AfriKhana: Moi Idlis, Moi Vadais [recipics]

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AfriKhana: Moi Idlis, Moi Vadais
Capers in cross continental cookery

Kha•na \ 'ka-nä \ 1 : n food 2 : vb to eat [Hindi]

Moi-Idlis
Idli - pronounced id (as in psyche) + LEE (as in Bruce, inventor of Jeet Kune Do)

The root cause of this post was Hammond's thread on the Ghanian Yam, though as you will see, nary a yam is involved. That thread reminded me of a part of my life I have only vague memories of. I strained hard to remember foods from Africa, Nigeria to be precise, and the image of a fluffy cornbread yellow bun, red speckled with chile flakes, steamed in a discarded tin can came to mind. Pounded yam, I imagined, mixed with spices and chile powder and steamed. I tried searching, googling that is, for recipes with "Yam" and "Steamed" and "Can" and came up empty. A phone call to my mother and a conversation about some food she had brought home, oh at least twenty five years ago, something that was soft and yellow, (maybe pounded yam?), steamed in a can, finally elicited, "Moi-moi" when I mentioned it was vaguely like idlis, only yellow and hot (chile). I was also set right about this being made from pounded black-eyed peas not yam.

With this knowledge, I googled again with better luck. I found among others, this recipe for Moi-Moi: Steamed Black-eyed Peas.

I enlisted A2fays indulgence (maybe she just wanted to keep an eye on things) and we began by soaking black-eyed peas overnight (≈ 9 hours). The next morning, they hadn't swelled up too much (unlike chick peas), and were still quite hard. Before making a paste, I wanted to remove the skins. The skins, I thought, would spoil the texture, and besides I still draw (incorrect) conclusions thanks to another memory [1]. So we put all of them in a small tub of water. Rubbing vigorously between my hands, the skins came off the black-eyed peas and could be poured off with the water. In about twenty minutes, most of the skins had been removed and we decided to go ahead and make the paste. Ideally all the skins should have been removed, but I hadn't had breakfast (this was it) and I was getting increasingly impatient. A food processor made quick work of the black-eyed peas. However, as the soaked peas weren't very soft, processing with a blade left tiny granules. Had I pounded the peas in a mortar and pestle I could have gotten a smooth paste.


Now to the make the idlis. Idlis? I did mention the moi-moi was reminiscent of idlis in their cooking method and texture. So I decided to steam them in an idli steamer [2] that otherwise sits somewhat forlorn in the large dark corner in the kitchen occupied by strange tools and gadgets that pass as cookware. So what are idlis? I'll come to that presently. First moi-idlis which we are in the middle of.

For moi-idlis we used half the black-eyed pea paste we had made. To the paste, we added shrimp powder (not shown), a bit of chile powder, half a serrano chopped, half a medium onion chopped, salt and pepper.

To half of this mixture we added tomato paste (1 Tbsp). These two varieties of moi-idli batter were placed on the steamer racks (well-greased to prevent sticking), stacked, and placed in a pot containing about an inch and half of boiling water and covered.


Ten minutes later, moi-idlis were as ready as we were for breakfast.

They tasted fairly good, 'beany'; we couldn't really detect the shrimp powder, and the difference between the tomato and non-tomato ones was mainly in the color. They were quite heavy, a little too dense and had a more grainy mouthfeel than idlis. The last attribute of course was due to the processing. We ate the moi-idlis with some vengaya thogaiyal [3].

Conceptually, the moi-moi is not very different from Kanchipuram or Kanjivaram [4] idlis. This regional variety of idli is made by steaming a batter of ground rice and urad dal (skinned & split)[5], that is seasoned with green chilies, cumin seeds, melted ghee, ground dried ginger, asafoetida, salt, curry leaves and cashew nuts. Traditionally, the batter is steamed on banana leaves placed on the idli mould.

The 'standard' Idli is simply made by steaming a batter of ground rice and urad dal (equal amounts) with few fenugreek seeds added during the grinding. The rice needs to be stone ground, otherwise just as with the black-eyed peas, small granules will remain. One can purchase rice flour which is ground fine enough (and urad dal flour), but the idlis do suffer a significant loss in taste (and a fair bit in texture). The rice for idlis should be either parboiled rice or an equal mixture of 'raw' rice and parboiled rice (both uncooked and ground) [5]. I haven't seen parboiled rice flour, but have come across idli mixes and also idli flour. The former tend to contain too many unnecessary ingredients. A packet of idli flour (ingredients: rice, urad dal) produced somewhat acceptable idlis [6]. This flour is mixed with water to make a batter (the consistency of pancake batter) that is left at room temperature overnight. The batter will thicken a bit as the flour absorbs the liquid, and you may see some bubbles from slight fermentation.

