Cocktail Idlis

Our beloved Denver Broncos made it to the Super Bowl!  We were so excited.  The last time they won the Super Bowl was when my younger son was just a few days old.  We had a quiet party at home that time, with just one other family.

This year, a friend of ours hosted the party at her place, like she has been doing for a few years now.  It was a potluck dinner.  The guests took care of appetizers and dessert and she took care of dinner.  The food was fantastic – though I can’t say the same about the game (well, maybe if you are a Seattle fan, you will disagree).  Right from the first snap, nothing went our way.  We just drowned our sorrows in food.

For appetizers, we had spring rolls, crostini, spicy cheese bites (a big hit), an amazing and healthy garbanzo salad, chips, salsa, chicken wings, and my cocktail idlis.  Our host had made a Mexican dinner and for dessert, we had brownies, cookies, and fruit.

I normally take a deep-fried appetizer to the super bowl party, but this time, did not feel like it.  Cocktail idlis seemed like a great idea.  They are steamed, bite sized, easy to make, and very tasty.  I think people liked it.

Here is what you need:

(for about 60 baby idlis – one batch in my idli stand)

• little more than 1 cup idli batter (recipe here)
• 2 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 tsp. split urad dal
• 2 slit green chilies
• few curry leaves
• 2 – 3 tsp. dosai milagai podi (gun powder) – add more if you can handle it
• little bit of salt to taste

 

Here is how I made it:

1. Grease the baby idli mold and pour teaspoonfuls of batter into them.  You can make regular idlis and cut them up into bite-sized pieces, if you don’t have the smaller molds.
2. Steam in an idli cooker/pressure cooker for about 15 minutes.  Let this cool.
3. Hear oil in a pan.  Add mustard seeds.
4. When they sputter, add the urad dal, green chilies, and curry leaves.
5. When the urad dal changes color, add the milagai podi and salt.  Add the idlis.
6. Toss the idlis in the pan to coat them evenly with the spice mix. Turn off the heat.

Note:  Make this a couple of hours ahead of the party so that the idlis have time to soak up all the flavors.