ULTRA Grind and Pride: the softest Idlis, Dosas and Vadas

By Asha | Feb 9, 2009 | AromaHope blog

ULTRA Grind:
This wet grinder post has nothing to do with any event at all, unless there is a gadget event is going on! :D

Some of my readers wanted to know how I liked it and whether it works as it promises. So I thought I would try grinding something first and then post some pics about it. I made idli batter with this, came out so soft and fluffy, I regret waiting all these yrs to buy one! Only thing I thought was that I should have bought the smaller 1.2L ULTRA Pride wet grinder since we are just 4 in the family and don't make a large quantity of batter usually, do not make ildis and dosas often.

Both of these grinders comes with Atta kneader attachment. I tried it once for making chapati dough, it works okay. Kneader struggles a bit for kneading once it formsthe atta into dough. I still prefer my KitchenAid professional stand mixer for kneading dough anyday.
Coconut grater attachment is not recommended by Inno Concepts for some reason, I didn't buy it. Sumeet will do a great job for powdering dry ingredients and small amount of chutney etc.

I bought this ULTRA GRIND here at Inno Concepts, Inc. which is in Atlanta, GA. They ship within a week and are very helpful if you have any questions. Here is the demo video.

ULTRA GRIND as it is just out of the box!

Ultra Grind+ 
(Pic courtesy: AromaHope blog)

Inside, two granite slanted cone grinders with plastic scraper on the side:

Ultra Grind+ gold inner view
(Pic courtesy: AromaHope blog)

You get atta kneader and a purple lid with the grinder but spatula is mine which is a must to push the batter off of the stones without using your hand!

Atta kneader lid of Ultra Grind+ Gold
(Pic courtesy: AromaHope blog)

Grinding rice for Idli:
At first, I added the soaked rice directly inside there but grinders didn't work ie stopped moving. I scraped all out and added 1/3 cup water first, started the machine and then added rice. Worked fine after that! I should have read the manual first! :D

View of batter grinding
(Pic courtesy: AromaHope blog)

Then the soaked and drained Urad dal and Methi seeds:
It took about 20mins to get the softest batter ever; So light that if you drop a glob of batter in water, it floats.That will never happen when you grind it in Sumeet blender, although it grinds to smooth batter!

Late addition: I was so happy with ULTRA Grind, I decided to buy the smaller 1.2L ULTRA Pride as well, it's so cute! Yes, you can call me Craaazzzyy! ;D
This one came with a little cheap looking plastic spatula too, along with a atta kneader.

I ground Coconut masala in the smaller Pride, it works well but doesn't grind very smooth unless you add a bit of hot water to it. ULTRA Grind does a better job grinding the masala smooth but you need to grind a large amount like 2 cups or so.

Note: 
Add 1/3 cup of cold water first when you are grinding rice and Urad dal and 1/3 cup of hot water when you are grinding masala with coconut. Coconut tends to get thick if you add cold water and makes it hard to grind, hot water thins the coconut. Little things I learnt after grinding both. You have use the spatula to push the masala in a bit but it's easier to do since the top of the grinder is open unlike the mixer where you have to stop and then push it down and start again.

Dill masala Paratha dough kneaded with atta kneader attachment in the smaller ULTRA Pride, took less than 2 minutes! It gathers the flour etc quickly to a ball but kneading the dough is a bit tricky, machine stops once the ball is formed.
For kneading bread dough for baking, I still need to use my Kitchenaid kneader hook!

To read the full article, please visit the original blog - Ultra Grind and Pride: Softest Idlies, dosas and Vadas!