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May 6, 2015

Mini Idli Sambar - Ghee Sambar Idli Recipe - Hotel Style 14 Idli Sambar

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Mini idli sambar
Hello friends, Sorry I couldn’t post biryani recipes in my Sunday lunch series for the past two weeks. As l was having continuous trips to Salem, I couldn’t do it. I will come up with a yummy biryani this weekend for sure. Today’s post is a kids friendly breakfast recipe. Yes, it is hotel style mini idli sambar. It is popularly known as ghee sambar idli, 14 idly sambar in Tamil nadu. My friends here call it as Button idli sambar, Coin idli sambar etc etc by different names. This is my daughter’s favorite breakfast/dinner recipe. 

Generally I make idli sambar for dinner more than breakfast. I follow my hotel idli sambar recipe with some modifications for making mini idli sambar. Most of the people make this sambar in a simple way just by adding sambar powder and tamarind. But I always make it using freshly ground sambar masala and tomatoes (without tamarind and vegetables). 

My friend Shalini suggested me to use raw onions and coriander leaves along with ghee for topping which adds great taste to this recipe. You can drink/eat this sambar with raw onions as such even without mini idlis. This combination tastes soo good. Last year I conducted a small party at my home for Raksha’s birthday.

On that day, I made mini idli sambarvermicelli pulao and curd rice along with corn cheese balls chips ice cream and gulab jamun. This mini idli sambar was a super hit among my friends and kids. Everybody asked for second serving and the whole sambar bowl got emptied quickly. I was thinking to share this recipe in my blog for long time. But I couldn’t. At last I made it yesterday just for blogging sake. It came out really well. Sendhil liked it a lot. 

For parties, you can make it in bulk quantity easily if you have mini idli stand with 3 plates and you can serve them hot anytime by reheating the sambar. 

Friends, do try this kids favorite ghee sambar idli during this vacation and take the credits from your family members. Lets see how to make this mini idli sambar recipe in detail.
Ghee sambar idli recipe

Mini idli sambar recipe


Mini idli sambar recipe How to make  hotel style 14 idli sambar/ghee sambar idli recipe.
Cuisine: Indian
Category: Breakfast
Serves:  2
Prep time: 10 Minutes
Cook time: 20 Minutes
Total time: 30 Minutes


INGREDIENTS
1 cup - 250ml
For idli
  • Idli dosa batter - 2 cups
  • Rice flour -1.5 tsp( optional)
  • Water & salt - add only if needed
  • Oil - to grease
  • Ghee - to serve
For sambar
  • Toor dal - 1/2 cup
  • Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp
  • Hing/Asafetida – 2 pinches
  • Cooking oil - few drops
  • Ripe tomatoes - 3 nos ( Do not chop)
To roast & grind
  • Cooking oil - 1 tsp
  • Dhania/Coriander seeds - 2 tsp
  • Chana dal - 1 tbsp
  • Red chillies - 2 nos
  • Methi seeds - 1/4 tsp
  • Grated coconut - 2 tbsp ( 2 small finger size pieces)
To saute in oil
  • Cooking oil - 1 tbsp
  • Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
  • Jeera/Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
  • Hing - few pinches
  • Small onions - 10 nos
  • Curry leaves - few
  • Sambar powder - 1/2 tsp
  • Salt & water - as needed
  • Jaggery – a small piece
For topping
  • Coriander leaves - for topping
  • Finely chopped big onion - 1 no ( for topping)
  • Ghee - few tsp to drizzle on top
HOW TO MAKE MINI IDLI SAMBAR - METHOD

  • Pressure cook toor dal adding turmeric powder, hing, whole ripe tomatoes( I don’t chop tomatoes because dal may not turn mushy) and a drop of cooking oil. 
  • Cook for one whistle in very low flame adding 2 cups of water (If you wish, You can add drumstick and other vegetables in a bowl and cook separately inside the cooker). Remove the lid and mash the dal with tomatoes using a whisk.
Mini idli sambar recipe
  • Peel and chop onions. Heat oil in a kadai and roast all the ingredients given under “to roast and grind” in medium flame till the dals turn golden. Make sure u don’t burn the dhania seeds. Lastly add the coconut , mix well and switch off the flame.
  •  If using pieces of coconut, just add it at the beginning and roast it along with dals. Grind everything to a fine powder and set aside. Mix this powder with the cooked & mashed dal.
Mini idli sambar recipe
  • In the same kadai, heat oil and temper mustard, jeera. Saute small onions, curry leaves. Add a cup of water, sambar powder, required salt, jaggery, turmeric powder, hing and cook the onions well.
Mini idli sambar recipe
  • Add the cooked dal + ground masala powder mixture to the sambar and add 1/2 cup of water to adjust the consistency. Boil well for few minutes till you get a nice aroma.
  • Switch off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves. Transfer the sambar to a vessel and add 2 tsp of ghee. Keep it closed and give a standing time of 30 minutes to 1 hour for all the taste to blend well.
Mini idli sambar recipe
  • To make mini idlis, take 1 cup of idli batter and add 1 tsp of rice flour if you want to thicken the batter. Mix well . Grease the mini idli stand with oil and spoon the batter in each hole. Steam in idli pot for 10 minutes till they are done. Keep it in a hot box/ Casserole till serving.
  • While serving, reheat the sambar. Take a small bowl and pour 2 ladleful of sambar. Put the idlis, add few tsp of ghee, finely chopped coriander leaves, onions and serve hot.
Mini idli sambar recipe

Enjoy !
Note
  • I have not used vegetables here. If you wish to add some veggies, take the chopped carrot, drumstick, potato in a small bowl and pressure cook with dal by keeping the bowl inside the cooker.
  • You can also saute the finely chopped tomatoes along with onions instead of pressure cooking with dal.
  • Adding jaggery gives a nice sweet taste to sambar. U can replace the jaggery by adding few pumpkin pieces to add natural sweetness.
  • If you want to make this sambar in a simple way without grinding masala, add 1 tsp of sambar powder and 1/2 tsp of red chilli powder while cooking onions.


Try this yummy mini idli sambar for your kids during this vacation and make them happy.
Mini idli sambar recipe


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12 comments :

great-secret-of-life said...

looks yum! This is evergreen breakfast dish!

Anonymous said...

lovely recipe dear

Unknown said...

Yummy dish I made it several times by follow ur site

Chitra said...

Thanks a lot Priya Kannan :)

Padma said...

Made this sambar several times. Very tasty. The best sambar receipe.

Chitra said...

Thank you so much :)

Unknown said...

hi chitra...

i tried it last night/...i should say its a awesome recipe.. sema taste ya...my family loved id..
btw..ur veg salna was also very yummy...a must try...(i did it several times)

Chitra said...

Thank u so much for your wonderful feedback :) You made my day !

Unknown said...

I made mini idly with this sambar today and it tasted delicious. Usually I make my mil version of idli sambar with loads of shallots and slight variation in the ingredients used. This sambar was perfect restaurant style. Thanks foe the recipe

Chitra said...

Thanks a lot Priya. Your feedbacks are so motivating and encouraging. Thanks again.

anbu said...

Ahh,it's simply superb.great hit @home and hubby loves it.your receipe is great and very easy to make.

Chitra said...

Thank you so much for your feedback. Happy to know it :)