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South Indian Idlis
By
DK
on Jan 26, 2009
I grew up to the smell of idlis, fresh out of the pressure cooker/steamer, when I woke up in the morning. These Steamed Rice cakes are classic and traditional for breakfast in many South Indian households. Starting out the day munching these soft, fluffy and pillowy cakes dipped in spiced chutney powder and onion chutney (or tomato chutney or coconut chutney or sambar or ALL OF THE THEM(yummo)) was a norm - a regular day to day affair. If you noticed and raised your eyebrows at the word "was", then I have recount the story of how it became "was" to how it has become an "is" currently. After marriage, with full gusto, I tried to make these goodies for breakfast. But it was a total disaster. I was stunned. I had made idlis so many times with my mom (and how can I even forget the cleaning of that huge wet grinder that fell on my list of chores to do!), the recipe is ridiculously simple - so how can it be even messed up!? I wondered if I had a sheer talent of being probably the only one South Indian in the entire universe to have messed up something like Idlis.
A quick internet search and a frantic call home ("Moooom! I am losing it! I made a boo boo with idlis!! Don't disown me plsssssss") revealed astounding details that I never thought twice (or took granted) back home). One word - "Fermentation". The humid and hot Indian climate has always been an strong ally for fermentation and if you were like me, you never thought to associate something like weather and fermentation together before (yeah I am dumb - go on say it!). It was always a methodical process in my mind - Grind Rice + Grind lentils + Mix batter + Add salt + Stir with hands + Close lid and set aside overnight + clean grinder(!!) = "Overflowing, lightly sour smelling batter" ready in the morning. Simple. Right?
In Seattle ( U.S of A) winter or even during summer in fact, my Idli's fell flat thanks to the "winter" fermentation - i.e the lack of it. One year full of various "tips" and "tricks", failures, gooey chewy nonsense in the name of idlis later, things came together and I made what we South Indians take for granted - "THE" idli. Phew! Here are few pointers to save yourself from alien idlis. If one tip does not work, try another. Try them all - separately or together. But don't give up! You will know why when you make "THE" idli :)
- Tips and Tricks for making that quintessential Idli (Thanks to Mom, Experience, Jugalbandits, Cooking With Siri, Hemant Trivedi)
- Clean the Rice in cold, filtered water (chlorine free)
- Do not wash Lentils (Whole Urad dal, skinned (Urad Gota))
- The best ally of Idli batter is the wet grinder. It helps in incorporating more air into the lentil batter. The more you grind, better the result.
- Use as little water as possible to grind the batter to a smooth consistency.
- Use the soaking water (where you soaked the rice and lentils) to grind the batter. Do not throw away the soaking water when you drain rice/lentils.
- For Fermentation (ideal temperature 80-90F)
- Addition of Fenugreek seeds aids in the fermentation process
- If you have Oven: Preheat the over at 200 F for 10- 15 minutes. Turn off and place the loosely covered vessel (with idli batter) in the rack. After 5-6 hours, remove the vessel, pre-heat again for 10 minutes and put back for fermentation. Sometimes placing the container, wrapped in shawl, in the oven with the oven lights switched on during the night also helps.
- In case of Room heater: Before going to sleep, place the container wrapped in a old shawl/ thick blanket, in the room. By morning, you should see the batter has fermented.
- This works for me every single time - I soak some rice flakes in yogurt (with live cultures) and then grind it along with the lentil. The cultures in the yogurt helps in fermentation. I used to do this until I came across this list by Hemant trivedi who recommends NOT doing so
- If none of the above works, you can use Yeast mixed with water and sugar, proof it and add it to the batter. It tends to give yeasty taste to the batter instead of the sour, tangy taste.
- Or use fruit salt just before steaming the idlis.
References
mom and my kitchen notes
Basic Information
Prep Time: 8 hours to 1 day
Cook Time: Under 15 min
Serves: 8+ people
Yield: Makes around 32-40 idlis depending on the Idli mold
Ingredients
- 3 cups par boiled rice/Idli Rice/puzhungal arisi (see Tips)
- 1 cup Urad dal (whole skinned black lentils)**
- salt to taste
- about a fistful of cooked rice (see Tips)
Tips
Method
1
Soak the lentil and par boiled rice separately for at least 6-8 hrs. I have used Wet grinder to make my batter but you can do the same with your food processor. First add the rice in your grinder and grind it well. The batter will not be smooth but little coarse-grained.
