When I was in India I had this thing called “idli”. It tastes amazing dipped in a soup called “sambar”. And dipped in a few pickles which they call “chutney”. Upon inqurring I came to know th at It’s made from mixing fermented rice and fermented dals. Not just the taste but it also feels light on the stomach and it feels ( I am not sure if it actually is) healthy. They also have something called the “dosa” that is like a crepe made from fermenting rice and dals. I strongly suggest trying it. Not all places in the US serve good idli and dosa though. I tried making it in my apartment but the fermentation failed a few times so I gave up.
Dosa and Idli are from the South Side of India. I have roots there, specifically Kerala. In my childhood days, my mom used to make Idli and/or Dosa every single day. She soaked the dals and rice around midday in water and used a blender(Indian blender btw, they start at 500W motor rating and are the 4x4s of the blender world) to grind them to a batter, add salt and kept overnight on the kitchen counter for fermentation. Next day morning, we'd make amazing Idli and/Dosa for breakfast.
Here in Amsterdam, we have a 'Saravana Bhavan' restaurant in De Pijp, they have the best South Indian cuisine in the country. They are a global chain and you may find 'Saravana Bhavan' in North America and in the UK.
The chutney you have encountered is most likely one of the following
Nice to know you liked idli and dosa. I do too, and so do plenty of Indians. They are staples of the diet in south India, and at least dosa/dosai (particularly masala dosa) has spread in popularity to many parts of the world.
A few minor points: the chutney is not a pickle in the sense of not being a fermented item, it's made and eaten fresh, just some ingredients ground up together, maybe fried lightly or not.
>mixing fermented rice and fermented dals
Close, but not quite. The rice and (urad/udid) dal (black gram - not black chickpea, a different species), are wet-ground together and then left to ferment overnight or so. Then the same flour/batter is used to make either idli or dosa. I don't have scientific evidence but idli is likely healthy, so is dosa, due to the fermentation, and idli is nice and light, as you noticed.
>I tried making it in my apartment but the fermentation failed a few times so I gave up.
Try asking an Indian or South Asian friend or acquaintance for advice, or ask on the IndianFood reddit.
P.S. A fantastic variant (IMO) of masala dosa is Mysore masala dosa - at least, that is what it was called, in a small nearby restaurant where I used to have it regularly, when in college in Chennai. The variation is that the filling for the dosa is a dry (actually just a little wet, with the spice mixture), boiled and spiced cowpea (lobia) curry, instead of the potato curry (which is what is called the "masala" in the original). Damn tasty. I used to regularly polish off two of them for lunch in my college days. (Lobia is heavier than potato, and they used to put in a generous amount, so it was a pretty good and heavy enough meal.)
I am a North Indian so idli dosa is not a native food for me, but I use my vitamix to blend up some rice and urad dal into a nice paste, ferment it in a preheated oven, and next day we have excellent dosa. I really like mine crispy so the key is to really cook it until it gets nice and crispy on a nonstick surface.
Tastes great with a coconut based chutney, or even a nice Spicey peanut sauce.
