Friday, June 17, 2011

Idli sandwich


There are days that I am bored with my cooking. Repeating the same dishes often gets mundane and I look to give them a twist just to make something appetizing. This was one such experiment I made for my breakfast. This morning as I was planning the day's breakfast and lunch, I decided that I would make just enough idlis for packing my husband's snack box and plan my breakfast later.
I steamed my idlis in small individual cups and made myself the sandwich idlis with some raw and some steamed vegetables filled in it.
You can use your own innovative ideas for the filling. I have used regular coconut chutney for spreading and the vegetables. Had I planned ahead, I could have added some sprouts and crumbled paneer to the vegetables and some interesting chutney. Nonetheless, this sandwich was delicious enough that I chose to share.
Ideally the idli batter that is a day old in the fridge works well. The fresh batter usually gives super soft idlis that may crumble when you cut in the cross section. Hence I use the batter on the third day after grinding for such experiments.

Ingredients: (makes two medium sandwiches/ serves one person)
3 big ladles full idli batter
Few drops of oil to grease the cups

For the filling:
1 tablespoon chutney of your choice (I have used coconut chutney)
2 tablespoons of freshly grated carrots
1 tablespoon steamed green peas coarsely mashed
1 tablespoon thinly sliced green bell pepper strips steamed
5 slices of tomato
salt to taste
2 teaspoons ghee for grilling

Method:
Grease two small bowls with oil.
Pour the idli batter into these until half filled.
Steam these in a steamer for about 7 minutes.
As the idlis are being steamed, prepare the filling. Mix slat to the vegetables and keep them ready.
Remove the cups from the steamer and allow to cool. Remove the steamed idlis from the cups.
Allow the idlis to cool completely. Using a sharp knife, slice the idlis in two sections.


Heat the ghee for grilling in a pan. place the idli sections and allow to be grilled or toasted for a few minutes. This step is entirely optional. You can avoid the ghee/oil and just enjoy plain sandwich idlis too.
If you are grilling, just do thus for one side of each section.
Spread a little quantity of chutney on one side of each slice.
Layer two of the sections with the vegetable filling.
Place the other two sections on top of the above.
Garnish with sliced tomato and coriander leaves and serve.




You may choose to make the colourful idlis and sandwich them as prepared above to just make it more interesting for kids.

Srivalli is hosting a Sandwich Mela where these idli sandwiches are being sent to her to be shared.

15 comments:

  1. nice twist to the usual idlis..looks very attractive..maybe we could add some cheese too ..I will make this for my son and call it idli burger!!wont he be surprised??..thanks for sharing..

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  2. A welcome twist to our regular idlis,loved the innovativeness and looks tempting too.

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  3. Ada ada idli sandwich pakkave saapidanam pola irruku..sandwich looks absolutely incredible..

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  4. A nice healthy twist to the regular Idlis..Awesome !

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  5. wow wow absolutely inviting..yumm..

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  6. Woww... very innovative and delicious idea.. looks soo cute :)
    thanks for sharing :)
    Indian Cuisine

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  7. Very innovative.....I will try making this for T and I'll borrow Sowmya's idea and tell T that this is an idli burger :-)

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  8. Nice idea 4 idli sandwich..how abt stuffing medu wada in it n calling south Indian burger??? hmm..:)

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  9. @Sowmya and Jayashree, That will be more interesting for the kids.
    @ Prathibha, sounds like a fun plan:)

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  10. Wow,that's pretty cool! In the click the tomato slice peeping out is like the sandwiches laughing with their tongue out :) don't know if you wanted to look like that but its for me ;)

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  11. wow, what a wonderful idea, love it :)

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  12. Boring idly converted to tempting idli sandwich!!! Will definitely be a hit with kids!!!! Will try it sometime!!!!

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  13. As suggested by Sowmya we have prepared a filling with chees Paneer green chillies grilled for 3 mts and served as starters. A refreshing deviation from regular chilly cheese sandwich ,needless to say this was our star item in our party
    Warm Regards
    Baskaran

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  14. That is a neat little idea. And I'm sure this preks things up instead of a normal boring idli meal!

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  15. Lataji, this is exactly what I had in mind to make but couldn't..thank you so much for indulging in such innovation!

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Hello,
Welcome and thank you for taking time to drop by.
I appreciate your valuable comments and tips.
I sincerely hope to improve with them.
Hope we shall interact often.
Thanks once again,
Lata Raja.