Chennai Cuisine

Chennai Cuisine is a UK made batter brand produced by Sri Lakshmi Narayana Ltd. Its batter is soaked and stone ground the way it would be in a South Indian home, then left to ferment on its own, with no artificial flavourings, colours or preservatives. Both batters are suitable for vegetarians.

The batters sit in idli and dosa batter, part of our chilled and dairy department. The classic batter steams into soft, spongy idli and spreads into thin, golden dosa. The multigrain batter cooks a little darker and nuttier, with more texture on the tongue. For those who grind at home, idli rice and urad dal are on the grocery shelves, and instant dosa and idli mixes are there for the cupboard.

The multigrain pack advises against cooking straight from the fridge, and both batters behave best at room temperature. Stir gently, add salt to taste, and avoid beating out the air. For idli, fill greased moulds and steam for ten to twelve minutes. For dosa, heat a tawa well, pour a ladle in the centre, spread it outwards in circles and drizzle a little gingelly oil around the edge. Batter a day or two older is ideal for uttapam topped with onion, tomato and green chilli, or for kuzhi paniyaram. Serve with sambar made with sambar powder, coconut chutney and a little idli podi mixed with oil.

Keep the batter in the fridge. It keeps fermenting slowly and turns a little more sour each day, which many people prefer for dosa, so leave room in the tub and use it within the date on the pack.