Idli recipe

5 from 18 votes

The best recipe for soft, fluffy idli, a south Indian rice and lentil cake that's delicious, gut-friendly and extremely healthy. Serve for breakfast or as a snack.

Prep Time20

Cook Time10

Soaking and fermenting time16

Total Time16 30

Course: Breakfast/Brunch

Cuisine: South Indian

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings: servings (about 48 to 50 idlis)

Calories: 168kcal

Author: Vaishali · Holy Cow Vegan

Equipment

Large stockpot or pressure cooker
Idli mold

Ingredients

1 cup urad dal (black gram dal)
½ teaspoon methi seeds (fenugreek seeds)
2 cups basmati rice (you can substitute half with brown rice)
¼ cup poha (flattened rice)
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups water (for blending rice and lentils, plus more for soaking)

Instructions

Soak rice and urad dal

Place the rice and poha in a bowl. Place the urad dal and fenugreek seeds in another bowl.
Cover the dal and the rice with at least two inches of water.
Set the bowls aside at least eight hours or overnight. The lentils and the rice should have absorbed a good deal of water and puffed up.

Make the idli batter

Drain the lentils and blend them with a cup of water. The lentils should be very smooth, with no grittiness at all. Remove the lentil batter to a large bowl (see recipe notes below).
Drain the rice and blend it with a cup of water. This time, blend until the rice is smooth but you feel a very slight grittiness when you rub the batter between your thumb and forefinger.

Ferment the batter

Add the rice batter to the lentil batter in the bowl. Use your clean hand to mix the rice and lentil batters together. The warmth of your hand will help the bacteria in the batter get started on the fermentation process. Cover the bowl with a lid or cling wrap. Set the batter aside in a warm spot to ferment at least eight hours or overnight. If your kitchen is cool, place it in an unheated oven with the light on.
After eight hours or by morning the batter should be very puffy. Disturbing the surface lightly with a spoon will reveal the bubbling underneath. This is exactly what you want. Add salt to the batter and mix it in.

Steam the idlis:

Add an inch of water to a stockpot large enough to fit the idli mold.
Lightly oil or spray each of the cups in the idli mold. Fill them up with the idli batter, leaving about ½ cm of space at the top for the idlis to rise. To avoid making a mess, fill the bottom plate first, then slide on the second plate, fill it, then slide on the third plate, fill it, and so on.
Place the idli mold in the pot and turn on the heat to medium high. Once the water in the pot boils, cover the pot with a lid and set the timer to 10 minutes. At the end of 10 minutes the idlis should have risen slightly and the tops should have domed.
Remove the idli mold from the pot and let it cool about 5 minutes. Separate the plates and carefully slide the handle of a thin spoon or knife around each idli, then pop it out of the mold. Repeat for remaining idli batter, oiling the idli mold before you pour in the batter.
Serve the idlis hot.

Notes

The consistency of the idli batter should be similar to a pancake batter.
Make sure the bowl you use to ferment the idli batter is quite large because the idli batter will rise upon fermentation. If you aren't sure it's large enough, place a plate under the bowl to catch any batter that overflows.
The sizes of idli molds and their cups can vary. If the cups of the idli mold you are using are deeper, you might need an additional minute or two in the steamer. Pierce the center of the idli with a knife - it's done if there's no wet batter sticking to the knife.
Don't wait too long to unmold the idlis after steaming because it will be a little harder to slide them out once they cool.
Clean the idli mold of any bits of batter still clinging to it before you steam more idlis. Also be sure to oil the mold before each use.
This recipe makes enough idlis to feed an army, so feel free to halve the recipe. The fermented batter can be stored in the fridge for up to a week - pop it out and make fresh idlis when you want to eat them.

Nutrition