Cucumber Sweet Idli

Preparation

• Rinse rice using enough water and soak it for 2 hours.

Method

1. Wash the cucumber well and cut it in to half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and discard them.
2. Shred the cucumber using a grater and measure it which should be around 1 cup. Set aside. Now in a mixer jar add drained raw rice, grated coconut and jaggery. Grind them together adding little water. ( Water should be just enough for ease of grinding).
3. Transfer the batter to a big bowl and include shredded cucumber and salt to it. Mix well. At this stage you can include some water to get the batter to the right consistency. It should be similar to regular idli batter (not too runny).
4. Now take the idli mold and grease it with little oil. Pour the ready idli batter in each of the mold. Steam cook it either in idli steamer or pressure cooker (without whistle) for about 15 minutes. I usually steam in medium flame for about 5 minutes or till the steam emits out, then in simmer for about 10 minutes.
5. After 15 minutes you can insert a tooth pick or spoon in to the idli, if it comes out clean then idli is perfectly steamed. Let it cool down to room temperature. Using a knife or spoon you can carefully de-mold the idli.
6. Devour the cucumber flavored mild sweet idli with ghee and pickle.

Notes

• Always choose tender cucumber and scooping out the seeds is mandatory, otherwise it will make the idli batter watery.
• If you wish you can peel off the cucumber skin, I usually retain it.
• Coconut tend to make the idli soft, so adding it in more quantity will be more helpful.
• You can grind the batter little coarsely too, so that you can end up grainy textured idlis.
• The original recipe called for rice and jaggery in equal quantity, but I don’t like too much sweet. So I reduced it to half cup. Idli resulted was mild in sweet and was awesome.