Simple and traditional rice idli recipe with homemade idli batter made with rice and urad lentil. Light, simple and healthy idli is enjoyed as an all-day breakfast dish with hot sambar and chutneys, all over India.
Rice idli with spicy and tangy sambar – a breakfast delight!
Idli Sambar finds its origin in South India but is now popular all over the country and outside. We enjoy it as a breakfast, a snack and also a light lunch/dinner. In India, it is so popular that one can find Idli-sambar being sold by roadside vendors as well as in sit-down restaurants.
Rice idli is a steamed lentil and rice cake and sambar, a spicy lentil broth with mixed vegetables. I do enjoy idli with just a simple coconut chutney or stir-fried with more veggies to make masala fried idlis but dunking them in hot and spicy sambar, remains the favourite way of eating idlis.
Soft rice idlis dunked in hot spicy sambar.. mmm
When I was working in Bangalore, 5 out of 7 days my breakfast used to be 2 rice idlis with sambar at a joint right opposite my house. That restaurant (like most in Bangalore) had a constant production of idli batter! Rice idli is tasty, simple, light and healthy, making it a perfect choice for breakfast. But it is delicious any time of the day making it a popular “all-day breakfast” dish.
This recipe of idli is with rice batter. The idli batter is made by fermenting rice and urad dal for almost a day. There are many variations to this humble dish. You can make idli batter with ragi (finger millet) and lentils or with rava(sooji or fine semolina) for instant idlis. You can also add some finely chopped vegetables inside the idli batter.
What is the ratio of rice and urad dal for idli batter recipe?
Idli batter is made with soaking and fermenting rice and urad dal in a 2:1 ratio as you can see below in the picture.
While the actual rice idli recipe takes only about 30 mins to cook, the process of fermentation, for the batter, takes more than a day and so you do need to plan it ahead. In India, it is easy to buy fresh homemade idli batter whenever needed but it is not so here in Bucharest. Also, the homemade batter is the best. It is fresh and free from any preservative and extra additives. There are also instant rice idli mixes in the market, but I keep them only for a rainy day. Homemade idli batter makes much softer, fluffier, tastier and healthier idlis than those made with shop bought mixes. A little bit of planning is totally worth it.
How to make rice idli?
Ingredients
- Rice: Any small grain rice or broken rice variety will work. You might see “idli rice” in some markets. Idli rice is parboiled rice that is pre-processed in order to reduce soaking time. You can also make idli batter with basmati rice but that would kind of be the most expensive idli batter! 🙂
- White Urad Dal: Skimmed black gram.
- Salt
- Oil
Tools Needed to make Rice Idlis
- Basic Utensils (Bowls, spoons, measuring cups etc)
- Mixer Grinder
- Idli Mold or Idli cooker
The mold is a piece of special equipment that is necessary to make this idli recipe. I actually have 3 types of idli makers in my house! A microwave idli maker, an idli making stand that came with the rice cooker and also a stovetop idli cooker. I find the stovetop one most convenient. It makes 16 idlis at one go.
Steps to make Idli
- Soak the rice and lentil for 4-5 hours.
- Grind to a fine paste.
- Ferment the batter by keeping it overnight at a warm place.
- Steam spoonfuls of batter in the Idli maker for soft rice idlis.
If you like this recipe, do take a moment to rate it below and/or leave your thoughts after the recipe. It really encourages me to keep improving.
Rice Idli recipe & homemade Idli batter
Ingredients (1cup = 240ml; 1tbsp = 15ml; 1tsp = 5ml)
- 2 cups rice (it is ideal to use broken sela rice or other small grain rice variety)
- 1 cup white urad dal (skinned black gram)
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp oil
Instructions
How to make the Rice Idli Batter
- Wash the rice and dal separately. Soak them, separately, in enough water for 4-5 hours or overnight.
- Drain the rice and with little water, grind them to a coarse paste in the mixer.
- Drain the dal and again adding water little by little, grind it to a fine paste. While the rice paste is coarse, the lentil paste is very fine. Grind it till there are bubbles in the paste. Add water accordingly but not too much.
- Mix together the rice and lentil paste. Add in salt. This batter should be of thick dropping consistency. Keep the batter in a warm place for 8-10 hours (or overnight). The batter will rise and become sour.
- This entire passive process takes about 24 hours or so.
How to make Idli
- Gently mix the batter once. Don’t mix it vigorously or too often as it would remove all the air in the batter. Rub a little oil on each of the idli moulds.
