Podi Idli (spicy fried idlis) and Appe

Bangalore has restaurants serving south indian food at every nook and corner, small places serving fresh hot tasty idlis, variety of dosas and mixed rice variations.
Popularly called 'darshini', these are quick efficient places, where you may need to stand around a table and gobble down your food..The menus are written on a black board or in more fancy ones, displayed with colourful pictures alongside...
This reminds me of a place I had gone to with a friend, who was not too familiar with the local language and cuisine...On the menu, they had a line saying 'hot baths available' and she couldn't understand how a person could have a hot bath here !
It was really hilarious because the 'bath' here was actually a misspelt 'bhath', which means rice and 'hot baths' meant you would get hot tamarind rice, lemon rice, coconut rice, etc...



With so many little restaurants all over the place, I was pleasantly surprised to see 'South Indies', a very upmarket, fancy place open in Bangalore, serving vegetarian South Indian food...The first time I have ever eaten 'podi idlis' was at this place and they were really delicious...Simple to make with leftover idlis, and really tasty, its a standard snack at home now...



I tend to get bored having the same type of breakfast everyday, so when I make the batter for idlis, its idlis on day 1, podi idlis with the remaining idlis, as an afternoon snack, appe/paniyarams on day 2, dosas on day 3 and if there is any batter remaining, it becomes rava dosa on day 4 !
Here's a look at the appe getting done on the pan...



I make my molaga podi from Usha's recipe. It turns out so good, that my MTR chutney podi has been neglected completely now



The idlis from Madhuram's recipe on Beyond Curries


Podi Idli

What you need -

4 idlis (these should ideally be leftover idlis, not hot ones)
2 tbsp molaga podi
1 tsp mustard seeds
a few curry leaves
2 tsp til / gingelly oil

What you do with it -

Cut the idlis into wedges or bite sized pieces
Heat the oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and curry leaves
Once the mustard splutters, add half the podi
Add the idli pieces and stir
Add the remaining podi and another tsp of oil
Fry on low heat till it gets a nice brown colour
Serve hot


Appe

2 cups idli batter
1 onion
handful of coriander leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp salt

Mix all the ingredients
Heat the appe kadai / paniyaram chaati / Aebleskiver pan on a low flame
Put in a dot of oil in each cavity and swirl the pan around so the oil coats the entire cavity
Spoon in the batter into the cavity, upto 3/4th level of the cavity
Cover the pan and keep on low heat
After about 3 mins, turn each appe over and keep on heat for 1 more min

Serve with chutney, sambar, molaga podi