A decade back, people associated south Indian cuisine with food dishes like Idli, Dosa, Wada and Sambhar. But south Indian cuisine is much more than that and is versatile too. Like the humble idli and its variants and how many more new dishes can be made with it. I always make chili idli, which many of my vegetarian guests admire. This is a simple dish inspired from the popular dish called chili chicken, but chicken is replaced with idli and the rest of the recipe remains the same.
Idli is the steamed rice cake made by combining two parts of uncooked rice to one part urad lentil. The dal and rice is soaked separately for at least four hours and then grounded to a fine paste in special stone grinder and left to ferment overnight during which the volume will become more than double. After fermentation, the batter is seasoned and then steamed in idli steamer for 10-12 minutes to get steamy hot rice cakes that are traditionally served with sambhar and coconut chutney. Mixtures of crushed dry roasted spice known as milagai podi are the preferred dry condiment for idlis eaten on the go or as a lunch box idea for the kids. I remember from my school days when one of my south Indian friends from Kerala used to bring his cotton soft idlis and we always exchanged our lunch boxes.
The origin of idli is still unclear, but there are mainly two stories associated with its origin. The first story states that the idli came from Indonesia, where they have a long history of using food products especially rice that are fermented and steamed either in banana leaf or plain steamed. The second theory states that Arab travellers used to travel to south India for trade and carried steamed rice cakes because of their ignorance on Indian food and being the safest option considering the halal food requirements they follow. So they consumed these steamed rice cakes with coconut paste and thus introduced this dish to the southern part of India.
In addition, idlis have been considered one of the top ten healthiest foods in the world due to the ingredients and the process it is made from. Only overnight fermentation will result in a soft and fluffy idli. Chefs working abroad have tried adding yeast for a faster fermentation but have failed and the end product is a rock solid inedible idli. The process of idli fermentation is different as compared to bread fermentation. Rice has little gluten so something else is needed to ensure air bubbles that make the idli fluffy. The bacteria similar to the one that is present in yoghurt is required to make soft idlis and this action of releasing the gas is slower as compared to the yeast, where it acts too fast and produces bubbles that would escape the batter before it gets thick enough.
One convenient option of making soft idlis is to get readymade grounded dry idli podi and soak it with water. Leave it overnight to get the same soft batter to make your idlis. I even came across an online article about a B Tech graduate entrepreneur who made a fortune by supplying idli podi batter and powders in South India.

Chili Idli

Ingredients
Steamed Idlis 12 no
Onion 1 no
Bell pepper 1 no
Garlic 1 tbsp
Ginger 1 tbsp
Star anise 1 no
Oil 1 tbsp
Green chili 2 no
Soy sauce 1 tsp
Tomato ketchup 4 tbsp
Red chili paste 1 tbsp
Corn flour 2 tbsp
Curry leaves 2 sprigs
Coriander leaves 5-6 sprigs
Spring onion 2-3 stalks
Salt to taste
Oil to fry

Method
Cut each idli diagonally twice to get 4 pieces from an idli, keep aside.
Cut the onion and bell peppers into 1 inch dices.
Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan to medium heat and deep fry the idli cubes until they turn light golden and crispy.
You can also shallow fry from both sides to reduce the oil absorption in idli.
Drain off the excess oil and allow to stand on paper towel.
Heat oil in a wok and sauté garlic, ginger, green chili followed by onion cubes and star anise.
Cook till the onion is translucent then add bell pepper dices followed by soya sauce, tomato ketchup, chili paste and curry leaves and stir.
Add the crispy fried idli and toss into wok to mix the ingredients and coat the idli.
Add little moisture if required and dissolve the corn flour in water and pour slowly into the wok, stirring continuously.
Add chopped coriander leaves and adjust the seasoning.
Serve hot sprinkled with chopped spring onion.