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Idlis are traditionally a breakfast item but the fact that when served with Sambar and Chutney, they are a full meal and can be enjoyed at any time of the day! Idlis are steamed making them very healthy and very light. You’ll be amazed how many you can eat but then who’s counting? Making Idlis is a process that takes a couple of days but at the end of it, it’s absolutely worth the effort!
Soak time: 6 hrs
Prep time: 20 min
Frement time: 8-12hrs
Cook time: 15 min
Makes 25-30 idlis
Ingredients:
Idli Rava/Cream of Rice – 2 cups (approx 350gms)
Urad Daal – 1 cup (approx 200gms)
Cooked Rice – 1/2 cup (approx 60 gms)
Salt – 1 tsp or to taste
Fenugreek Seeds – 1 tsp
Water – 1.25 cups (for grinding)
Method:
To Make the Batter:
1. Wash the Urad Daal till the water runs clear and then add the Fenugreek seeds and additional water and soak for 4-6 hrs.
2. Wash the Idli Rava and soak in additional water for 4-6 hrs.
3. Drain the water from the Urad Daal and grind it with about 1 cup of water to a smooth consistency.
4. Pour it out into a pot big enough for it to have room for the batter to ferment and rise.
5. Add the cooked Rice to the blender and add in a couple of handfuls of Idli Rava with the water squeezed out. Grind with approximately 1/4 cup of water till it is smooth.
6. Pour and add it to the Urad Daal batter.
7. Squeeze out the water from the balance of the Idli Rava and add to the Urad Daal batter.
8. Add 1 tsp of Salt or to taste.
9. Mix and whip up the batter with your hands till everything is blended well.
10. Cover and allow the batter to ferment in a warm place overnight or for a few hours.
To Make the Idlis:
1. Once the batter has fremented, it will rise.
2. Mix well and add in water, slowly, till the batter is of dropping consistency.
3. Check Salt.
4. Grease the idli stand.
5. Spoon a ladle full of batter into the Idli stand.
6. Stack up the idli plates in alternates, avoid one directly over the other giving the idli space to rise.
7. In a stock-pot or a pressure cooker, add about an inch of water and allow it to come to a boil.
8. Place the Idli stand in the boiing water and close.
9. Make sure there is a vent for the steam to escape.
10. Once the cover is closed, set timer for 15mins.
11. After 15 minutes, take out the stand and spoon out the idlis from the idli plates.
12. Serve with Sambar and Coconut Chutney.
Tips;
1. Idli batter and Idlis freeze very well.
2. Frement the Idli batter in the oven – 180 degrees F, turn off the heat and place the batter in there overnight or frement the Batter in an electric blanket.
3. Store the Idlis in an insulated box till ready to serve.
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20 Responses to “Idli”
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November 24th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Hello mam,
Nice to see u both making idli sambar.
Thanks for the reciepe. Will surely try this version.
Can i give a suggestion? Hope u don mind.
1. If ppl have mixie,they can go ahead with boiled rice (variety of rice)or idli rice instead of idli rava. I do understand that if u us a blender,the batter will heat up while grinding. So,ur recipe is best in this case.
So,ppl can use rice itself.
2. Also ,some of my frnds here have actually hav got the grinder itself to US!
3. Also,i make a batter which i use both for idli and dosa so…i guessed u have two recipes in one.:-)
Here is my version:
Parboiled rice – 1 glass
Raw rice – 1/2 glass
fenugreek seeds – 1 teaspoon
urad dal – half of 3/4. Between 1/4th and 1/2th.
Cooked rice – 2 handfuls(i take 1/4th glass of raw rice n cook it)
Soak it like u did. I have a mixie that i got from india. Gring urad dal first and then the rice. I don add in salt since some salt varieties don allow yeast to grow which is the main thing that happens during fermentation.
Hope this is useful .
Thank u once again for all ur recipies. U ppl are just wonderful.
Cheers
Priya
[Reply]
Anonymous Reply:
June 17th, 2009 at 1:39 am
Hi Priya,
I have inherited a dosa and idli blender from one of my friends who moved back to India, but it has been sitting in my basement unused as I am not sure how to use it as I did not inherit a recipe. Can you please let me know how your friends go about using their blender from India.
Thanks,
Cheryl
[Reply]
December 3rd, 2008 at 12:03 am
Hi Anuja and Hetal,
Your idlis are awesome. I want to know from where u guys got non stick idli stand. I want to buy that stand.
Thanks
Nisha
[Reply]
December 3rd, 2008 at 1:16 am
Hi Nisha,
We got the idli stand from India (Chennai) and really love it. If you can get a hold of it, definately, buy it.
