Do not soak rice and urad together, Soak urad and fenugreek in plenty of water for 6-8 hours or overnight. Soak the rice in a separate vessel in plenty of water for 6-8 hours or overnight. Drain water, wash them a couple of times if you like the idlies to be pristine white. Use an idli grinder as it does a better job than a blender. Grind Urad first. Add water little by little as it is grinding. When finished (about 20-30 minutes), the batter should be soft silky smooth.

When you drop a small ball of urud batter it should not dissolve in water immediately. For grinding rice you can use more water.The batter can Now add rice batter to urud little by little mixing them gently with your hands. In hot summer batter would ferment easily without the addition of yeast. I use yeast because in addition to fermenting it adds protein. Fermented batter is fluffy. You are ready for idli making

Whether you are making idli cooker or ordinary pressure cooker, add water just enough (about 5 cups). not to come too close to the bottom plate. Let water boil, before you place the idli stand.
You can make 16 idlies, 4 in each plate stacking four plates one above the other. (Photo)
Grease the mould. Ladle ¼ c batters. Assemble the plates. Use high heat. Place the idli stand in the center of boiling water in the cooker. Close the lid. When the idli is cooked (about 6 minutes) you can smell it

Remove the stand from the cooker. Separate the plates. Let it cool for a few minutes.
Touch the idli with your fingers to see it s cooked. You can feel the softness. It bounces back. Using a butter knife, you can remove the idlies from the mould. Taste to make sure that idlies turned out the way you wanted, Serve idlies with your favorite chutney, sambar or idli powder