A bit of salt, a quick good stir to evenly distribute the ferment and the slightly-thicker-than-pancake batter is ready to steam. In 8-10 minutes, the soft, fluffy, steamy moist discoids are ready.



While the steamer racks give the traditional idlis their shape, I've made 'idlis' without them. Simply steam about an inch or slightly less of the batter in a big bowl. The 'idli pancake' that results can be cut into wedges and served.

Idlis should be eaten while still hot or kept warm till then (in an insulated container such as a tortilla warmer). Beware cold idlis, for they are hard, dense objects and fearsome missiles in a food fight. This brings up the obvious question of what to do with leftovers. Well, A2fay chops leftover idlis up into chunks, and stir fries these chunks in some oil (≈ 1 Tbsp for about 5 idlis) that once heated has been seasoned with curry leaves, (black) mustard seeds, a pinch of turmeric, some minced ginger and chopped green chilis. After stirring to evenly distribute the seasonings, a few tablespoons of water and salt is added and the vessel covered so that the ensuing steam heats and softens the crumbly chunks. A good quick breakfast, reminiscent of uppuma (pronounced up (as in Tupelo) + MA (as in Baker, the meanest cat in ol' Chicago town) .


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On the webpage with the moi-moi recipe there is also a link to a recipe for Akara: Black-eyed Pea Fritters

On reading the recipe, I was struck by the similarity of these 'fritters' to vadais. So with the half of the black-eyed pea paste that we didn't use for moi-idlis, I convinced A2fay to make
Moi-Vadais
Vadai or vada - pronounced VA (as in ) + dea (as in dead) or da (as in dabomb)

To this remaining paste (≈1.5 cups) was added half a medium onion chopped coarse, chopped green chile, some minced fresh ginger root and salt.
As we planned to make moi-vadais or faux-akara, we omitted the few whole (or gently pressed to halve) black peppercorns that go into vadais.

To make moi-vadais, first wet your hand by dipping in a bowl of water and scoop up some of the batter onto your fingers. The reason for wetting your hand is to prevent the batter from sticking to your fingers. WIth some gentle movement of your fingers, the batter will be rounded or oval. Then dip your thumb into the middle of the scooped batter and moving your thumb around make a hole in the middle.
This handformed 'doughnut' can be slipped into hot oil from the little finger side of your hand. Do not turn your hand and drop the batter as that will cause the hot oil to splash; the thin layer of water on your hand should enable you to slip the batter into the oil. Ideally there should be just enough oil so that the batter doesn't hit and stick to the bottom of the pan. Once the vadais starts to brown at the edges, flip them over to cook the other side. The oil (we used canola) shouldn't be too hot or else the inside of the vadai will remain uncooked.





The moi-vadais turned out great - crisp and crunchy on the outside with a beany, slightly grainy inside. It was a better adaptation than moi-idli. Hot moi-vadais, fresh out of the fryer, are a fantastic snack.

The traditional vadai, or medu vadai is made from a batter of soaked urad dal (skinned & split). The nice thing about using urad dal is that you only need to soak it for a couple of hours before it is soft and ready to put into the food processor.

Furthermore, it softens so that the resultant paste is smooth without any granules as opposed to the black-eyed pea batter. Mix in chopped onions, green chilis, ginger, salt and black peppercorns and it's ready to fry. Leftover batter keeps well (2 -3 days) in the refrigerated for great hot fresh snack ("Tiffin") later.
Medu vadais are crisp, crunchy on the outside with a soft fluffy inside.

Not only are vadais quick and easy to make, they are wonderful as a snack just plain, and can also be eaten with ketchup (usually by kids and me), thogaiyal, (coconut) chutney or sambar (pronounced SAAM (to rhyme with farm) + bar). Sambar is of course the stew of split pigeon peas (toor/tuvar dal) and vegetables flavored with tamarind pulp, jaggery (unrefined brown sugar; piloncillo) and spices.


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Notes:

[1] Some complex oligosaccharides from beans are hard to digest. Nearly two minutes of documentation can be found in Blazing Saddles (1974).

