Khotto (Idli steamed in Jackfruit leaves)
Khotto (Idli steamed in Jackfruit leaves) | Kottige | Khotoo | Hittu | Khotte | Kadubu is a delicious breakfast recipe of Southern parts of India where Idly is steamed in basket made out of jackfruit leaves.
Servings 4
Ingredients
To make Idli batter :
- ½ cup urad dal
- 1½ cups idli rice or regular rice I used regular rice
- ½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds methi seeds
- 2 tablespoons thick poha flattened rice
To make jackfruit leaves cups
- 16 jackfruit leaves
- few toothpick pieces or coconut leaf sticks
Instructions
To make idli batter
- To make batter for idli let's soak rice and dal first.
- Combine urad dal & methi seeds into a bowl. Wash and soak it in enough water for at least 8 hours.
- In another bowl wash and soak rice in enough water for at least 8 hours.
- Rinse and soak poha with water for about 30 mins before blending.
- Grind to make batter
- After 8 hours, drain the water from both the bowls. In a wet grinder jar, add soaked urad dal, methi, soaked poha, salt & water.
- Blend all of them till thick and smooth consistency. The idli batter should not turn hot or even warm while blending as it makes idli dense.
- Once done transfer this to a bowl and set aside for fermentation.
- Next add soaked rice to the blender with water (mentioned in the ingredients). Grind to a little coarse batter like of semolina/sooji texture.
- Mix this to the dal batter we grinded earlier. Mix both of them well with your hands. The batter must be thick yet be of dropping consistency.
- Use your hands to mix as it helps to ferment faster and better. A little more water can be added, if you feel the batter is too thick.
Fermenting of idli batter :
- Set the batter aside in a warm place for at least 8 to 16 hrs. The batter ferments well and almost doubles in the quantity.
- It may take up to 18 hours depending on the weather conditions and temperature of the plac. The batter must rise, look light and fluffy but not turn sour.
To make jackfruit leaves basket/cups
- To make basket you will need tender, equal sized jackfruit leaves. Wash and wipe well and keep aside.
- Here to stick leaves together, I have used toothpick pieces. Originally the coconut leaf sticks are used to hold it together.
- First join 2 leaves by holding it together and after that place another 2 leaves on the pinned leaves such that all the tips are facing each other.
- Pin all the leaves together. Now join all the leaves with toothpick from the centre one by one and pin them together. Make sure to pin along the edges till the tip of the leaves.
- Our kotte or jackfruit leaf cups are ready. Ensure that there are no holes, else the batter will spill out.
How to make kotte Kadubu:
- Prepare a steamer to steam idlis. Mix the idli batter with light hands. Adjust the consistency by adding water but make sure the batter should not be too thin.
- Pour the batter in the prepared kotte cups till half. Place the kotte cups in the cavity and cover with a lid and steam the idlis in a steamer for about 10 minutes on high flame.
- Then reduce the flame and cook for another 5 to 7 minutes or till the toothpicks inserted comes out clean.
- Serve with sambar and coconut chutney.