One of the archetypal discoveries of mankind has to be sheathing food in leaves and steaming or roasting them. What a gift of craftsmanship would have been possessed by the person who discovered this typical style of cooking. These recipes using leaves dispensed with the need for elaborate cookware, but the cooks, in subsequent efforts, apparently learnt that these methods of cooking have huge health perks too. The jackfruit leaves are dense in antioxidants and this form of steaming idlis in leaves incorporates all the juices and flavours of the leaves into the idlis. And what better ways do we have to incorporate these leaves into our cooking? I even love how turmeric leaves, banana leaves, sal leaves, screw pine (kedige) leaves, betel leaves and even mantharai leaves find their ways into kitchens of almost so many states of India to make steamed dumplings, idlis and sweet kadubus.
Kotte Kadubu was a familiar affair when I was living in Mangalore in the 90’s and even when I used to frequent to Udupi. Gradually the clanking idli plates and fancy steamers made way into the kitchens and these eco friendly options slowly became forgotten fascinations. The moode made from the screw pine leaves is another beautiful recipe made for breakfast in the temple town and I think there are a very handful of folks who actually know the art of making the moode moulds perfectly. My dad would say, a perfect moode would actually unmould itself from the outer pine mould and the mould could be used again. I so wish to learn this art form once I get my hands on the screw pine plant.
Idlis are best when made with Kusubalakki (Kusubala Akki or Kuchalakki), which gives a soft texture to idlis when cooked. Kuchalakki refers to a range of bold, rainfed rice varieties grown in the coastal and Malenadu regions of Karnataka, which are usually processed into parboiled rice and used as part of the staple diet in these regions.
Kusubalakki has to be soaked first in order to be used in idlis. I’ve used the unpolished, parboiled “brown” Kusubalakki, locally sourced, for my recipe. The idlis turn out a little off white in colour but the texture is more pillowy, tender and flower like. If you don’t have this rice, you could use any idli rice. Ambasamudram idli rice or Ambai 16 is an improved variety, but a reliable choice for recipes like this.
Kotte Kadubu
Ingredients
For the moulds
- 20 jackfruit leaves for making 5 Kadubus
- 20 Coconut Sticks or toothpicks
For the idli batter
- 1 cup Urad Dal / Black gram split lentil
- 1 cup Flattened Rice (Avalakki)
- 1 cup Tapioca Pearls
- 3 cups Kusubalakki (or other parboiled idli rice)
- 4-5 cups Water
- Salt to taste
Instructions
Make the Moulds, ideally an evening ahead
- Watch this video to see how I made the moulds.
For the idli batter
- Wash and soak the urad dal, tapioca pearls and poha/avalakki for about 5 hours. Wash and soak Kusubalakki in another container for about 5-6 hours.
- Grind the urad dal and poha to a fine paste by adding some water. Grinding in a stone grinder will give you better results.
- Tip the ground urad dal batter to a large vessel.
- In the same grinder, add the soaked rice and grind till it turns a little coarse with a little water.
- Now mix both the batters well, add salt and water to bring it into a cake batter consistency.
- Keep it aside for fermentation for 12–14 hours. Depending on the weather conditions, the batter will double or triple itself.
For making the kadubus
- Pour in the idli batter into the moulds. You can trim off the edges of the moulds if you feel they are taking a lot of vertical space in the steamer.
- Steam the idlis in a idi steamer or pressure cooker with the whistle removed. This needs about 15 minutes to be done.
- Peel off the leaves, make sure you remove the tooth picks or sticks and serve hot with a sambhar and chutney.