[2] I've seen newfangled non-stick idli steamers in stores on Devon ave. If you are tempted to buy, note that usually the racks should have small holes in the mould where the idli batter is placed (not visible in pictures here), presumably for steam to get to the batter. These holes are small enough that the thick batter doesn't leak out. However, many of the steamers I noticed recently (non-stick or otherwise) didn't have them - I'm sure they work fine but I'm just used to the holey ones. While typing this it occurred to me that it may be be interesting to steam eggs in these racks; the non-stick racks would work better.

[3] Vengaya Thogaiyal (ven GAYA = onion; Tho GUY ul (as in gull); Tamil)
Thogaiyals are a class of 'pastes' that are eaten mixed in with rice or as accompaniments to idlis and dosais. They are distinct from 'chutneys'; details that require more than this footnote. I will just note here that thogaiyals are more of a thick paste than chutneys which are typically runny [7].
First, in a tsp of heated oil, 2 Tbsp toor/tuvar dal, 1 Tbsp chana dal and whole red chilies (pinch or press gently to rupture) are toasted until fragrant. The oil is minimal - just enough to coat, but not so much as to fry these seasonings. Stir constantly (hence the blurry pic) and remove from heat as soon as you start to smell the aroma (about 3 minutes); take care not to burn. Five medium/small yellow onions (sixth one in pic was used in moi-idli batter, above) were chopped and browned in a little bit of hot oil (≈ 3 Tbsp) over about 25-30 minutes.

Do NOT use ghee as the medium, as this will alter the flavor of the final product. Ghee is not incorrect, but would yield a different product. Do NOT add any sugar. The slow browning causes the caramelization of the naturally occurring sugars in the onions; additional sugar is not only unnecessary but also detracts from the onion taste that the vengaya thogaiyal should have (onions available here tend to have greater water and sugar content that those available in India).
Once the onions are browned, put them along with the toasted seasonings and 1/2 tsp salt in a blender (not food processor) jar, and blend to a coarse paste. The dals should not be finely ground, but rather should lend a slight granular crunch and toothsome (but not hard) texture. This onion 'relish' is good with idlis and dosas, and traditionally is also eaten mixed into rice with a touch of neutral oil (not ghee) - an amuse bouche. Later in the week, we used the remainder of this 'onion relish' with hot dogs. This last use is somewhat non-traditional and people on two continents may cringe (or worse - I used beef franks ), but I do not apologize, as it was a great combination that I intend to repeat.


[4] Kanchipuram, the temple city (and district) in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu is most famous for itshandloom silk saris.

[5] Ratios of parboiled rice: 'raw' rice: urad dal - For Kanchipuram idli 1:1:1; 'standard' idlis - 1.5:1.5:1 or just parboiled rice and urad dal 3:1

[6] Idli mixes (e.g., Gits brand) do make idlis that taste alright, although the texture is slightly off and the idlis are IIRC somewhat dry, presumably from the leavening agents. The idli flour product is slightly different in taste from the traditional idlis, but otherwise a better choice than the mixes.

[7]I have seen (otherwise excellent) cookbooks that confuse the two. For example, thenga (= coconut; Tamil) thogaiyal is distinct from the coconut chutney most commonly served with dosais and idlis.

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You are killing 'em, Das!!

That was beautiful.

Thank you for your efforts.

E.M.

Das:

Great post. I really like the way you've laid out your text and pictures.

Oh yeah, the content is interesting too!

Thanks. As someone by the name of Garibaldi once said: "More beans!!!"

A

Das,

This is a terrific tutorial on food outside my repetoire. Simple explanations often lift the veil on foods which seem impossible to make at home.

When I read your epic's title, "AfriKhana: Moi Idlis, Moi Vadais," I made the assumption this is African. I have read through the information twice and now assume this may be a shared food between Africa and India? Please clarify because this is all new information (and vocabulary) for me.

My brother-in-law is from India, though I cannot tell you precisely from where. Would this be considered a universal Indian food or from a specific region? I'm hoping universal so I could make it during the holidays as a surprise.

For processing the black eyed peas, may I suggest you consider a blender over a food processor? I would begin with a small batch to puree then introduce the others for a finer mixture than can be achieved with the food processor. Thinking strictly out loud, I was also wondering after you remove the skins from the peas, if you allowed them to soak longer would they be softer?

I love how you followed a twinkle of a memory to this conclusion. My friend Helen has a similar faded thought of a food from her childhood, which I have been researching or dare I say googling? If it works out half as well as your experiment, then I will follow your lead with a how-to tutorial.

