Idli Recipe - How to Make Soft Idlis At Home (2024)

FAQs

What made 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.

Type of rice: To get fluffy idlis, it's better to use idli rice or parboiled rice, which is also known as ukda chawal. If that's not available, then use short or medium-grain rice for the batter. Using long-grain rice is usually not recommended if you want to get fluffy idlis that remain soft even after they are cold.

Soaking rice and lentils: For making simple traditional idli, both the rice and the urad dal are rinsed a couple of times with fresh water and soaked separately for 4 to 5 hours. Quality of rice and urad dal: Make sure to use both rice and urad dal within their shelf-period.

Traditionally, idli preparation is as follows: i) rice and black gram were soaked separately, ii) after draining the water, rice and black gram were grind separately with occasional addition of water during grinding process, iii) the rice and black gram batters were then mixed together with addition of a little salt, ...

The most common reason for hard idlis is due to lack of urad dal and insufficient water used for grinding. If you find your idlis are hard, just add more dal and use more water while grinding the batter. Add enough water while grinding itself. Even if you add water while mixing the batter, it won't work.

Curd contains several microorganisms including lactobacillus bacteria which undergoes anaerobic respiration and in this process, it acts on the sugar of the flour and releases Carbon dioxide, this gas makes the dough rise and when baked or fried the gas escapes leaving the idli or bhatura soft and spongy.

Can I refrigerate the batter overnight and make idlis next morning? Yes, you can. But add Eno or baking soda just before steaming. The batter will also thicken.

Explanation: In the preparation of idli batter, the batter is fermented using bacteria or yeast. During fermentation, CO2 bubbles which are released get trapped in the gluten, thus making idlis puffy.

Fenugreek seeds play a crucial role in elevating the volume of idli dough, leading to the creation of light, fluffy idlis. Their natural yeast activation properties, enhanced fermentation, and nutrient absorption benefits make them a valuable ingredient in the idli-making process.

Make Batter

If you live in a hot place, then skip adding salt now and add it after fermentation, just before making idli.

Can we soak urad dal overnight for idli? ›

You can also used whole/split black (unhurled) urad dal which packs a lot of fiber and texture to idlis too. Next, you need to soak the rice and dal separately for at least 6-8 hours or overnight. Don't be stingy in how much water you use for soaking!

Kolam rice is good option for dosa batter . For idli batter, traditionally idli rice and urad dal are used. Idli rice is parboiled rice and used specifically for making idli and dosa.

I think this item is also called as “stringhoppers” in English. What is idli or idly? Idly is a sort of rice cake which is spongy in texture made of a rice batter. The batter is made with Rice, Urad Dal and a little fenugreek seeds ground to fine paste and let to ferment overnight.

If your batter did not ferment nicely and you need Dosa, instead of water, add little sour butter milk or curd with the batter before making the Dosa. If the idly turn out to be hard, add little (may be 1/4 tsp.) of baking powder in the batter and beat well. Then the next batch of idlies should be soft.

When such dough is baked, the air pockets formed by carbon dioxide give bread and idli a soft and spongy texture. Carbon dioxide plays a primary role in making the dough rise, softer and fluffier. It creates numerous pores in fermented doughs because the carbon dioxide is trapped inside.

As a reaction, yeast cells grow and dough spreads. Anaerobic fermentation occurs in the fungus. Fungi break down fermentable carbohydrates into ethanol and carbon dioxide. The dough rises and becomes soft and fluffy as a response to the carbon dioxide gas.

No. Baking powder is not an alternative to baking soda or fruit salt. You will need to add more quantity of baking powder. This will result in metallic and bitter tasting idlis.