Tandoori Idly

Prep Time: 10 mins 
Ingredients:

Idly – 8
Onion – 1
Tomatoes – 2
Ginger – Garlic paste – 1 tsp
Cashews – 5
Oil – 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Water – ½ cup
Masala powders or use tandoori masala – 2 to 3 tsp
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Chilly powder/Sambhar powder/Madras curry powder – 1 tsp
Kashmiri chilly powder – 1 tbsp
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Cumin powder – 1 tsp
Garam masala – 1 tsp
Kasuri methi – 2 tsp

To Garnish:

Coriander leaves – 1 tbsp (finely chopped)
Cashews or peanuts – 1 tbsp (finely chopped)

Method:

Prepare idly and cut them into half. with a help of fork or tooth pick prick few holes on the idly.

To prepare the gravy, heat a pan, add oil, and then add chopped onion and sauté till it turns translucent. then add the chopped tomatoes and sauté till it turns soft. then add ginger garlic paste and sauté till the raw smell goes off.

Now start adding tandoori masala or the masala powders one by one, turmeric, chilly powder, dhaniya powder, cumin powder, garam masala and kasuri methi to the pan and mix well. once the masala powders are well mixed with onion and tomato let the flame be in slow, and keep mixing, so that masala’s do not get sticked to the bottom of the pan for about 1-2 minutes till the raw smell of the masala goes off. remove the pan from flame and let it cool. add cashews and little water to the masala’s and grind them into a fine paste.

Heat another pan, add the grounded masala’s and add water as per the consistency you want. add salt and chilly powder as per your taste and let it boil. once it boils for 2-3 minutes remove the gravy from flame.

Once the gravy is ready, place the idly on plate and pour the gravy over it, cover the idly with the gravy. sprinkle some chopped cashews or peanuts over and finally add chopped coriander leaves. do not miss this; it makes the dish visually so impressive also a byte of nuts here and there makes the difference!

Serve with lemon wedges, onion slices or onion raita.