Thanks again for such a superb post.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:When I read your epic's title, "AfriKhana: Moi Idlis, Moi Vadais," I made the assumption this is African. I have read through the information twice and now assume this may be a shared food between Africa and India? Please clarify because this is all new information (and vocabulary) for me.

My brother-in-law is from India, though I cannot tell you precisely from where. Would this be considered a universal Indian food or from a specific region? I'm hoping universal so I could make it during the holidays as a surprise.

I started writing it sort of tongue-in-cheek, then it took over and became a bit long.
It started with me thinking about food I could barely remember from Nigeria, then I looked for recipes and what struck me was the similarity in the procedure and seasonings with Indian food (idli, vadai - which use urad dal, as opposed to black-eyed peas used in the African moi-moi and akara). Around the same time I saw comments on this site such as "Idli which is a bland rice dumpling" or so, which even if correct in the context in which it was written, I thought quite unfortunate. Also I remember

Over here Vital Information wrote:I know the vada suffer tremendously 'cause they are not made to order. What about the iddly. In India would they be made to order or made fresh, or would you see them, like on Da'Bomb, stacked and waiting for the suckers

Yet rather than post about idli and vadai, very traditional South Indian snack (and breakfast) food, for fear of ending up with some pedantic post, I thought it may be interesting to make the idli and vadai with the African base ingredient of black-eyed peas. African food I know nothing about, and Indian food I'm trying to learn, so we made it (procedure-wise) as we would the Indian foods. In the post, I do also end with descriptions of the traditional Indian versions.

Idlis and vadais are a regional Indian food but enjoys universal popularity all over India. I do think your BIL will enjoy the treat. Vadais (with urad dal) are fairly simple to make - just seasoned savory doughnuts if you will (for which reason I wasn't sure if putting all those pictures would be silly or presumptious - but I had them so I did ).

Cathy2 wrote:For processing the black eyed peas, may I suggest you consider a blender over a food processor? I would begin with a small batch to puree then introduce the others for a finer mixture than can be achieved with the food processor. Thinking strictly out loud, I was also wondering after you remove the skins from the peas, if you allowed them to soak longer would they be softer?

I'm not sure if soaking without the skins would make them softer. At any rate I don't plan to use black-eyed peas again - too much work for the end product.
As for the use of a blender, maybe with really powerful blender it may work (but I still doubt it). The food processor has much greater torque, but the blender has greater cutting action (from the blade design). Still these are good for softer materials. Before we had the food processor, A2fay would use the blender to make the vadai batter. Problem is, since the blender is less powerful (less torque), thicker pastes (such as this batter) can be made only in much smaller amounts (as you suggest). The food processor works great. We make hummus quite regularly, that's a breeze with the soft, boiled chick peas.
For hard substances, I do think that any chopping or cutting action will leave particles, maybe very fine particles, but still enough to produce an undesirable graininess in the end product (see the close ups of moi-vadai vs. medu vadai). With rice especially it would be impossible to wet grind with blade action. Home stone-on-stone grinders are available (see here or here), but I'm waiting for my perfect kitchen (the one with counter space as far as the eye can see, but where everything is within reach ).

Antonius wrote: As someone by the name of Garibaldi once said: "More beans!!!"

Talking about beans, and similar items in different cuisines, I forgot to mention in my short original post, the falafel. This is somewhat similar (conceptually) to akara and vadai, except that it uses chick peas (or fava beans). Also it is coated and the beans are pre-cooked before frying. I did wonder if the black-eyed peas could be precooked (boiled) and then processed to get a smoother paste. However, I think using precooked beans would not lead to the expansion upon frying that gives a soft fluffy product, without adding some leavening agent.

sazerac wrote:Beware cold idlis, for they are hard, dense objects and fearsome missiles in a food fight.

Sazerac,

Sounds like a logo line to me.

sazerac wrote:Medu vadais are crisp, crunchy on the outside with a soft fluffy inside.

These look terrific, love the small piece of translucent onion.

Wonderful post, I learned a thing or two, thanks. Nice formatting, by the way.

Enjoy,
Gary

Oh fine. I've got logo lines out the wazoo this week. I'm going to end up changing it daily.

Mike G wrote:Oh fine. I've got logo lines out the wazoo this week.

Sounds painful..................

Mike G wrote:Oh fine. I've got logo lines out the wazoo this week.

Mike,

Well, the current one, Spoon's fried chicken is a notorious gateway drug. is a darn good choice as well. Plus, I agree with the sentiment.

Enjoy,
Gary

sazerac,

I'll echo the sentiments on the great post.

