Idly is a traditional South Indian breakfast dish, made by steaming a batter consisting of fermented black lentils and rice. With tips from elders and experience of idly making for a few years, I can now confidently say that I have a recipe for the perfect idly. This is a perfect first food for your baby too. I started this for my son when he was 9 months old.
As always, I would recommend you to check with your doctor before introducing any new food for your baby. Once you start a new food, follow the 3-4 day rule, i.e wait for 3 days before starting the next new food to watch out for any reactions
Idly is a food that can be enjoyed by all age groups: babies, kids and adults 😊
To make idly it is best if you have an equipment called a wet grinder. Something similar to this : Premier Wonder Table Top Wet Grinder 110v 1.5L https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004OPIBV2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_sMs.xbTE025QD
However I have also heard success stories of making idly batter in the Vitamix blender.
Soaking time: 6-7 hours
Grinding time : 30-40 minutes
Yields: Around 8 qt idly batter
Ingredients
- I use a rice nazhi for my measurements of rice and dal, nazhi is a big cup used for measuring rice in most house holds. This is an approximate conversion in cup measure:
- 1 nazhi idly rice or raw rice = 1 3/4 cup idly rice or raw rice
- 1 nazhi urad dal = 1 3/4 cup urad dal
- 1 nazhi idly rice or raw rice = 1 3/4 cup idly rice or raw rice
- 4 nazhis idly rice or white parboiled rice ( available in Indian stores or Asian stores )
- A handful of raw rice
- 1 1/4 nazhi whole urad dal ( available in Indian stores or Asian stores)
- 1 tbsp methi seeds or fenugreek seeds ( available in Indian stores or Asian stores )
- Salt, to taste
- Water, as needed (Approximately 4.5 cups of water will be needed to make the batter)
Method
Note : I have used a wet grinder for grinding the batter
- Wash thoroughly and soak urad dal and rice separately in plenty of water for 6 hours. Soak the methi seeds separately in water
- While grinding, you can use the same water used for soaking. Drain and collect the soaked water in another vessel
- Place the soaked methi in the grinder, add around 1/8 cup water and grind for a minute
- Add the soaked urad dal, around 1/2 cup water and continue grinding. Keep adding 1/2 cup of water at regular intervals while the grinder is running. The batter should become smooth and fluffy. Allow about 20 minutes for dal grinding. (For 1 nazhi or 1 3/4 cup urad , you will need up adding around 3 – 3 1/4 cups of water)
- This is how the fluffy and smooth urad dal batter should look:
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- Remove the dal paste and place the soaked rice in grinder. Add 1/2 a cup of water initially and keep adding water at regualar intervals. Rice paste should be ground coarsely for making soft idlis. Grind the rice for around 10-15 minutes (The rice paste will need approximately 1 1/2 cups of water)
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- When done, add salt and the collected dal paste to the rice paste and mix well with a ladle for few minutes till both the batters blend well. The final idli batter should be of medium thickness and of pouring consistency
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- Leave overnight (8-10 hrs) for fermentation till it rises well
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- Whisk the dough with a spoon in the morning
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- Grease the idli mould with oil and fill the dough in the cups of the idli stand. Pour 1 cup of water in the pressure pan or fill up to the required level in an idly cooker
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- Steam the idlis for 10-15 minutes until well cooked and soft. Remove the stand from the cooker. Cool slightly and remove the idlies one by one from the idly mould using a spoon
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- Serve hot and enjoy with sambhar or chutney 😊
Note: The idly batter can be stored in a refrigerator. You can enjoy soft idlies for at least 3-4 days and then make dosa from the same batter too