the baskets. He scoops out the steamed idlis from the leaves and serves them with coconut chutney and an orange tomato chutney along with some sambhar. These idlis look really soft and have a unique hexagonical shape as opposed to the circular shape of the idli.
These idlis are called pottikalu. Are you feeling some idlis for Sunday breakfast? Here are some delicious recipes to try.
1. Peas Stuffed Idlis
Made with sweet peas, the idli batter tastes sweeter than usual. The peas are mashed and mixed into the batter before it is poured into a steamer. The resulting idlis come with a pop of colour. Serve them with a spicy hot chutney.
2. Rava Idli
The usual rice flour batter of idli can be spruced up in many ways. Adding rava or semolina to the batter is one such experiment. And we cannot say that it isn’t delicious. The rava idlis have chunky bits in them which made them a flavourful affair.
3. Kadubu Idli
This is another idli which is made using leaves as a mould. A special kind of leaf called kedige in the colloquial language which means screw pine in English. These idlis appear to be cylindrical in shape, like a roll.