Idli batter - Soaking: You need to start preparations 12 - 24 hours in advance (of having ready to eat idlis) depending on the ambient temperature. The Rice, daal and methi seeds need to be soaked in water separately for 4 hours, ground to a paste and left to ferment for 12 - 24 hours. Soak the daal in 3x water (i.e. 1.5 cups water for 0.5 cup daal). Wash the rice well and soak in lots of water. Soak the methi seeds in a small bowl.

Idli Batter - Grinding the Daal: Remove the soaked daal from the water and transfer to a grinder. Preserve the water in which it was soaked. Wash the methi seeds well to get rid of the bitterness and put into the grinder on top of the daal. Start grinding with no water and gradually add water to get traction. Use the water in which the daal was soaked. Keep the speed of the ginder slow. Keep mixing and adding water little by little until the whole mixture gets liquidised and flows as one. You...

Idli Batter - Grinding the Rice: Now add the rice to the grinder and grind at low speed while adding water slowly. The rice should not be ground fine. A single session of 20 seconds at low speed after the mix starts flowing should be sufficient. Empty the contents of the grinder into the fermentation vessel. Mix the contents by hand for 5 minutes. This transfers heat to the mix and helps with fermentation.

Idli batter - Fermentation: This is crucial. A well fermented batter gives you light Idlis with a slightly grainy texture and a slightly sour taste. When you dunk the Idli into the Sambar, it should absorb the flavours and crumble in your mouth without having to chew. If this does not go right, you might as well just have sambar with boiled rice.

Idli Batter - Secret to fermentation: The Urad daal is the most important ingredient in the fermentation process. The fermentation is driven by natural yeast within the daal. This is why you need to use whole skinned urad daal and not the split one. The daal should not be washed vigorously. Wash it lightly only once to remove any particles (or don't wash it at all). The water in which the daal was soaked needs to be used for grinding because this contains the precious yeast. After opening the...

Sambar - Cooking the daal: Add 3x water to the toor daal in a pressure cooker (4.5 cups water for 1.5 cups daal) add a pinch of haldi and chilli powder and two tbsp oil. Cook for 6 min after the pressure comes. Let the pressure come down naturally.

Sambar - Tamarind: After putting the daal to cook, heat ~100ml water in a bowl for the tamarind. After the water boils take it off the flame and put the tamarind in and leave to cool.

Sambar - Veggies: Put a frying pan on for the veggies with 2 tbsp oil. Add the finely chopped onion and chopped green chillies and stir. Add 1 tsp ginger garlic paste and stir. Cook the onions until slightly brown. Now add the tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the chopped bottle gourd and cook for a couple of minutes.

Sambar - Veggies: By now the tamarind would have cooled down. Mash it by hand and squeeze out the pulp. Throw out the fibres. No need to put through a strainer. Add the tamarind to the pan and mix. Cut the drumsticks into 3 inch pieces and place on top of the mix in the pan so that it cooks in the steam. Cover the pan and let it cook on a low flame.

Sambar - Veggies: Peel the shallots but keep them whole. Place them on top of the drumsticks and let them cook in the steam.

Sambar - Preparing the Daal: By now the pressure in the cooker would have come down. Open it and mash the daal using a large spoon. Mix the sambar powder with water in a bowl and add it to the daal. Add enough salt for the daal. Add 2 - 3 cups of water into the daal and keep it on the flame. The daal should not be too thick because this would prevent the flavours from mixing. It should not be too thin either.

Sambar - Bringing it together: The drumsticks should have cooked by now. They should have started to split and some seeds should be visible. The shallots should also be cooked and become soft. Add salt to the veggies and mix. Give it a couple of minutes and then add the veggies to the daal. Add some water to get a slightly thick consistency. Let the mix boil for at least 10 min.

Chutney: In the meantime grate the coconut. Fry the roasted channa daal in a little oil for a few seconds and dry grind it after it cools. If you are making this in winter or the coconut has been taken out of the fridge, you need to fry the coconut for a few seconds in the pan otherwise the consistency of the chutney will not be right. Mix the coconut, chillies and daal powder with a little water and grind. The consistency of the chutney should be quite thick. Keep the chutney in the freezer...

Sambar - Tadka: You can now add the tadka to the daal. Heat 2 tbsp coconut oil in a pan. Add a single mustard seed to the oil when it is hot and see if it pops. When it does, add the rest of the mustard seed and wait while they pop. Add the asafatedia, curry leaves, chopped garlic and dry red chillies (broken into pieces) to the oil. Stir well until the garlic is brown and chillies are fragrant. Add the mix to the daal. Stir well and give it a couple of minutes.

Idlis: Leave the idlis to cool for 10 min after removing from the flame. You are now ready to serve.