Idly Seekh Kebabs - A Fusion Recipe from Four Regions of India

Most of the traditional recipes from India are simple and are cooked with commonly available indigenous ingredients. These recipes can be easily adapted in any other cuisine of the world. The humble lentils or Daal, quick veggie curries, Indian flat breads are loved by one and all.

I have been cooking many fusion recipes to give a new dimension and also to add health factor to the original recipes. Some of which are on Lite Bte;

A refreshing Upma or couscous salad, 

Traditional Lapsi with a flavorful twist  

The very famous Gajar Ka Halwa in a new avatar  

It was a pleasant surprise when I received a mail from a blogger friend asking me to be a part of an exciting online event IBL inspired and based on the lines of IPL cricket matches. 
The group members of IBL asked me to represent their Food genre for Chennai team!
It certainly is a pleasure to work with a bunch of energetic, young and fun loving bloggers for a lovely cause of spreading awareness about blogging through the net.
I was given a topic of fusion recipe which has a mix of all the four regions of India, which is really is a tough topic to work upon.

Being a Chennaite for a long time I wanted to keep one of my favorite recipes, the ubiquitous Idlies from South India as the base recipe without giving a much thought about what the final fusion recipe would look like.

After much brainstorming, the idea of turning mini  Idlies into something exciting and fun recipe struck when my son asked me to make veggie Sheekh kebabs for weekend.

This fusion recipe Idly Seekh Kebab has Idlies, a staple from the South India, commonly used soya sauce marinate from East India, famous green chutney with sesame form West India and the very popular concept of Seekh kebabs from North India. 

 

Ingredients;

• 1 cup Idly batter
• 1 medium red bell pepper
• 1 medium onion
• 1 small broccoli
• 2 tbsp Olive oil
• ½ tsp. pepper powder
• Any dried herb or Chaat masala (optional)
• Salt as desired
• Oil for deep frying

Marinate for Idlies

• 2 tbsp All purpose flour
• 2 tbsp plain water
• 1 tsp. Soya sauce
• ½ tsp. black pepper powder
• Salt as desired

  

Method; Make small idlies using the batter and keep them to cool completely. Wash and dice red bell pepper, onion and broccoli into small cubes.

Mix salt, pepper and soya sauce in the all purpose flour (maida) flour. Add water to make a semi solid batter (not the runny kind).

  

Heat oil in a wok. Dip each mini Idly in the soya sauce and deep fry till they turn golden brown in color.

 

Drain the fried Idlies on a tissue paper. Look at the idly from the center in the above picture, it remains soft inside and crisp from outside. 

Heat 1 tbsp. oil in another wok and add all the diced veggies, pepper powder, salt and herb (if using) in it. Cook at high heat for just about 2 minutes. Take out from the fire.

   
Take 2 skewers and arrange all the veggies and the fried idlies shown in the picture.

Sprinkle Chaat masala (if using) and grill it for 5 minutes.

 
Serve the Idly veggie Sheekh Kebabs with Fresh Plum chutney or green chutney. 

Green Chutney with Sesame Seeds

 

Ingredients;

• ½ cup sesame seeds
• 1 cup fresh coriander leaves
• 2 green chillies
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp cumin powder

    
Method; Pick leaves from the coriander bunch and wash it well. Dry roast the sesame seeds till they turn light brown in colour.

Grind all the ingredients together into a fine paste.

 
Serve these Idly Sheekh Kebabs with tangy Plum Preserve or Apple and mint Chutney. Your idlies will not be the same again!

Notes;

1. A day’s old idlies will make perfect kebabs as the idlies will get firm and will retain its shape when fried.
2. Use Dhokla batter and make small idlies and follow the same recipe to make Dhokla Kebabs.
3. Serve the dish in a plate with the chutney if you don’t have skewers at home, arrange all the fried Idlies around the bowl of chutney and serve.   
4. The last step of grilling is optional; you can serve the idlies in the skewers as it is, as all the veggies are pre cooked.
5. Sprinkle a dash of lemon juice before serving.
6. I used a mix of black and white sesame seeds in the recipe.

This post has been published by me as a part of IBL; the Battle of Blogs, sponsored by WriteupCafe.com. Join us at our official website and facebook page. www.indianbloggersleague.com; www.facebook.com/IndianBloggersLeague 

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