- Drop spoonfuls of batter in each mould. Add about 1” deep water in your idli steamer. Place the idli stand in the steamer and close. Steam on high for 5 minutes.
- Reduce heat and steam on low for 10 minutes. Open the steamer carefully and check the idli by inserting a clean knife. If the knife comes out clean, idli is done. Else steam for another couple of minutes.
- Remove the steamer from heat and let it stand for 5 minutes. Open and remove the idlis from the mould with a knife.
Notes
- Once fermented, the batter stays good in refrigerator for 2-3 days.
- For a variation, add chopped/grated carrots, onions, peas, or capsicum etc to the batter when steaming.
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I tried your recipe of rice idli using microwave. It turned out super soft and tasty. Thanks very much.
Thanks, Meghna!
I am so glad you tried the recipe and loved it! 🙂 Would love to see a picture in case you happened to click any!
Your feedback really encourages me to continue exploring, learning, and sharing more recipes! 🙂
lots of love,
ashima
Super yummyyyyy…..loved it
Thank you so much, Raveena!
Your words really encourage me ❤
Namaste, I live on an island where I do not have access to Indian groceries, can you clarify what type of rice I should be using for the idlis? The ones you listed I am not familiar with. Also, are fenugreek seeds needs to aid in the fermentation process, other recipes I found online add this ingredient and I see your recipe omits it.
I look forward to making this recipe as I’ve only tried once before to make idlis and I didn’t get the batter right. Thank you so much!
Hey Amardeepa!
You can use any variety of short grain rice, preferably not a sticky rice variety. Any other would do. Which rice do you normally use for plain rice?
A few of my friends also use fenugreek seeds, but it is not essential to the recipe. As you can see I don’t use it. Also for the batter to rise and become sour, it is important you let it rest at a warm place. I don’t know what’s the climate on your island, but one trick I do during winters is to warm the oven a little and keep the batter overnight in the warm oven.
Hope that helps. Do let me know if you have any other questions.
Hi can I use the Ponni boiled rice to make this batter ? I need batter for two days so is one cup Ponni boiled rice and half cup urud dhal enough for three people for dinner time idlis and bf dosa.
Thank you so much.
Hello Saraswathy,
I have not used Ponni boiled rice but my guess would be that you can use it to make the batter but I cannot be 100% sure.
For 3 people’s Idlis and dosa, I would suggest go ahead with 2 cups rice and 1 cup dal. In our family, we always tend to eat a little extra idlis and dosas and just in case you have extra batter left, you can make extra idlis and sauté them with some veggies for a healthy masala idli snack 🙂 or simply freeze the idlis.
I made the idlis as per your recipe and goodness me they turned out just super! I used piramal rice. Idlis were so soft and white and very tasty! kya taareef karu mai aap ki! thank you so much!
Thank you so much, Anil!
Your feedback and appreciation is the best “tareef” you can give me 🙂 I am super happy you loved the recipe!
mouth watering , nice batter.
Thanks, Pranita!
I made the idli batter according to your instruction…..really good experience by me. my each family member praised me a lot…after having it…keep sharing such more respicies…thanks ashima
Thanks, Geeta!!
I am so glad you found the idli batter recipe helpful and that everyone liked it! Your feedback really encourages me to continue exploring and sharing!
I just soaked parboiled rice I broke it a little. So you don’t add any Eno or baking soda/powder to rise?
Hello Nuzhat,
First, apologies for the late response. I have been very busy on personal front and not so active here. Hope the response is still useful.
No, I do not add any Eno or baking powder/soda to the homemade Idli batter. It is well fermented so doesn’t need any other rising agent.
Hi Ashima
Thanks for sharing your recipes! Just made my fisrt real idlis. Texture is great. They are a bit tasteless through, taste like water. What do you think could be the issue? I wonder if i put too much water in bater or if the fermentation process did not properly happen (was about 25 degrees celcius).
Hey Laura,
Did the idlis come out well? Like well shaped rice cakes? If yes, then you got the water right. For taste, Idli on its own is bland because there is only a little salt in plain Idli. We eat them either with Sambhar or chutney or sauté them to make masala idlis.
Hope this helps. Sorry for the late response!
hello
can i use different types of dal for idli??? finding urad dal is not easy in my place.
Hello Azadeh,
you can use yellow moong dal or yellow chana dal as well if urad dal is not available.
Hope that helps