how to make idli batter recipe (2024)

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by Tarla Dalal

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इडली बैटर बनाने की विधि | इडली बैटर सॉफ्ट इडली के लिए | परफेक्ट इडली बैटर | खट्टा इडली बैटर - हिन्दी में पढ़ें (How To Make Perfect Idli Batter in Hindi)


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Table Of Contents

about how to make idli batter
how to make idli batter step by step recipe
preparations for idli batter
how to make the idli batter
pro tips for how to make idli batter
calories of idli batter

how to make idli batter recipe | idli batter for soft idli | thick idli batter | sour idli batter | with 25 amazing images.

Use this how to make idli batter recipe to make soft idlis. This is a 100% tried and tested idli batter recipe made hundreds of times by one of our team from South India.

Typically idli batter is made in South Indian homes once or twice a week. If you store the idli batter in the fridge for more time, it can turn extra sour. Hence the idli batter is made twice a week. With the same idli batter you can make sada dosa at home. So your idli batter can be used to make masala dosa, uttapam and appes.

South Indian breakfast or South Indian dinner is made using idli batter. To make dosas from idli batter, you need to add a little water to adjust the consistency. NOTE that you cannot make idlis from dosa batter as dosa batter consistency is very thin. See our dosa batter recipe to make dosas.

To make thick idli batter, combine the urad dal and fenugreek seeds and enough water in a deep bowl and mix well. Cover and soak for 4 hours. Then combine the par-boiled rice and thick beaten rice and enough water in a deep bowl and mix well. Cover and soak for 4 hours. Wash and drain the urad dal and fenugreek seeds and blend in a mixer to a smooth paste using approx. 1 cup of water. Wash and drain the par-boiled rice and thick rice flakes and blend in a mixer to a slightly coarse paste using approx. 1½ cups of water. Add this mixture to the urad dal-fenugreek seeds mixture, add the salt and mix very well. Cover it with a lid and keep aside to ferment in a warm place for 12 hours. After fermentation, mix the sour idli batter well once again and you are ready to make soft idlis.

I would like to share some important tips to make the perfect idli batter for soft idlis. 1. Make sure while you are grinding the rice, the mixture should be fine coarse. Do not grind it till smooth, idli will not fluff while it is steaming. 2. Adding salt before helps in fermentation process.

Enjoy our how to make idli batter recipe | idli batter for soft idli | thick idli batter | sour idli batter | with detailed step by step photos.

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How To Make Perfect Idli Batter recipe - How to make How To Make Perfect Idli Batter

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Different types of Idlis

Soaking Time: 4 hours Preparation Time:&nbsp &nbspFermenting Time: 12 hours Cooking Time: Total Time:&nbsp &nbspMakes 6 cups
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Ingredients


For Idli Batter
1/2 cup urad dal (split black lentils)
1 tbsp fenugreek (methi) seeds
2 cups parboiled rice (ukda chawal)
3 tbsp thick beaten rice (jada poha)
salt to taste

Method


For idli batter

  1. To make thick idli batter, combine the urad dal and fenugreek seeds and enough water in a deep bowl and mix well. Cover with a lid and keep aside to soak for 4 hours.
  2. Combine the par-boiled rice and thick beaten rice and enough water in a deep bowl and mix well. Cover with a lid and keep aside to soak for 4 hours.
  3. Wash and drain the urad dal and fenugreek seeds and blend in a mixer to a smooth paste using approx. 1 cup of water. Transfer the mixture into a deep bowl and keep aside.
  4. Wash and drain the par-boiled rice and thick rice flakes and blend in a mixer to a slightly coarse paste using approx. 1½ cups of water. Add this mixture to the urad dal-fenugreek seeds mixture, add the salt and mix very well.
  5. Cover it with a lid and keep aside to ferment in a warm place for 12 hours.
  6. After fermentation, mix the idli batter well once again and pour spoonfuls of the batter into each of the greased idli moulds to make soft idli.

