South Indian breakfast · Fermented

Idli Batter Recipe (Soft, Fluffy Idli)

4 to 1 ratio. Grind urad fluffy. Ferment warm.

Recipe by Farwa ZeeshanTested in the NineFoods home kitchen

Idli are steamed rice and lentil cakes that should be soft and spongy. They come out flat and hard when the urad dal is under-ground or the batter does not ferment. The fix is a 4:1 rice to urad ratio, grinding urad until fluffy, and fermenting the batter in a warm place until it doubles.

Prep30m

Cook15m

Servings6

kcal / serving160

LevelMedium

Jump to the method

The 3 laws of idli batter

Why this recipe works

4 to 1 ratio

Too much rice

Urad gives lift.

Fluffy urad

Coarse urad

Air in the urad makes soft idli.

Warm ferment

Cold kitchen

Batter must double.

Shopping and prep list

Ingredients

Servings

Tap items as you gather them · 0 of 0 ready

The NineFoods ferment gauge

Is the batter ready?

Check the batter after 8 to 12 hours.

Tap a stage to see what to do.

Method · 3 stages

Step by step

Grind

Grinder · 20 min

Grind urad and fenugreek with cold water until light and fluffy.
Grind rice slightly coarse; mix both with salt by hand.

Look for: thick, fluffy batter.

20:00

Ferment

Warm place · 8 to 12 hours

Cover loosely and keep warm (28 to 32 C).
Use the gauge above.

Look for: doubled, bubbly batter.

600:00

Steam

Steamer · 12 min

Fill greased idli moulds three-quarters full.
Steam 10 to 12 minutes, rest 3 minutes, then demould.

Look for: soft, spongy idli.

12:00

Chef's troubleshooter

What went wrong? Pick the symptom

Why

Poor fermentation.

Fix next time

Ferment somewhere warm until doubled.

Why

Urad under-ground.

Fix next time

Grind urad until fluffy with cold water.

Why

Under-steamed.

Fix next time

Steam 2 more minutes and rest before demoulding.

Why

Over-fermented.

Fix next time

Refrigerate batter once it doubles.

Swap smart

Ingredient roles and substitutes

Ingredient	Job in the dish	Swap with
Idli rice	Texture	Parboiled rice or rice rava
Whole urad	Lift	Split urad
Fenugreek	Fermentation	Skip in hot climates
Steamer	Cooking	Instant Pot on steam

After the meal

Serve, store, reheat

Serve with

Coconut chutney and sambar.

Store

Batter: fridge 4 days. Idli: fridge 2 days.

Reheat

Steam 3 minutes.

How we tested this recipe

Tested in a home kitchen, not a studio

Recipe developed and tested by Farwa Zeeshan, who cooks and tests every NineFoods recipe on a regular home stove.

Cooked from start to finish with the exact quantities above for 6 servings, using both the metric and US cup measures.
Every one of the 3 stages was timed at the stove; heat levels and the 'look for' cues are what we saw in the pan.
The doneness check (is the batter ready) and the troubleshooter come from batches that went wrong, and how we fixed them.
Reheating and storage advice was checked on leftovers, not guessed.

Read our full testing process

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