POTTIKKALU (IDLIS STEAMED IN JACKFRUIT LEAVES)

In olden days every household had a backyard with plants like banana, curry leaves, basil leaves, jackfruit, etc.. which has many uses and medicinal values too. But nowadays it has become a rare luxury. On auspicious occasions, food was served on banana leaves, and some dishes were steamed in turmeric,arbi leaves. It’s one way of incorporating the usage of these leaves to get maximum health benefits out of it. There is something or the other reason behind every tradition. With passing time these eco-friendly options slowly became the forgotten fascinations. The jackfruit leaves are rich in antioxidants and steaming idlis in these leaves incorporate all the nutrients and flavors of the leaves into the idlis. Different states have different ways to make steaming food in leaves. Here I am sharing the ‘pottikkalu’ recipe, famous in the Andhra Pradesh region. This dish is mainly prepared on polaala amaavaasya and GaneshChaturthi. To make this recipe all you need is idli batter, few jackfruit leaves, coconut leaves sticks/toothpicks.

How to prepare moulds with jackfruit leaves:

Take fresh, tender leaves, wash well and make like moulds with toothpicks. If you get the right technique it’s too easy to prepare.

Ingredients for making idlis:

Black gram split lentil- 1 cup

Idli ravva- 2 cups

Rocksalt- 1 tsp

Jack fruit leaves- few

Toothpicks to make moulds with leaves.

Tips:

The better the fermentation softer the idlis.
Do not make batter thin.
Grinding in a stone grinder Wil give you best results.

How to prepare batter:

1. Wash and soak Dal and rava separately for 5 to 6 hours.

2. Grind urad Dal in to a smooth paste by adding water.

3.wash rava and squeeze excess water.

4. Mix rava and Dal batter. This mixed batter should be like cake batter consistency.

5. Keep aside and let it ferment for 2 to 3 hours. (Time varies on weather conditions). Batter should be pluffy .it will be double itself.

6. Take a ladle and pour batter into moulds.

7. Steam for around 20 minutes. If in a pressure cooker remove vistil and steam.

*pour one cup water in the cooker and keep a rack or a stand in it and keep leaf moulds over it . close the lid and steam.

8. Turn off the flame open the cooker after a 10 minutes. Open the leaves and serve hot. Serve hot with chutney.

Along with this, I prepare a quick chutney, which is easy to prepare in less time. especially when you are in a hurry or no mood to prepare regular chutneys. It resembles with Maharashtrian pithla, but few variations. It looks like north Indian kadhi.