South Indian food is my all-time favorite food. I have been making Idli batter at home for years and now with Instant Pot, the process of fermenting the batter has become a lot easier. The best part, is I use the same batter to also make fluffy uttapam and dosa too!
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Idli is a pillowy soft cake made by steaming fermented rice and lentil batter. Popular breakfast or Tiffin food in Southern India, gluten-free and vegan Idli is easy to make using just a few pantry ingredients. Love South Indian food? Make sure to try out recipes for crispy dosa, quinoa idli, and quinoa dosa.
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The key to pillowy-soft & light Idli is the perfectly fermented batter. Although I grew up in Western India, my mom frequently cooked South Indian food at home. Her Idli, Dosa and Uttapam are to die for! So I am sharing with you my mom's idli batter recipe! I have so many memories of helping my mom measure the lentils and rice, and the excitement of preparing my favorite childhood food!
Idli Batter Proportions
There are a lot of variations out there with various proportions of rice and idli. My Mom always did a 1:3 urad daal to rice ratio for the perfect balance of carbs and proteins. She also adds a couple of other ingredients to enhance the texture and add nutrition!
Ingredients
Here are 4 ingredients that I use in this Idli batter recipe:
- Idli Rice - Short-grain pearly white rice makes the perfect idli
- Skinned Gota Urad Dal - Although you can also use the skinned urad dal it still often has traces of the outer black skin which can make the batter look discolored
- Poha - Optional ingredient but I would highly recommend it as these flattened rice flakes add lightness to the idli. If you do not have poha you can substitute it with idli rice
- Methi Seeds - fenugreek seeds help with the fermentation process
- Sea Salt or Pink Himalayan Salt - Table salt, Iodized salt, and even refined kosher salt inhibit the growth of good bacteria during the fermentation process, so use whole unrefined salts such as sea salt or pink Himalayan salt
Once you have gathered the ingredients, the process to make the homemade Idli batter is easy. All you need is a high-speed blender, and I really like my Blendtec for that!
How to Make Idli Batter
Making Idli batter has three easy steps - soaking, blending, and fermenting - here is how to do it:
Step 1: Soaking rice and Dal
Put the Idli Rice and Urad Dal in two separate mixing bowls or pots. Rinse them both a couple of times, draining out the water each time. Add methi seeds and poha to the rice bowl. Soak in water for 6 to 8 hours or overnight (photos 1 - 4)
Step 2: Blending
Drain all the water out from both bowls. First, add soaked Urad Daal to the blender and add 1.25 cups of cold water, and blend until the batter is smooth. Scrape the sides of the blender if any dal sticks to the sides of the blender and blend again until smooth. If using Blendtec use the smoothie function. Take out the batter in a large pot or Instant Pot insert.
Add the drained rice to the blender jar with 1.5 cups of cold water and blend making sure to stop while the batter is still a bit coarse but not grainy. It is important to blend the rice batter slightly coarse (photos 5 - 8)
Add the rice batter to the urad dal batter. Add sea salt and mix well. You can use a silicone spatula or mix the batter well with your hands. If using the Instant Pot Insert, place the insert inside the Instant Pot and place a nonlocking glass lid on top. Note: Please do not use the Instant Pot lid, the fermenting process may sometimes cause overflow leading the lid to get locked (photos 9 - 12)
Step 3: Fermenting
Press the "Yogurt" (normal) function that will run for 8 hours. Keep an eye on the batter after 6 hours or so, if it starts to rise, you may want to take out the inner pot. Depending on the temperature in your kitchen, it may take up to 12 hours for the batter to fully ferment.
After the initial 8 hours, if needed you can then select the "Yogurt" mode again and let it ferment for additional 4 hours or so. Once fermented the batter will double up its volume and will be light and airy.
Note: If you do not have an Instant Pot, simply put the pot of batter covered in a warm place or inside the oven with the oven lights on for 10 to 12 hours.
Storage
Once the batter is fermented, use it right away to make Idli, Dosa, or Uttapam. If you are prepping the batter ahead of time, you can refrigerate it for up to a week. Bring the Idli batter to room temperature by taking it out of the refrigerator a couple of hours before you are ready to cook. You can also freeze the batter for a few weeks.
