How to Make Soft and Fluffy Idli | Idli Batter Recipe | South-Indian Breakfast

Jan 23, 2025 by Priya_Srinivasan ·

Idli, also called idly, steamed rice cakes, a popular south-indian breakfast. Learn how to make soft and fluffy idli. One of the healthiest, lightest and easiest breakfast, can be made into a feast when served with a variety of condiments.

Idli with podi and chutney for breakfast

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Idli : Light, Healthy & a Hearty Breakfast
How many Idli Varieties?
The Traditional Idli Recipe
The Ingredients
Stepwise Instructions for a Perfect Idli/Dosa Batter
Some Tips before you start
Quick You tube Shorts of Podi Idli
Some FAQ's
How to Make Soft & Fluffy Idli | Idli Batter Recipe | South-Indian Breakfast

Idli : Light, Healthy & a Hearty Breakfast

Idly or Idli, is a steamed savory rice cake and a popular breakfast in South India. Idli and dosa are staples in South Indian households. One will feel broken and helpless if they don't have at least 2 cups of idli batter in the refrigerator.

What can be done with a small amount of batter you might ask? If not idli's, you can make delish Kuzhipaniyaram with some additions of shredded carrots, peas etc. Or you can add a handful of other flours like wheat flour, rava and make enough dosa for 5-6 people.

Idli and dosa are also one of the easiest meal to make. Numerous roadside shops and carts thrive on selling idli, sambar, and chutney throughout the day. These shops are so affordable and feed hundreds of people, who have no time to cook for themselves at home.

How many Idli Varieties?

Idli can be made from various ingredients. The traditional version involves soaking rice and dal, grinding, and fermenting it for almost 6-8 hours.

But there are also instant options like rava idli, bulgur idli, khapli wheat idli, and poha idli. These Instant recipes are real lifesaver, you can whip up a quick and comforting meal in minutes.

I usually pack it with idli podi for my kids. Especially my younger fella prefers his idli nicely coated with gingely oil drenched podi. My elder fella prefers his idli to be dunked in chutney or sambar. His favorite chutney is always peanut chutney , tomato chutney is younger one's favorite.

In the above picture i have served idli with pumpkin chutney and idli milagai podi or gun powder.

The Traditional Idli Recipe

When we say Idli, it automatically means the idli made with rice and urad dal. The proportions though universally almost the same, but some households change it slightly according to the rice quality they use.

Initially i have used 4:1 ration of Idli rice and urad dal, but now i use 5:1 and little extra urad dal along with methi seeds.

Apart from rice we can also make Idli with millets like this Kodo Millet Idli-dosa or this nutritious jowar dosa, ragi dosa and raji & bajra dosa, those the later recipes are dosa recipes, the batter can also be used to make soft and fluffy idli's too.

The Ingredients

Main Ingredient : Idli rice and whole urad dal. There is a difference between parboiled rice and idli rice. Idly Rice, a par-boiled medium grain rice is exclusively used to prepare idly and dosa batter in South India.
Fenugreek seeds : Adds to the aroma and helps in fluffy urad dal batter. I have tried the batter with and without fenugreek seeds, not much of difference except for a slight color change. Fenugreek seeds have greater health benefits, so lets not skip it.

Stepwise Instructions for a Perfect Idli/Dosa Batter

Please check recipe card below for exact measurements of each ingredient used and also for the detailed instructions

In a wide bowl, take together rice and urad dal together. Wash it once or twice with water. Soak in water for 6 hours. I some times do it overnight and grind it first thing in the morning. I feel this quickens the fermentation also.

After 6 hours of soaking, drain the excess water and grind the batter in a grinder.
Remove the ground batter to a clean vessel. Let this sit for 6-8 hours and ferment well.
Once fermented, refrigerate the batter. Remove, the small amount of batter needed to make idly/dosa. Add salt and gingely oil to it and make idly or dosa.

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Some Tips before you start

Grinding grain and dal together for idly/dosa might have less yield than grinding them separately and mixing it towards the end. Some good days, I soak and grind separately and some lazy days I do it together.
Batter needs to ferment a good 6-8 hours during summer and 8-10 hours during winter. Winter here is just 4 months of normal cold, I usually keep 2 ladles of old batter and mix it with the new to accelerate the fermentation and till date it works.
If you live in cold countries, please preheat your oven to 150C, turn it off and leave the batter inside the oven, with the lights on.
Always refrigerate the batter and don't add salt to the whole batch. I remove the necessary amount from the fridge and add salt to it.
Bring the batter to room temperature before making your idly/dosa.

Quick You tube Shorts of Podi Idli

Some FAQ's

Can i make idli with other grains?

Yes, you can make idli with millets, brown rice, couscous even with quinoa.

Can we freeze idli?

Yes you can freeze idli. Though i haven't done it personally, heard it from my friends that it freezes well and can be steamed and served hot just like a freshly made one.

My idli corners gets burnt or dried while steaming?

Grease the idli plates well with oil. Always steam in medium flame. Do not steam for more than the required time. This makes the idli dry. Do not leave the steamer on the hot stove. It continues to cook in the residue heat. So take it off the stove and leave it on the kitchen counter.

How to remove the idli without sticking to the plate?

