IDLI

                                                                                                                                                              IDLI                              

       Idli (Kannada: ಇಡ್ಲಿ, Tamil: இட்லி, Telugu: ఇడ్లి, Malayalam: ഇഡ്ലി) also  romanized idly or iddly, plural idlis, is a traditional breakfast in south Indian households. Idli is savory cake of South India that is most popular throughout the southern part of India including Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka. The cakes are usually two to three inches in diameter and are made by steaming a batter consisting of fermented black lentils (de-husked) and rice. The fermentation process breaks down the starches so that they are more readily metabolized by the body.

Most often eaten at breakfast or as a snack, idlis are usually served in pairs with chutney, sambar, or other accompaniments. Mixtures of crushed dry spices such as milagai podi are the preferred condiment for idlis eaten on the go. A variant of Idli known as sanna (Konkani: सान्नां sānnāṃ) is very popular amongst the Goans and other Konkani people. Another variant known as "Enduri Pitha" is very popular in Odisha. For preparation of "Enduri Pitha", mixture of black gram paste and ground once-boiled rice is wrapped in turmeric leaf and steam cooked.                                               

                           Idli (and the process of steaming) was known in India by as early as 700 CE. Earliest mention of idli occurs in the Kannada writing calledVaddaradhane by Shivakotiacharya in 920 AD, and it seems to have started as a dish made only of fermented black lentil. Chavundaraya II, the author of the earliest available Kannada encyclopaedia, Lokopakara (c. 1025), describes the preparation of idli by soaking urad dal (black gram) in butter milk, ground to a fine paste and mixed with the clear water of curd, and spices. The Kannada king and scholar Someshwara III, reigning in the area now called Karnataka, included an idli recipe in his encyclopedia, 'Manasollasa', written in Sanskrit ca. 1130 A.D.There is no known record of rice being added until some time in the 17th century. It may have been found that the rice helped speed the fermentation process. Although the ingredients used in preparing idli have changed, the preparation process and the name have still remained the same.

                                  click this link to get a better information of idli :
                                                http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idli
                                               
                                           http://www.muruganidlishop.com/