Tips
- Make sure to use cold water when blending rice and lentils
- Blend urad dal to a smooth consistency while the rice batter should be slightly coarse
- Use a nonlocking lid on the Instant Pot when starting the fermentation process. Sometimes, over-fermentation can cause the batter to overflow or can even lock the Instant Pot lid
- If you do not have an Instant Pot, simply put the pot of batter covered in a warm place or inside the oven with the oven lights on
- The water proportions for blending the batter are based on the exact ingredients I use. If you use different rice or use urad dal instead of gota urad dal you may need more or less water
Frequently Asked Questions
Idli Batter ferments in about 12 to 14 hours and has a light sour taste. If the batter has not fermented within this time, you can give it an extra 3 to 4 hours but any longer and the batter will start to get overly sour and will also have an unpleasant smell. In this case, instead of making Idlis, I would recommend using the batter for dosa or uttapam.
I recommend using a high-power blender like Blendtec or Vitamix to make the batter. If you are using regular blenders or food processors, make sure they do not heat up while grinding. Grind in smaller quantities or add an ice cube to prevent overheating the appliance and in turn the batter.
Fenugreek seeds(methi) help speed up with fermentation process. If you live in warmer weather you can skip them and still have a nicely fermented batter.
More Indian Meal Prep Recipes
Did enjoy this meal prep / cooking101 recipe? Here are some more articles on my blog that will help you with the basics of Indian cooking and also time-saving tips and tricks:
Recipe
How to make Idli Batter
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup urad dal skinned, gota dal
- 3 cups idli rice
- ½ cup poha
- 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
- 2 teaspoons sea salt or pink himalayan salt
- 2¾ cups water approx for grinding the batter
Instructions
- Rinse the urad dal well and then soak in 2 cups of water for 6 to 8 hours or overnight
- Rinse the idli rice well and then soak it in 4 cups of water along with fenugreek seeds and poha for 6 to 8 hours or overnight
- Drain the water out completely from the urad dal and add it to a high-speed blender. Add 1¼ cups of water and blend until the batter is smooth. Take out the batter in the Instant Pot insert or in a large stainless steel pot.
- Drain the water out completely from the rice and add it to the blender. Add 1½ cups of water and blend until slightly grainy. Pour the batter over the lentils batter. Add salt and mix well. You can use a silicone spatula or mix by hand.
- Place the Instant Pot insert inside of the Instant Pot casing and place a non locking glass lid over it. Press the Yogurt(normal) mode and allow it to ferment for 8 hours. Keep an eye on the batter after 6 hours or so, if it starts to rise, you make want to take out the inner pot. Depending on the temperature in your kitchen, it may take up to 12 hours for the batter to fully ferment. So after the initial 8 hours, if needed you can then select the "Yogurt" mode again and let it ferment for additional 4 hours or so. Where I live it takes about 12 to 14 hours for the batter to fully ferment.
- Once fermented the batter will double up its volume and will be light and airy. It will also have a slight sour smell to it. Give a quick stir and you are ready to use it.
- This recipe makes 8 cups of batter which makes 32 to 36 idlis or 16 dosa/uttapam
Video
Notes
- Make sure to use cold water when blending rice and lentils
- Blend urad dal to smooth consistency while the rice should be slightly coarse
- Use a non locking lid on the Instant Pot when start the fermentation process. Sometimes, over fermentation can cause the batter to overflow or can even lock the Instant Pot lid
- If you do not have an Instant Pot, simply put the pot of batter covered in a warm place or inside the oven with the oven lights on
- The water proportions for blending the batter is based on the exact ingredients I use. If you use different rice or use urad dal instead of the gota urad dal you may need more or less water
Saylee says
Omg, Archana. My mind is blown. This recipe is perfect!!! I halve the recipe since I have an instant pot mini and it makes enough batter for us to make idli (2 adults and 1 baby) followed by dosas the next day.
A quick question about storage. Once the batter is fermented how long can I leave it outside before I have to refrigerate?
Archana says
The longer you keep fermented batter outside it will continue to get sour. But its good outside for another 8 to 10 hours
Saylee says
Awesome... thank you!!!
pallavi says
Quick question, can I replace rice with idli rava ?
Archana Mundhe says
Yes, mix the idli rava with ground urad dal and add water as needed. Ferment the batter, and proceed with the regular idli-making process.
Dhairya ganatra says
Is it ok to mix idli battter with bare hands to help in the fermentation. Process
Regards Dhairya
Archana says
Yes! Lots of people in India do that!
Kirat says
Hello,
Thank you for this recipe. I wanted to know if I can use regular basmati rice if I cannot find the idli rice.
