Wild rice idlis with brinjal sambhar

   We are ardent fans of South Indian food.My husband loves the thought of steaming hot idlis with spicy chutney and dunk them into steaming sambhar.Over the years I have learnt and perfected the sambhar recipe which has been loved by all who have eaten at our place.Today the recipe for sambhar is only with vegetables.I have used brinjal and I often substitute various vegetables as this sambhar is light and very quick to make and it also uses up left over chutney in case you have some in the fridge.I am putting the recipes down for each one.
    The wild rice idlis were made as I had this packet of wild rice lying with me last 8 months and I never used it as the thought of black rice was difficult to imagine on my plate.Well the experiment turned out good only less fluffy but the taste is very nice.The colour was a bit grey but the taste is great.I made dosas too out of the batter, they were crisp and very tasty.Wild rice is very good for diabetes.
Idlis
Ingredients
Wild rice                      200 gms
Parboiled/normal rice    250 gms
Urad dal (white)            200 gms
methi leaves                  1 tsp( helps in fermenting)
salt                                2 tsp
Method
Soak rice and dal separately overnight.Add methi to rice too.Next morning grind the urad dal with little water to a fine paste.Keep aside and whip well.Grind the rice to a fine paste too.Mix into the dal and add salt. Adjust batter to pouring consistency.Keep  aside for 8 hours till the batter is double.Grease the idli stand with ghee and pour spoonfulls in each slot.Steam for about 10 mins and allow to cool.With a sharp spoon, de- mould idlis and serve with sabhar and chutney.Tastes great with Chilli tamarind chutney too.

BrinjalSabhar
Ingredients
Brinjal                         1 cup chopped
Chopped onions           1 cup
chopped tomatoes        3 nos
crushed garlic               2 tbsp
coconut grated              2 tbsp
roasted bengal gram      1 tbsp
ginger                            1 tsp
curry leaves                    2 tbsp
hing                                1/4 tsp
mustard seeds                 1/2 tsp
cumin                              1/2 tsp
methi                               1/2 tsp
tamrind pulp                     2 tbsp
sambhar powder                2 tsp
chilli powder                    1/2 tsp
coriander powder             2 tsp
haldi                                 1/2 tsp
salt to taste
oil                                     1 tbsp
chopped coriander to garnish
        
Method
Grind coconut, garlic,gram and few curry leaves to a paste.Heat oil and add hing, all the seeds and let them crackleAdd curry leaves.Add the vegetables and saute.Add the paste and saute till a nice aroma comes. Add all the dry powders and saute well.Add water and pressure cook  for 5-6 mins.Let it cool.Open the cooker and pour in the tamarind paste.cook for 2 mins to absorb the tastes well.Top with chopped coriander and serve hot with idlis.