How To Make Perfect Idli Batter recipe with step by step photos


pro tips for Idli Batter

  1. Tips forhow to make idli batter recipe|idli batter for soft idli|thick idli batter|sour idli batter| Soaking both the ingredients is very important to make perfect consistency of idli batter.
  2. Make sure while you are grinding the rice, the mixture should be fine coarse. Do not grind it till smooth, idli will not fluff while it is steaming.
  3. Adding fenugreek seeds to the soaked urad is essential to make the idlis soft and fluffy.
  4. Adding salt before helps in fermentation process of idli batter.
  5. Try these 24 recipes using idli batter.
    • masala apple made from idli batter
    • khattta dhokla made from idli batter
    • vegetable rice cake made from idli batter
    • stuffed potato idli from idli batter


Preparation for idli batter

  1. Put the urad dal in a bowl. Fresh urad dal is best suitable to get soft idlis. Current years harvested urad dal will be white in colour without pale yellow shades. So, make use of new urad dal for better fermentation and soft idly.
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  2. Add fenugreek seeds. It helps in fermentation and make soft idlis in case you do not find current years harvested urad dal.
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  3. Add water.
  4. Wash it well. Drain it.
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  5. Enough water in a deep bowl and mix well. Cover with a lid and keep aside to soak for 4 hours.
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  6. Drain it once it is soaked.
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  7. In another bowl, add par-boiled rice. For the homemade idli batter, we would highly recommend you make use of par-boiled rice which is a variety of short grained rice. Any variety of short or medium grained like sonna masoori, ponni rice works well. We wouldn’t suggest you to make use of long-grained rice like basmati.
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  8. Pour enough water and mix well.
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  9. Add thick beaten rice.
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  10. Cover with a lid and keep aside to soak for 4 hours.
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  11. After 4 hours, drain the soaked par-boiled rice and thick beaten rice. It will look like this.
    how to make idli batter recipe (11)


Batter for idli

  1. Transfer the soaked and drained urad dal and fenugreek seeds to a mixer jar.
    how to make idli batter recipe (12)
  2. Add approx. 1 cup of water. Do not add all water at once, start with lesser amount and add water as needed. Traditionally, a stone grinder is used to prepare idli/dosa batter. If you have one, make use of it or you can also make use of a wet grinder or mixer grinder like us. Ensure the batter does not warm up while grinding. If your mixer jar gets heated quickly, make use of cold water while grinding. This will prevent the idly from turning hard.
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  3. Blend to a smooth paste.
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  4. Transfer the mixture into a deep bowl and keep aside. A light fluffy batter is a key to soft, pillowy idlis.
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  5. Similarly, transfer par-boiled rice and thick rice flakes to a mixer jar. Poha is optional but, it helps in giving a spongy texture toSouth-Indian idli.
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  6. Add approx. 1½ cup of water. Add enough water to grind the batter and don’t be scared of the amount because less water results in denser idli. Also, the quantity of water depends upon the quality of rice you use.
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  7. Blend to a slightly coarse paste.
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  8. Add this mixture to the urad dal-fenugreek seeds mixture. Open the mixer jar once in between, push down the contents and blitz it. For the idli to have a fluffy texture, it is important to soak and blend the dal and rice separately.
    how to make idli batter recipe (19)
  9. Add salt. There are conflicting thoughts about the addition of salt. Many people add before fermentation, many after. But, as per our observation the addition of salt helps in fermentation. Also, regular salt contains iodine which might interfere with the fermentation process so, many people use a non-iodized salt (rock salt or sea salt).
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  10. Mix very well with clean hands. Mixing with hands helps in the fermentation process so don’t skip this step.
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  11. Cover it with a lid and keep aside to ferment in a warm place for 12 hours. Idli batter requires a warm place to ferment. If you live in a warm place, you can leave the batter outside on your kitchen counter and it will ferment. However, if you live in a cold place, place the batter in the oven with the lights on or in a preheated oven. Depending upon the weather, the batter will require somewhere between 8-12 hours to ferment.
    how to make idli batter recipe (22)
  12. After fermentation, theidli batter|idli batter for soft idli|thick idli batter|sour idli batter|will resemble this. The batter will increase in volume and have a bubbly frothy layer on top. There will also be a typical faint sour aroma from the fermented idli batter.
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  13. Mix theidli batter|idli batter for soft idli|thick idli batter|sour idli batter|well once again. The batter should have a nice flowing consistency. It should neither be too thick or too runny.Now our idli batter is ready to prepare idli.
    how to make idli batter recipe (24)
  14. If not using the entire batter immediately, refrigerate in an air-tight glassware. Storing the idli batter in plastic or steel container, might make the batter sour. You can even make crisp dosa and fluffy uttapam with the same batter!
    how to make idli batter recipe (25)

Nutrient values (Abbrv)per cup

Energy285 cal
Protein8.8 g
Carbohydrates61 g
Fiber2.6 g
Fat0.6 g
Cholesterol0 mg
Sodium9.5 mg

Click here to view calories for How To Make Perfect Idli Batter


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    how to make idli batter recipe (2024)

    FAQs

    What is the ratio of urad dal to rice? ›

    We have seen that to make idlis rice and urad must be in the ratio 2 : 1.

