Samai Idli Recipe- How to make Little Millet Idli?

SAMAI IDLI RECIPE

HOW TO MAKE SAMAI IDLI, IDLI WITH LITTLE MILLET?

Samai idli is a healthier alternative to the regular rice based idli recipes. Samai is known as Little millet in English, Samo chawal in Gujarati and Kutki in Hindi. This is basically a millet and can be used as a substitute in many variety rice recipes or used in place of rice in idli, dosa recipes.

Now, the biggest challenge in using millet and brown rice in idli and dosa is achieving the right texture.

The idlis wont be as fluffy as your regular rice idli if you do not use enough water and don’t hydrate them long enough. Also use ice cold water to grind your batter. Overnight fermentation works best in all idli, dosa batter.

Shall we now check how to make Samai Idli step by step?

Soak urad dal in enough water for about 6 hours along with 1 tbsp fenugreek seeds.  Wash brown rice and samai till water runs clear. Add 3 times more water than the quantity of millet and rice. Soak for 6 hours.

While the urad dal is being ground, wash and add 3/4 c of poha ( aval) to the soaking millet+rice.Once done, drain the water from urad dal. Grind this to a fluffy batter using ice cold water for about 15 mins in a wet grinder.

Make sure, you rest the grinder once every 4 to 5 mins, add water as required and grind. I used about 2 cups of ice cold water to grind my urad dal.

Once the dal is done, remove to a big container or bowl. Drain the rice,poha and millet completely. Add this to the grinder along with a cup of ice cold water. Grind to a smooth batter. Again make sure you stop in between, scrape the sides of the grinder, add enough water and grind in 3-4 min intervals. I used 4 c of water for this.

Once done, remove to the container with the ground urad dal. Add salt and mix well. Let it ferment overnight.

The next day, mix the fermented batter well. Grease your idli plates with ghee or oil. Pour a ladle of batter in each groove and steam using a steamer for about 10 -11 mins.

If you find that the batter is too thick, add about a cup of water, mix well and adjust salt. Then proceed to make idli.  You may use the same batter to make dosa too.

Once done, let the idli cool down a bit. Use a wet spoon to scoop them out. Serve hot with tomato chutney.

Recipe For Samai Idli

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5 from 2 votes

Samai Idli Recipe- How to make Little Millet Idli?

Samai Idli- healthier idli made with little millet and brown rice.

Prep Time6 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Cook Time12 minutes mins

Total Time6 hours hrs 42 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: South Indian

Servings: 30

Author: Anusha Praveen

Ingredients

• 1 c Samai Little Millet
• 1 c Brown sona masuri rice
• 1 c Regular idli rice
• 3/4 c Poha aval/ avalakki
• 1 cup Whole white urad dal
• 1 tbsp Fenugreek seeds
• 4 tsp Salt or to taste
• Ice cold water as required. refer notes

Instructions

• Wash rice and millet thoroughly until water runs clear.
• Soak this together in 6-8 cups of water for 6 hours.
• Similarly, wash urad dal and fenugreek seeds till water runs clear.
• Soak in 4 cups of water for 6 hours in another bowl.
• Once they are soaked, drain the urad dal and fenugreek completely.
• Add this to the grinder along with 1 cup ice cold water.
• Before you begin grinding the urad dal, wash and add the poha to the soaking rice mixture.
• Grind this for about 15 mins, stopping in between, scraping the sides and adding more ice cold water.
• Grind the urad dal until its fluffy.
• Once done, transfer to a big bowl.
• Now, drain the rice mixture thoroughly.
• Add to the grinder along with a cup of ice cold water.
• Grind to a smooth paste.
• Again, stop in between, scrape the sides , add more ice cold water as required and continue to grind for about 20- 25 mins.
• Once done, transfer to the same container as the urad dal.
• Mix well, adding salt.
• Let it ferment overnight.
• Once it is fermented, mix the batter again.
• Grease your idli plates.
• Pour a ladle of batter in each groove.
• Steam in a steamer for 10 -12 mins.
• Once done, let the idli cool a bit.
• Scoop them out using a wet spoon.
• Serve with chutney and sambar.

Notes

Ice cold water is recommended because the batter heats up during the grinding process. As a result, we do not get soft idlis.
I used about 6-7 c of ice cold water here.
If you find that your batter is thick after fermentation, add water and mix well.
Your batter must fall freely like a thick sauce or not in lumps when dropped from a ladle.
The idli will not be soft if sufficient water is not added.

For Instant Pot & Air Fryer Recipes

Instant Pot timings may vary based on your geographic location. Air fryer settings and timings may vary based on the capacity and the model of the Air fryer.

Disclaimer

Nutrition values are provided here as a courtesy and are only a rough guide. Please consult a health care provider if you have any concerns.

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