Archana says
yes you can use basmati rice
Sharon says
Thank you so much for this recipe! I have tried many times (using different recipes) and this one worked! My idlis were soft and moist. It took about 13 hours for the batter to double in size, but I did notice that it wasn’t as sour as I would’ve liked. Do I continue to ferment the batter for more time to get the sour taste or do I just leave it as it is?
Archana says
Yes!The longer you ferment the batter will become sour. The process is much faster when the weather is warmer
Kinjal Shah says
Hi Archana, thanks for the amazing recipes. I tried this recipe earlier and it worked very well, thank you so much. Can you tell me that even if using instant pot to ferment, in winter it takes longer hours ??
Thank you
Archana says
Hi Kinjala, so glad it worked well. It does take a few hours longer in the winters as we are using a non locking lid.
CHARMI says
Tried the recipe and enjoyed the beat idlis after a very long time !! Thanks a ton
Avani says
Which blender are you using?
Archana says
Blendtec. I have linked the exact model in the equipment section of the recipe card.
Denisha says
Love this recipe dosa batter came out so good using instant pot that i no longer have to worry about winter temperatures n fermentation.
Pamela says
Any tips on steaming the idli in the IP? Or is it better to do stovetop or in idli maker? I have an idli tray stacking set. Thank you. I am eager to try it and have a recipe we can make frequently. I’m also searching for the right dosa masala recipe and sambas recipe. So far I haven’t found the perfect one.
Archana says
Check my quinoa Idli recipe for IP timings - https://ministryofcurry.com/quinoa-idli/
daniel says
thanks so much! your recipe works much better than the one I've been using for years!
Riya says
Hi Archana,
I have tried making the batter 3 times now and something seems to be off..it ferments really good, the dosas, appe, utappa comes out really great but the idlis on the other hand come out super dense and soggy as if the batter is still uncooked, i cooked them for about 18 minutes, should i have cooked them longer? Also i made it with low GI basmati rice do you think that affected the results? Can you please help
Archana says
Hi Riya! I have not tested this recipe with low GI basmati rice. So sorry.
Diana Sequeira says
Is this recipe for 6 quart instant pot?
Archana says
yes!!
Swati Saparia says
Hello, love all your recipes.
Can you pls explain why you recommend using cold water when grinding the batter?
Archana says
Hi Swati,
some blenders heat up when grinding and the batter can almost get slightly cooked. So its best to use cold water.
Rahul says
Hi Archana,
The recipe looks helpful. I was looking to buy a wet grinder and have been reading online reviews on some of them since I usually have to go to the market to buy Dosa and Idli batter whenever I feel like eating Dosa/Idli. I know you haven’t used a wet grinder to make this batter, but would it be possible for you to suggest a wet grinder I can use weekly to make Dosa batter?
Thank You
Archana says
My sister owns "Premium brand" wet grinder and she loves it. Preethi is also a good brand.
S says
Have you ever tried making this with urad dal? If so, do you have the water ratio for urad dal and not gota urad? Thanks in advance!
S
Archana says
Yes! You can substitute urad dal 1:1
Anna Solowiej says
I tried…my blender not strong enough. This was too course. Kitchen too cold. Next time I will get an insert for the instant pot. Maybe a stronger blender?
Archana says
Hi Anna, sorry it didnt work out. You do need a powder blender for this. As far as fermenting you can keep it in a warm place or in the oven with the lights on. In winter it can take up to 15-16 hours to ferment.
Prachi says
I had given up on the thought of making soft idlis! But this recipe is so so easy and amazing! It yields the best idli and dosas and my family loves it! Thank you 🙂
Archana says
You are most welcome!
Amanda says
This is the best description of the process I’ve ever read. Thank you so much!
I’ve moved somewhere I can no longer just pop to the store to purchase batter anymore. This is my first time making it from scratch and honestly it was much easier than I imagined!
I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to find out how simple the recipe actually was. Cheers!
Archana Mundhe says
Thank you so much for your kind words! I'm so happy to hear that you found the process easy and enjoyed making it from scratch! It's always such a great feeling when something turns out simpler than expected, especially when it’s a recipe you can make at home.
Parvati says
I forgot to turn on the yoghurt mode and the batter is in instant pot since 12 hours but not fermented. Just now I had turned on the yoghurt mode. Will it turn out sour as it will be in the pot for more of 8 hrs 30 mins? Awaiting your response. Thank you.
Archana Mundhe says
Hi Parvati, yes it should start to ferment in 4 to 5 hours.