    What happens if we add more urad dal to idli batter? ›

    – If your idlis are too flat, it could be due to two reasons. One, there's too much urad dal in the batter and two, the batter is too watery. Even if you end up adding too much urad, if your batter is thick, the idlis will be fine but too much water will create flat idlis and there's really no way to fix this.

    How to make idli batter thick? ›

    There are so many ways you can fix a runny idli batter. The most common being is to add 'Semolina' or rawa/sooji. Though you might also add ground poha and rice flour to thicken the consistency. Besides, if you add ragi flour, oats flour, millet flour then this would enhance the nutritional content too.

    What is idli batter made of? ›

    Idli is a soft, pillowy steamed savory cake made from fermented rice and lentil batter. The lentils used in making the idli batter are urad dal (hulled black gram). Black gram is also known as matpe beans, urad beans. To make idli the off white colored husked/hulled black gram is used – it can be split or whole.

    What is the perfect ratio for rice? ›

    What is the ratio of water to rice? For basmati and all kinds of white rice, we recommend a ratio of 1:2 when cooking on the stove. So this would mean for every 1 cup of rice, you add 2 cups of water.

    How many cups of rice are needed for 3 cups of urad dal? ›

    Therefore, 3 cups of urad are required with 9 cups of rice to make dosas.

    Why add poha to idli batter? ›

    If it is made in wet grinder then ingredients like poha or methi seeds can be skipped. Most people prefer making batter in a blender as it is easy to handle. If the batter is made in blender then poha or methi seeds will be helpful to make fluffy idlis.

    Why add fenugreek in idli batter? ›

    Fenugreek seeds act as a natural yeast activator due to the presence of compounds like saponins and diosgenin. These compounds stimulate the production of carbon dioxide, which aids in the leavening process, making the idli batter light and airy.

    How long should urad dal be soaked for idli? ›

    Urad dhal can be soaked for 4 hours to eight hours before grinding for idli or dosa. The reason is, urad dhal tends to absorb water and it increases its volume. A small amount of fenugreek seeds can also be soaked along with urad dhal and the quality of urad dhal determines the volume of batter.

    What made the idli soft and fluffy? ›

    Add yeast cells to the batter of idli and dosa. The fungus undergoes anaerobic fermentation. Fungi use fermentable sugars and convert them into ethanol and carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide gas raises the dough and becomes soft and fluffy.

    Why do we add baking soda to idli batter? ›

    Usually people add baking soda to the batter of rice, dal and rava for idli so that it becomes more soft and spongy while making idli. However, if you add Eno in it, the Idlis will be much softer. It has the properties to ferment things quickly, so mix half to one packet of plain Eno in the batter.

    Why is my idli not fluffy? ›

    The most important reason for hard idlis is the due to insufficient amount of urad dal and inadequate water used for grinding. If u find ur idlis are hard,add more dal and use more water while grinding the batter. Add enough water while grinding itself. Even if u add water while mixing the batter,it won't work.

    What are the major ingredients of idli? ›

    The main ingredients of idli are black gram, rice, salt and water.

    Which is the best rice for idli? ›

    Ponni Rice: Originating from the fertile lands of Tamil Nadu, Ponni rice is prized for its versatility and ability to yield idlis and dosas that are light, airy, and irresistibly delicious.

    What can I add to idli batter that is not fermented? ›

    To ferment idli / dosa batter you are not supposed to heat them. Keep it in a warm place lid closed. If it's not possible, add little curd like one or two spoons depending on the quantity of batter.

    What percentage of mixture is urad dal? ›

    Percentage of urad dal = 13×100% = 33.3% Was this answer helpful? Reena's mother said, to make idlis, You must take two parts rice and one part urad dal. What percentage of such a mixture would be rice and what percentage would be urad dal?

    What is the golden ratio for cooking rice? ›

    In other words, Souza's golden ratio is 1 part water to 1 part rice, plus a quarter cup of water to account for natural evaporation. For example, if you're cooking 4 cups of rice, use 4 cups of water, plus a quarter cup.

    What is the best rice to bean ratio? ›

    The usual ratio is about half beans, half white rice. “But for a more nutritious combination, you should try two-thirds beans and one-third rice,” says Isabella Ferrari, MCN, R.D., L.D., a clinical dietitian at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas.

    What should be the dal to water ratio? ›

    The amount of water added to the dal depends on how thick or watery you want the dal to be. On average, add 3 cups of water while cooking 1 cup of dal.

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