Idli Recipe (Idli Batter Recipe with Tips for Soft Idli)
Idli is a steamed savory cake made with fermented rice and lentil batter. They are a staple food in South India and are enjoyed with sambar, and chutney. This recipe goes through step by step instructions on how to make idli batter from scratch at home and also shares tips to make soft idli!
1cupurad dal gota100 grams, whole dehusked black gram
½teaspoonfenugreek seeds
¼cuppohaflattened rice, I used thick poha
2teaspoonssendha namakrock salt
Instructions
Start by rinsing the rice until the water turns clear. Now transfer rice to a large bowl and add 6 to 7 cups of fresh water to soak the rice. Cover and bowl and let the rice soak for 5 to 6 hours. You might need to soak longer during colder weather.
Now, do the same with urad dal. Rinse it with water and then transfer it to a bowl. Add methi seeds and then add 2 to 3 cups of water to soak it. Cover and let the dal and methi seeds soak for 5 to 6 hours.
30 minutes before grinding the dal and rice (so if you are soaking them for 6 hours, do this when 5& 1/2 hours have passed away), soak the poha in little water in a small bowl. The poha needs to be soaked only for 20 to 30 minutes.
Once the dal has soaked for 6 hours, drain all the water using a strainer. And then transfer the soaked dal and the methi seeds to a blender with ice cold water. The cold water helps prevent excessive heating of the blender. Blend the dal to a paste. You would need around 1 cup (8 oz) to 1 & 1/4 cup (10 oz) water to blend the dal. Start with 1 cup and add more as needed.I used the smoothie setting on my Blendtec which grind the dal for 60 seconds. You can use any high speed blender that you have. Transfer the dal to a large bowl or to the steel pot of your Instant pot if you are going to use the Instant pot for fermentation.
Now, similarly drain the water from the rice using a strainer and also drain the water from the soaked poha. Transfer the drained rice and poha to the same blender (no need to clean it) and add ice cold water. Blend the rice to a coarse paste. I again used the smoothie function on my blender which blended the rice and poha for 60 seconds. You would need around 1 & 1/4 cups (10 oz) to 1 & 1/2 cups (12 oz) water to blend the rice. I used 1 & 1/2 cups.
Transfer the ground rice to the same bowl/pot as the dal. Add sendha namak and using your hands mix the rice and dal together nicely for 2 to 3 minutes. Mixing them together with your hands helps in kickstarting the fermentation process. You can skip adding salt if you live in a warm place and add it after fermentation. Personally for me, adding salt before fermentation always works. Also, make sure to use non-iodized salt like sendha namak, do not use iodized salt since that might interfere in fermentation.
The batter should have a thick pouring consistency. The batter should not be runny else your idlis will turn flat. Now place the bowl in a warm place for the batter to ferment.If using Instant Pot, place the steel pot back into the Instant Pot. Cover with a glass lid (not the regular instant pot lid so that it doesn't lock once the batter ferments) and then press the yogurt button. The Instant pot will maintain the optimal temperature required at this setting for the batter to ferment. Set the time to anywhere between 8 to 14 hours depending on the weather. Mine ferments in 14 hours since I live in a cold place.
If you don't have an Instant Pot, you can place the batter on the counter to ferment if you live in a warm place. If you live in a cold place, you can preheat your oven for 5 minutes at 200 F degrees, then turn it off, wait for it to cool down for 5 minutes and then place the bowl inside the oven. Or place in the oven with the oven lights turned on (and oven turned off obviously, you don't want to kill the yeast).
Once the batter is well fermented it will double in size, you will see lots of bubbles at top and will look frothy. If you want to check if your batter has fermented or not, you can take some water in a bowl and add a little bit of batter to it. If the batter has fermented, it will float in the water since it has air in it from fermentation. If it sinks that means it is still not fermented.
To make the idlis, add 1 to 2 cups of water to your steamer and let it come to a boil on medium-high heat. Meanwhile grease the idli molds lightly with oil and then add batter to each cavity.
Once the water in the steamer starts boiling, place the idli molds with the insert in the steamer. Cover and steam the idli for around 10 minutes on medium-high heat. I usually steam somewhere between 8 to 10 minutes, steaming for a long time will lead to dry and chewy idli.
Once steamed, remove the steamer from heat and let it sit covered for 2 minutes. Then open the lid, let the idlis sit for 5 more minutes like that and then remove them carefully from the molds. If you try to remove them immediately from the mold, they might break/stick. Serve hot with sambar, and coconut chutney. Make all the idlis similarly.
Notes
The total time includes the soaking time of 6 hours.
If you can't find idli rice, you can use sona masoori rice. The recipe will also work with basmati rice but the texture of the idli is much better with parboiled rice.
If using Instant Pot for fermentation, use a glass lid to cover the pot rather than the regular Instant pot lid. The batter might overflow after fermentation locking the Instant Pot and so it's advisable to use a glass lid.
Follow step by step instructions and all the tips in the recipe post the best results.