Idli

The key to making soft idlis lies mainly on 4 important factors (based on my experience), no matter whether you use a wet grinder or a mixer
Age:  Urad dal from the current years yield is best suitable to make soft idlis. But how do we identify? The current year’s yield will be white in color with no pale yellow shades on it. While the yield from the previous yrs, will be pale yellow in color or sometimes pale yellow spots on the dal. Using the new dal will surely result in good fermentation and gives you super soft idlis provided you take care of the other 3 factors. This is the main criteria for preparing soft idlys in our family and extended families, where we use the previous yr’s left over dal for make ladoo (sunnundalu) and purchase a fresh stock for making idly for the current yr. But for people like me living abroad, we have no other choice rather than to pick up the stale stock. We have to use other ingredients like fenugreek seeds or thick poha to aid the fermentation.
Salt: always use enough non iodized salt, as iodized salts do not favor the fermentation process.
Temperature: Cold climates do not favor fermentation process. So keep your batter in a warm place. If you live in cold countries or in high altitude places, use a preheated oven for fermenting the batter
Lastly consistency (water): For the batter to ferment well, the batter must be of the right consistency. If you make the batter runny, it will not rise, but the fermentation will be ok, though not perfect. The result will be wet and flat idlis. But again, if the batter does not have enough water in it (very thick batter), it will not ferment. I understand this as “the organisms need enough moisture for a healthy cultivation”. So making the consistency of the batter right is important. So it must be of a thick pouring  consistency.Now on to my recipe.
Ingredients
½ cup urad dal
1 cup + 1 to 2 tbsps of idli rava (1 to 2 tbsps rava will be drain off when you rinse the rava repeatedly )
Non iodized salt as needed ice cold water as required
Optional Ingredient
2 tbsps of thick poha / avalakki / attukulu / beaten rice soaked for 2 hrs
Method
1.   Wash dal and rava separately multiple times, soak them in lot of water for atleast 5 to 6 hrs. soak poha for about 2 hrs, if using
2.   Drain the water.  Add dal, poha and enough ice cold water to grinding jar or utensil (if using a wet grinder). Grind till smooth and frothy, occasionally scraping off the batter from the sides of the utensil. add very little water when ever needed. If you are using old dal, it doesn’t get frothy even if it is grinded smooth. transfer this to a large utensil
3.   Drain off the water thoroughly from the rava. Squeeze excess water from the rava with the help of both your palms. refer the pic. the rava must not look soggy, it must absolutely have no water in it, else the batter will become runny. (refer the pic)
4.   Now mix the rava and grinded dal batter with enough salt . Use your hand to mix as it helps to ferment faster and better. If needed can add little water, if the batter is too thick.
5.   Set this aside in a warm place or a preheated oven for at least 6 to 12 hrs depending on the weather and temperature.
6.   On a high flame, bring enough water to boil in a idli steamer or a pressure cooker, grease your idli plates. Mix the batter well, do not over do. Pour this in the molds. when the water begins to bubble and steam up, place it in the steamer. steam for exactly 10 mins on a high flame  and off the heat
7.   After 2 mins, remove the plates and set them aside for 2 to 3 mins, remove the idlis and serve.

Notes:
1.   Do not use air tight jars for fermenting.
2.   Use stainless steel utensils for fermenting
3. Never let your batter warm up while grinding, as it will make the idly harder