Piping hot Idli served along with Sambar and Chutney is the ultimate South Indian Breakfast. Most people in India head out to a South Indian breakfast joint over the weekend to get their idlis craving satisfied. Idlis are super simple to make at home and if you love spongy idlis, then go ahead and try some of our Classic Homemade Idli Recipes, Instant Idli Recipes, Rava Idli Recipes and Millet Idli Recipes for breakfast. One thing is for sure, with our various Idli recipes you can never get bored of idlis.
Idlis are super healthy`and easily digestible and is usually one of the first foods that are introduced to a baby. Fermented food is healthier for you as the fermentation process breaks down the starches present in the batter so that they are more readily metabolized by the body. Idlis are low in calories and protein packed, hence making for a healthy breakfast.
To make idlis, soak 3 parts idli rice for 6 hours. Also soak 1 part urad dal along with fenugreek seeds in a separate container, again for six hours. After soaking, grind both the rice and the udad dal separately into smooth batters. Then the two batters are combined, and salt is added to taste. Leave the mixture to ferment for about 12 hours. After fermentation, steam the idlis in greased Idli moulds.
This is the classic home made Idli Recipe, however there are many variations in Idli recipes found across South India which use different proportions of rice and dal. Sometimes cooked rice or beaten rice or sabudana is also added to make the idlis soft.
Urad dal is not the only dal used to make Idlis, in recipes like Green Moong Dal Idli Recipe and Moong Dal idli Recipes urad dal is not used. In instant Rava Idli recipes no fermentation is required and hence no dal is used as well except in the seasoning of the rava idli batter. Rava idlis are made soft with the addition of curd and enos fruit salt.
You can add vegetables of your choice to make Idlis more nutritious. In recipes like the Healthy Pumpkin Carrot Idli Recipe, Veggie Rava Idli Recipe, Broccoli Rava Idli Recipe and Mixed Vegetables Oats Idli, vegetables are added to the Idli batter and then steamed to make super healthy Idlis. These Idli recipes are perfect to be packed into your kids lunch boxes as well.
Idlis are so good that they are also offered to God. No I am not joking! Kanchipuram Idlis which are flavoured with cumin seeds, pepper and curry leaves were traditionally served as a naivedyam to Lord Vishnu in the Sri Varadaraja Perumal Temple in the silk town of Kanchipuram. Traditionally, they are steamed in Mandhari leaves.
So give these amazing Idli Recipes a try and serve them with Sambar, chutney or idli podi of your choice. Do try them and let us know how you liked it?