2
Remove and set aside in a large bowl. In the same grinder ( you don't have to wash/clean) add the lentil along with cooked rice.
3
Grind it once again. This takes longer and the more you grind, better the idlis. You need to keep adding little water now and then. You will notice that the batter doubles up in volume when ground. When the batter is smooth ( feels like satin), remove and pour it along with rice batter.
4
Add salt, mix well and set aside
5
The next day, after fermenting, stir the batter well. I have a non stick Idli plate
6
You can use small bowls if you don't have these plates to make them too.Pour out the batter in each of the plates.
7
Place it in a pressure cooker (no weights reqd.) with little water underneath ( take care since lots of water will make the idlis in the last plate soggy and too little water will burn the bottom of the cooker!) or if you dont own a pressure cooker,use a steamer. Cook for 10 in high flame and then lower it to min for last 5.
8
They are done when a little stick/spoon pricked in the middle comes out clean.
Cool them for 1-2 minutes and then serve warm with suggested accompaniments. have you tried them with some Ghee and sugar? I know its kiddie combo but I still love it :)
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77 Responses to “South Indian Idlis”
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Thanks a looottttttttt!!!!!!
The oven method works great for me..
I love the recipe buti have tried many time but after steam Idlis are not dry or not swallow (khili hue ya phulti nahi hai in hindi). please advise
ans also suggest can we grind in mixi machine or not ?
The batter has come out well. I used only two parts of rice to one part of Urad dal as I was a little apprehansive about three parts of rice. Plese can you assure me of this so when I make it again I can use three parts of rice. Also please could you provide us with good and simple recipe for Samhar, corriender chutney and tomato chutney? Many thanks.
Very clear and detailed instructions and explanation for making Idli for a layman like me. I am going to make idili this week-end and let you know the result. Thank you.
Csn we use Basmsti rice or not? Do we need to soak more? Do we need to boil it?
Have you ever tried making idlis in chinese style? If not and interested in the recipe, visit my website/blog.
Thanks so much for this recipe! It was truly, extremely useful
Hi – thanks for the recipe. What is par boiled rice? I have regular medium grain rice – will that work?
Its available in Indian stores–DK
im confused about rice and lentils .i rinse rice then soalk 30 mi then put fresh water to cook about 30 min with lid until water is gone and rice is fluffy….lentils usually follow same procesd so are we just soaking rice then draining to grind not boiling? and are lentils just dry put into grinder?i have an oriental bamboo steamer and small ramikins bowls will that work or i also have arice cooker that is also a steamer will that work? is there no sugar in this? thanks gail roberts
hi. i didn’t understand in the tips section you wrote instead of cooked rice you can add rice flakes as well..so my question is can rice be replaced with poha..will it nt make any diference in the tatse of the recipe? …looking forward for ur reply..TIA
Hi Divya, Could you let me know where can I buy the non-stick idli plates? Thanks.
My mom got it for me before I came to US in Chennai. So no idea where to find this in the US –DK
Thank you for your recipe!
Hi, I was wondering, why do my idli’s always come hard, I do exactly as you do, except my idli’s come out hard.
There are multiple reasons – Grinding in a wet grinder adds more air into the batter thereby helping it to make it soft. Proper fermentation is extremely crucial for soft idlis. And last but not the least is the time you cook the idlis. Ideally you would need to steam them for about 10-12 minutes in a regular idli steamer. Overcooking also makes them hard. –DK
Hi:
I love the recipe. It is very thorough. I will be trying it this weekend. I am completely alien to south indian cooking so I had a really silly question. The cooked rice used in this recipe ..are they the regular everyday basmati rice cooked? Or is it cooked idli rice? I will appreciate your response
Its regular rice not parboiled/idli rice. I use raw rice not the basmati variety, but cooked basmati should work too –DK
Hi DK, What about those making it in their mixie? I bought a Premier mixie in the US. I do not have a grinder. Would you be a dear and tell us how to do it with a mixie?
Am going to try your carrot celery soup tonight!
The recipe is same Thamarai. What you would additionally need is loads of patience. Make sure while grinding the Urad to stop at regular intervals to avoid over heating your mixie. Otherwise, the same grinding process