Saw this method in vahchef's recipes ...and for the past 3 months I am following this method ,sure you will get nice spongy idli ...this method will be helpful for people staying in Uk and USA ..and if u don't get idli rice , u can try this ... I did not follow the exact method as in original ...for me my method is working fine ...

few points to be noted , while making this is : 

• for ex. if u r making idli for saturday morning ...then u have to soak urid dhal on Thursday night and friday morning u have to grind it ...
• You have to add salt , only when making idli ...ie., ferment the batter without adding salt ...
• it takes one whole day to ferment ...I just keep it near the room heater ...if u use oven and know that method ...u can try that ...(It is expalined in this video ...)

( when I was talking about this method to my Mother -in-law , she said U r not supposed to leave the batter without adding salt ...it is not good ..(don't ask me why and all ...blindly had to accept that ..) so i just add a pinch of salt to the batter ....if u believe in this do this or just skip it ... )

Ingredients needed : 

• Ground rice / Cream of rice / Idli rava  - 2 cups
• Urid dhal  - 1 cup
• Salt

Method :

Soak urid dhal overnight or for 6 - 8 hours ...15 mins before grinding urid dhal , soak the grounded rice / cream of rice / idli rava in water ...add little water every now and then and grind the urid dhal into smooth paste ...(I use mixie )

now take a handful of soaked grounded rice and squeeze out the excess water and add it to the urid dhal batter,and mix it well and keep it aside for fermenting for the whole day ..next day , before making idli , add salt and mix the batter and make idli, in normal way ....and serve hot with any chutney or sambhar ...

Sending this to the Bookmarked recipe event hosted by Priya