Idli
Preparation Time
21 minutes
Cooking Time
14 minutes
Difficulty Level
easy
Meal Type
Breakfast
Serves 4
Key Ingredients
- Sona masoori rice
About This Recipe
Idli is a steamed breakfast, soft enough to mash with sambar. The batter is rice and urad dal in a four-to-one ratio, soaked, ground separately and fermented overnight until it rises.
Sona masoori rice for idli needs nothing more than a good rinse and the usual soak: four to six hours, ground slightly coarse, and it makes a good batter. The urad is ground to a fluffy, airy paste that nearly doubles in volume, and a pinch of fenugreek goes into the same soak. Grind the urad first and keep it light.
Sona masoori for idli is a medium-grain rice that needs only a good rinse before soaking. Fermenting time sits outside the 35 minutes below, so start the soak the night before. The same batter, spread thin on a tawa, is a dosa, and poured thick with toppings it becomes an uttapam; our guide to chawal (rice) covers the grain.
Ingredient List
Serving Size:
1x
2x
3x
Batter
- Sona masoori rice — 2 cups
- Urad dal (white, dhuli) — 1/2 cup
- Fenugreek Seeds — 1/2 tsp
- Salt — 1 tsp
- Water, for grinding and thinning — 2 cups
For the moulds
- Groundnut oil — 1 tsp
Steaming
- Water, for the steamer base — 3 cups
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Serving Suggestions
Serve hot with coconut chutney, sambar and a spoon of podi mixed with ghee. Leftover idlis keep up to two days in the fridge; steam them for a few minutes to soften them again. A batch of sixteen is four idlis a head for a family of four.
Tips for Cooking Idli
The urad paste is the leavening, so grind it until it is airy and light; a heavy paste gives a heavy idli. Ferment in the warmest spot in the kitchen and never beat the risen batter, only fold it. Fill the moulds three-quarters full, because the batter still rises in the steam. Do not lift the steamer lid mid-way; the first rush of steam sets the shape.
Chef’s Note
Steam without lifting the lid: the first minutes set the shape, and a lifted lid sends the idlis flat. A serving of four idlis comes to about 449 kcal with 13.7 g of protein and 5.8 g of fibre, the protein from the rice and urad together.
Per serving (approx.): 449 kcal, protein 14 g, carbs 91 g, fat 2.2 g, fibre 5.8 g. Computed from IFCT 2017 / USDA values for the listed quantities. Measures: 1 cup = 240 ml, 1 tbsp = 15 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml.
Happy Cooking
!!
ByCOWBERRY
Jul 20, 2026
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