[Reply]
December 4th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Hi Hetal and Anuja,
I really love your recipes.
We make lot of idlis and dosas,iam shopping for blenders in USA.Do You suggest any US brand Blenders(especially for idlis,dosas and masalas)
Thanks in Advance,
Preethi
[Reply]
December 7th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
Hi Hetal & Anuja,
I tried your idli-sambhar recipie and it turned out very well. Thanks for the recipie.
Keep posting.
Daxita
[Reply]
December 14th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Namaste’
I was wondering how long you can ferment the idli batter, before it has off taste? Is 24 hours way too much? I hope not, or else dinner will be ruined. It happens.
Also, you were correct about advising people not to use aluminium pressure cookers, but non-stick is also toxic – it releases chemicals when it gets hot. There is a lot of information on this but people love the convience.
I’s great to have you in our kitchen with us!!
Ellis
[Reply]
December 18th, 2008 at 12:43 am
Well, they turned out great – maybe a little tangy. Along with the sambar, I was eating my fill.
Thanks for both,
Ellis
[Reply]
January 1st, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Hello Hetal and Anuja,
I live in Toronto, Canada, where it is cold for 9 months of the year. I have been trying to make idlis ever since I came to this country 12 years back. But, everytime, I was unsuccessful.
After a friend of mine suggested your website, I tried the idlis and they are soft as ever. I have tried your recipe two or three times and it has been successful. Now, I am confident of making soft idlis even for large get togethers.
I have a suggestion or a tip to offer.Leave the batter in the oven overnight for fermentation with the oven light on. The heat from the light is enough to ferment the batter. Next day., you will find the batter rise and the idlis turn out very soft.
To make yogurt at home:
Boil 1 litre of milk in the microwave for 13 minutes. Cool for sometime, till it is lukewarm. Take a tablespoon of yogurt with a little lukewarm milk and mix well. Add this to the lukewarm milk and mix well. Leave it overnight in the oven with the oven light on. Next morning the yogurt is ready.
[Reply]
January 9th, 2009 at 1:12 am
Hi Hetal and Anuja,
My blender stopped working last week while I was making Idli batter. Which brand blender are you guys using? I’d like to buy a good one.
Thanks,
leena
[Reply]
January 12th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
Hi Leena,
The bleander we have and love is a ‘Cusinart blender’.
We got it from Bed Bath and Beyond.The model# isModel # CBT-500.
Hope that helps.
[Reply]
January 23rd, 2009 at 9:30 pm
Thanks anuja..
[Reply]
February 17th, 2009 at 6:32 am
Hi,
I tried your recepie, the idlis were soft, but they didnt rise, the way restaurant idlis do. So I told tht to one of my south indian friends, she told me the dal to rice ratio should be 3:1 Since the dal was more in my batter the idlis didnt rise that much. My batter was well fermented .
[Reply]
April 22nd, 2009 at 2:39 am
Hii Hetal & Anuja
I would like to know how to freeze idly batter…
[Reply]
May 5th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Hi,
We can buy non-stick Idli stand from hot dishes.com website.
[Reply]
June 5th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Hi,
I just tried making idli for the first time, and it turned out very sour and tasted wrong. Is it possible that the batter fermented too long? If so, how can I stop the fermentation from happening after the batter already rose? I used the oven to start the process…could it have gotten too hot?
Thanks!
Isaac
[Reply]
June 28th, 2009 at 1:26 am
Hi Hetal and Anuja,
Thanks for the awesome recipe. I do not have a pressure cooker – can you advise for how long I will need to steam the idlis in a regular pot?
Thanks,
Laxmi
P.S. I have an electric cook top
[Reply]
September 3rd, 2009 at 7:23 pm
Hallo! I’m from Italy and my little (adopted) boy from Bangalore kept talking about “idlis” and how good they were. So I bought an idli steamer (on the Internet) and I finally found your yummy recipe. I really want to try and make them, but I am having difficulties in finding the “idli rava”. What is it exactly? Is it raw ground rice ? Can I make it myself with a blender or in any other way?
I’d be really helpful if someone could help me!
Thank you in advance from Giuliana and Anil Kumar
[Reply]
hetal Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 10:39 pm
HI Giuliana,
Idli Rava is roughly ground parboiled rice. If you cannot find it, you can soak parboiled rice and grind it as you do with the daal.. Unless you have a special grinder, grinding dry rice does not work well. Hope you are able to make the idlis for your son
.
[Reply]
Giuliana Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 10:58 pm
I’ll go look for the parboiled rice tomorrow. Thanks a lot from me and especially from Anil, who hasn’t been eating idli in more than a year and can’t wait any longer…!!!
[Reply]