Go Back

Idli Sambar with Coconut Chutney

Idli are steamed fluffy rice cakes that are made from a fermented rice and lentil batter. A South Indian specialty, they are traditionally eaten for breakfast, but make a fantastic lunch or dinner, especially when paired with sambar & a coconut chutney.
5 from 1 vote
Share Tweet Pin
Active Time 35 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes
+ Soaking & Fermenting 1 day
Course sides
Cuisine Indian
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

Instructions
 

  • Wash the rice several times in water, cover with fresh water and soak for 3-4 hours.
  • In a separate bowl, wash the urad dal, poha and fenugreek just one time in water (otherwise you remove too much of the natural yeasts), then cover with fresh water and soak for 3-4 hours.
  • Drain the rice but save the water. Add the rice to a blender (I used my Vitamix E310) along with 130-150ml of the soaking water. Blend into a fine but slightly grainy paste, only adding more water if it doesn’t blend at all. The paste should fall in thick ribbons if you drizzle it with a spoon on itself. The texture should be similar to a coarse cornmeal. Transfer the paste to a large bowl or pan.
  • Drain the urad dal, poha and fenugreek seeds but save the water. Add the drained ingredients to a blender along with 80-120ml of the soaking water. Blend into a very smooth paste, trying not to add much more water. To check the consistency, add a teaspoon of the batter to a bowl of water. It should float. If it does, transfer it to the bowl with the rice paste and mix well with your hands to bring it all together and kick off the fermentation process. Cover the bowl (but not air-tight) and leave to ferment for around 12-24 hours in a warm place. I usually keep it in the oven with just the light switched on (turn it off during the night). If the ambient temperature is very warm, it might already ferment after around 8 hours. The fermented batter should have risen in volume, smell slightly tangy and have tiny air bubbles all over the surface. If it hasn’t fermented yet, leave it a little longer. If it has fermented, move the bowl to the fridge until you use the batter.
  • To make the idli, pour enough water into a saucepan to generously cover the bottom without touching the idli stand (see Steaming the idli note above). Bring to a simmer.
  • In the meantime, grease the idli moulds with some oil. Add the salt to the batter and gently mix it through, making sure not to stir out all of the air. Then fill 3/4th of each mould with the batter. Place the moulds into the pan with water and bring the water to a boil. Then turn the heat to medium, cover the pan with a lid (if the lid doesn’t have an air hole, keep it slightly ajar) and steam the idli for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave them to steam for another 2 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Take the moulds out of the pan and let them rest for a moment. Then use a wet knife to remove them.

Notes

Storage: Keep the batter in the fridge for up to 5 days. Store cooked idli in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. Leftovers taste great when broken into pieces and fried with a little oil until golden.
Ideally served alongside this Sambar & this Coconut Chutney.
Print Recipe