Idly Fry - Chinese Inspired | Indo-Chinese Appetizers

Idli is a popular South-Indian breakfast item and is our all time favorite and comfort food. I had been struggling to get the idli batter fermented well during winter. I used to place the batter in the conventional oven (turned off of course) but it still takes long. Come summer, I am very happy about the batter getting fermented well and even happier about softer idlies. These days I am making an extra batch of idlis. I use that batch for making Idli upma or Podi Idli for our next day meal. This time though I wanted to make something interesting for our weekend breakfast. So quickly came up with this chinese inspired Idli fry.

Ingredients:

Idli - 10 - Each cut into 6 or 8 pieces
Onion - sliced thin - 1/2 cup
Ginger paste - 1/4 tsp
Garlic paste - 1/4 tsp
Green bell pepper - julienned - 3/4 cup
Tomato paste or Tomato ketchup - 1/3 cup (I used Diluted Tomato chilli sauce, and left out the chilli)
Green chilli - 2 - sliced thin - optional
Soy Sauce - 2 tbsp (I used low sodium variety)
Green Onions/Scallions - chopped - 2 tbsp - For garnish
Oil
Salt to taste
Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix the idli pieces with 1 tbsp of oil, salt and chilli powder. Make sure the idli pieces are evenly coated with salt and chilli powder. Transfer it to a foil lined cookie sheet and bake for 30 mins, turning the pieces once in between. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a wide bottomed pan and add the the chillis if using. Now saute the onions until golden brown. Add the ginger-garlic paste and saute for 2 mins. Turn the heat to medium high and add the bell peppers and saute for about 3-4 mins. It should be crunchy. Add the tomato paste and soya sauce. Turn off the heat, add salt to taste and the idli pieces and mix it gently to coat the sauce. Do not tend to overmix, as it may break the idli pieces. Garnish with green onions and serve for breakfast or a quick snack. 

Note: You could alternatively deep fry or shallow fry the idli pieces, but I preferred this method.
Sending this to CBB - #4 Chinese Cuisine event by Radhika of Tickling Palates. Check out her space, she has a very interesting theme every month.