Once the idli is done, remove the steamer from the stove. let the plates be in the steamer for 2 minutes. Remove the idli plates from the steamer and let it cool down for a minute. Then using a spoon loosen the edges and the idli slides off easily. If it is still hot and you are in a hurry, wash the back of the idli plate under running water, that will cool it down and you can easily remove the idli.

How to Make Soft & Fluffy Idli | Idli Batter Recipe | South-Indian Breakfast

Idli, also called idly, a popular south-indian breakfast staple. Learn how to make soft and fluffy idli. One of the healthiest, lightest and easiest breakfast, can be made into a feast when served with a variety of condiments.

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Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Dinner

Cuisine: South-Indian

Keyword: how to make idli, How to make soft and fluffy idli, Idli batter, Idli batter proportions, Malligai poo idli, Rice and urad dal proportions for idli dsoa, Rice idli

Prep Time: 8

Cook Time: 45

Fermentation Time: 8

Total Time: 16 45

Servings: servings

Calories: 145kcal

Equipment

Grinder
Bowls for soaking rice and dal
Steamer with idli plates for making idli
Cast iron tava or nonstick dosa pan for making dosa

Ingredients

5 cups Idli rice
1¼ cup Whole urad dal see notes
1-2 teaspoon Methi / Fenugreek seeds
Gingely oil for making idly/dosa

Instructions

Let's Soak Rice & Dal

Measure Rice and dal. Use the same cup. I use the 200 grams cups that comes with rice cooker.
You can soak the rice and dal together or separately. Honestly i soak them together. Don't have the time or patience to soak and grind separately. I have mentioned in tips & tricks, there will be slight difference in the yield. So soak as per your time and convenience.
Take rice and dal together. Add water, rinse and drain 2-3 times. Add fresh water, add methi seeds to this and let this soak for 6-8 hours.
If soaking rice and dal separately, soak fenugreek seeds with the dal.

Let's Grind the Batter : Rice & Dal together

After the soaking time, drain the water. I recommend using the Grinder for this. If you don't have a grinder, mixie is also fine. But this amount of rice and dal you might have to grind in 4-5 batches.
I use grinder. Add the drained rice and dal to this add 1-2 cups of water. Let his grind to a smooth batter.
Some prefer little grainy batter if they are grinding it exclusively to make idli's. I prefer smooth batter. Works well for both idli and dosa.

If Grinding Rice and Dal separately

Drain the excess water from Dal-Fenugreek and grind it to a smooth batter, adding little water. When the Ural Dal Batter froths up while grinding, it is considered done. You get the 'cluck, cluck' sound (air in-between the batter) while grinding.Transfer it to another Vessel.
Drain the excesswater from Rice and Grind it to a smooth batter
Once the rice is well ground, add the urad dal batter to the grinder and let it run for 5 minutes. This way both rice and dal batter get mixed well.
Remove the ground batter to a wide vessel. The vessel should have extra space to hold the fermented batter too. So chose a wide vessel.

Let's Ferment

Let it sit on the kitchen top overnight of atleast 6-8 hours for fermentation. The vessel should be big enough to hold the fermented batter. I always keep the vessel on a plate, to collect any over-flowing batter.
Once fermented , mix the batter well with a ladle and take the required amount of batter for making idly/dosa and Keep the remaining batter in the fridge.
To ferment well during cold climates. Keep ½ cup of old idli dosa batter and mix it with the new batter. This accelerates the fermentation process during cold climates.

Let's make Idli

Never add salt to the entire batch of batter. Remove the amount you will require to make idli or dosa and refrigerate the remaining batter.
Add salt and a tablespoon of gingely oil to the batter taken out for making Idly/dosa. Mix well.
Coat the idlyplate/mould with gingely oil and pour half ladle of batter in eachmould. Steam Cook for 10 minutes or until done.
When done, take them out, let it cool for a minute or two. Remove the idli's on to a plate.

How to Remove Hot ldi from plate

Do not leave the idli pan the stove once it is done. This will make the idli to cook further in that residue heat, and idli's will become dry sticking to the plate.
Remove the steamer and place it on the counter top. Give it 5 minutes in steamer, then take it out, rest it for a minute and using a spoon remove them from the idli plate.

If in a hurry to remove the idli

If you are in a hurry and want to unmould the idly immediately, just show the back of the idly plate in running water for 2-3 seconds, it will be easy to unmould them.
Do not try to remove the idlies while they are hot, you will have half idli in the spoon and the remaining in the plate! Been there, done that!

How to Serve

Serve the idli hot with your favorite sambar and chutney. If packing for travel, tossing it with idli podi and gingely oil is the best way to enjoy them.
If packing for school dabba, coat the hot idli with gingely oil or ghee so it stays soft and doesn't become dry after 2-3 hours. I pack in vaya preserve lunch boxes for my kids, they stay hot until 2 pm.

Storing leftovers

Any leftover idli can be refrigerated in an air-tight box for 2-3 days. While serving , reheat the idli in the microwave for a minute on both sides. You can also steam them in a steamer and serve hot.
Wash the cold idli in running water for a second or two and reheat for a soft and fluffy, just like freshly made idli.
Idli can also be frozen. Personally i haven't tried.. You have to just steam the frozen idli and serve them hot.

Nutrition

Disclaimer

I m not a Doctor or a Nutritionist The Nutrition information provided above comes from the plugin and is only an estimate.

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