Sorghum Millet Amaranth Uthappam

The preparation for this would need to begin the previous day. Depending on the room temperature and humidity, the soaking and fermenting time would differ. There is no easy way to find out how long it would take. If you already make idlis and dosas, you would have an idea of the effect of the weather conditions on batters in your locality.

In Bangalore in October, the soaking time is about 6 hours and the fermenting time is about 8 hours. Better to soak the grains the previous morning and make the batter by late evening.

The batter should be slightly thick, while slightly slimy. Urad dal gives this sliminess to the batter. Watery batter will not give you a good experience. When in doubt, start with little water and add as you go.

I hear that not adding salt to the batter slows down the fermentation, which you would want if you would like to store the batter for longer than a day or two. While it may be true, I have not been able to verify this yet. You could always add salt right before you start making the uthappams.

Check out Sharmi’s Kaara Chutney recipe for the perfect accompaniment.

Yields: map[Count:15]

Preparation time: map[Count:40]

Cooking time: map[Count:30]

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of sorghum kernels (jowar)
  • 1½ cup of rice
  • ¾ cup of split de-husked black gram (urad dal)
  • 1 tbsp of fenugreek seeds
  • Salt per taste
  • ½ cup of chopped amaranth leaves
  • 1½ litres of water
  • 2 tbsp of sesame oil

Directions

  • Soak the sorghum millet, rice, urad dal and the fenugreek seeds for about 6 hours (if the room temperature is lower than 20° C, soak for 8 to 12 hours) in about 1.2 litres of water.
  • Once soaked, grind the grains with enough water to submerge the grains—no more, no less—in the grinder jar. Grind to a fine paste. The paste should feel thick-but-slightly-slimy to touch.
  • Add salt per taste.
  • Leave the batter overnight to ferment a little.
  • Chop fresh amaranth to prepare to make the uthappam.
  • Place a cast iron griddle on the stove and coat it with sesame oil.
  • Lower the flame once the griddle is hot.
  • Spread about 150 ml of the batter like a pancake.
  • Top the uthappam with chopped amaranth leaves.
  • Cover the uthappam with a lid to speed up the cooking.
  • Wait about 30 seconds (this will depend on the flame size and heat intensity; check for slight browning of the bottom of the uthappam)
  • Spray oil on the top of the uthappam and flip it.
  • Cover and cook again for about 20 seconds. Ensure not to burn the amaranth or the uthappam.
  • Serve with kaara chutney.

Category: Breakfast

Cuisine: Indian

Tags: South indian

inspired by Crazy Kadchi from Shalini Rajani