Have you ever had acaraje? the bahian black eye pea fritter (influenced most likely from african roots) in some ways its very similar to what you created above.

zim wrote:Have you ever had acaraje? the bahian black eye pea fritter (influenced most likely from african roots) in some ways its very similar to what you created above.

No, I've never had it. I just looked up some recipes after seeing your post. It seems similar (even in name) to the W. African akara. It also reminded me that the Brazilian and the W. African 'fritters' would have been deep fried in palm oil. Now that is potent stuff. I can still remember the smells from a quarter century ago.

It's hard not to applaud this post--vigorously. Thanks, Das, for a truly fascinating contribution to this board. This is precisely the kind of post that makes this place such a wonderful resource: fascinating story, great writing, recipes, culture, linguistics, and more. He knocks 'em dead again!!

Sazerac,

An absolutely beautiful post, informative with killer pix (particularly of the catsup).

zim wrote:Have you ever had acaraje? the bahian black eye pea fritter (influenced most likely from african roots) in some ways its very similar to what you created above.

I have made this fritter years ago, and had a quite singluar experience with them. Dropping them into hot oil, they immediately disintegrated, just blasted apart. I'm assuming this was due to improper use of binding agent (can't remember exactly what it was). The few that survivied were delicious.

Hammond

Sazerac,

As I indicated earlier, I am going to make idli for my brother-in-law as a Christmas present. My sister advised there is a coconut chutney (if you have a recipe, please advise) and you commented on vengaya thogaiyal. If you have other suggestions, then please advise.

I am taking your post this evening to get the ingredients and idli steamer.

Thanks again for such an interesting post. Great information like this is the gift which keeps on giving.

Regards,

HI,

I found several recipes for coconut chutney, which all indicated this is suitable for idlis.

Regards,

Cathy, I have a chutney related post in the pipeline. In the meantime, the chutney recipe you linked to looks good. There are many regional and household variations of coconut chutney, the one A2Fay makes is somewhat similar. You can omit the coriander leaves which will make it greenish and IMO less coconutty. She adds ginger for its spark and doesn’t fry the green chiles (and sometimes omits the curry leaves). The tamarind (get the block not the ‘Tamicon’ paste/concentrate) is added directly – no need to soak, since it is going into the blender with water and other ingredients (just be careful to use mainly the pulpy portions). We use both thai and serranos chiles - for heat and flavour, YMMV. Blend with a little water (as needed), then add the contents of the blender to a saucepan (as opposed to the other way around) in which you have heated oil and popped mustard seeds (IIRC you have good experience with that ). Turn off the flame before you pour the chutney into the mustard tempering.



Fresh grated coconut would be ideal – but in a pinch grated frozen coconut (I’ve seen packets of Indonesian and/or Thai origin in the freezer at Fresh Farms) will do. Please, please do not use desiccated coconut.

sazerac wrote:
.

Sazerac,

This looks incredibly appealing!

Enjoy,
Gary

Gary, thanks. Thanks to LTH, I've developed a tendency to document. The picture is a 'list' of all ingredients prior to blending and tempering - including the flakes of salt, seen atop the piece of tamarind that's nearly dead center . The end product, a white sludge with black dots (mustard) was not particularly photogenic - but I hope to improve my skills.

Coconut chutney with fresh coconut is incredibly tasty - sweet, crisp, fresh, mildly tangy with a gentle heat. I fall into the camp of people who like to drink chutney with other things it happens to be served with. It is so simple to make, yet sadly I'm yet to like a version in Chicago (and most places) that I've paid for.

Sazerac,

Yet another idli question: is the fermentation process successful when it looks puffy? I did it overnight (10 hours) and it looked flat. When I left it longer (24+), then it got puffy and started to expand. Which is desired?

Thanks!

Regards,

Cathy2,
Overnight at not very cool room temperature (75F ish) should suffice*. The batter should have expanded slightly - the top of the batter will look slightly puffed. When you stir/fold the salt in, you'll see small bubbles.
Sorry I didn't save a larger picture than this one (that's in the original)


The danger of letting the batter ferment much longer than overnight (upto say twelve hours) is that it wil start to sour. Idlis shouldn't be sour, although they have a slight tang.

Hope this helps.

*edit: A2Fay lets the batter sit on the countertop not too far from the fridge, but not in the oven with the pilot light which is too warm (yet perfect for setting yogurt).

HI,

It did sour and I was pretty sure it should not have. I will try again!

Thanks for the hand holding!

Regards,