Easy Recipe to Make Idli Batter at Home | 24 Mantra Organic

Fluffy, soft, hot and delicious. Idlis are one of the most popular South Indian delicacies you can have. Although idli is ‘Indian’ today, interestingly enough, it could have been brought to India by Arab settlers (yeah!), according to The Hindu. There is some debate about that, but we are happy with the fact that it came to India and stayed. It doesn’t matter where it came from.

While making idli at home, we often buy the ready-made idli batter from a store or buy it online. But how much can you trust its purity? If you want to ensure the use of good quality ingredients in the recipe, the best way to do so is by making it yourself. We’ll tell you how to make idli batter at home. It’s easy, we promise.

Nutrition Facts

How to make idli batter at home?Before we get to that, here are some nutrition facts. This will give you a ‘why’ to make idli batter at home.

Serving size: 1 idli

Source

How to Make Idli Batter at Home?

Finally, it’s time to learn how to make idli batter at home.

Preparation time: 8 hours

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Fermentation time: 10-16 hours

Serving: 16 idlis

Ingredients

1/2 cup urad dal (black gram)

1 cup idli rice

1/2 tsp salt (non-iodised, you can also use rock salt or pink salt)

4 cups of water (cold)

2 tbsp thick poha

Method

Step 1

Rinse and soak black gram and rice in separate vessels for 6-8 hours. Make sure you have added a sufficient amount of water (2 cups in each).

Step 2

Rinse and soak the poha 30-45 minutes before you start preparing the batter.

Step 3

Drain the water from the rice, poha and black gram. Add the black gram and poha with 3/4th – 1 cup of water in a blender. Add salt (skip adding it now if you live in humid or hot weather).

Step 4

Once the mixture is thick in consistency and frothy, remove it in a container.

Step 5

Add rice to the blender and grind it until it is semi-coarse. You can also merge this step with step 5 if your blender is that large.

Step 6

Mix the black gram and rice together. If it is too thick, add water as needed.

Step 7

Set the mixture aside and let it ferment in a warm place. Make sure the vessel you are using has a lot of space left after you add the mixture as fermentation increases the quantity. If it is cold where you live, use the microwave. Preheat it to about 60-80 degree Celsius for 15 minutes and then turn it off. Place the batter inside.

Please note: Fermentation time depends a lot on the weather. Make sure your batter doesn’t turn too sour. Once it rises, it’s ready.

Remember, the perfect rice to black gram ratio is 2:1 (restaurants might use 3:1 or 4:1 because rice is cheaper, but we want more protein).

Health Benefits of Idli

You are well-aware of how to make idli batter at home but how much do you know about the health benefits of idli? Let’s have a look them:

• During the process of fermentation, the content of B vitamins in the idli batter increases, according to a study published in the ‘Journal of Food Science and Technology‘. The ‘Nutrients‘ journal published a study that found that B vitamins play a major role in brain functioning. They are responsible for DNA/RNA synthesis, energy production, etc.
• It can be used as a dietary supplement for people suffering from protein, calorie malnutrition, states a review published in the ‘Journal of Food Quality‘.
• Idli is a fermented food. Fermented foods can help with detoxification, which is good for health, according to research on Academia. Also, the peptides produced as a result of such fermentation have anti-microbial, anti-hypertensive, anti-oxidant, anti-carcinogenic, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-fungal properties. These findings were published in a study in the journal, ‘Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition‘.

Idli Time

Now that we have answered the question – ‘How to make idli batter at home?’ try the recipe soon. You can now stop Google-ing and calling your parents to learn how to make idli batter at home.

You can also change the black gram-rice ratio according to your taste preferences. Some people replace black gram with chickpea, soybean or green gram to make it healthier, while others use brown rice, idli rava or parboiled rice instead of raw rice for the preparation of the batter.

Experiment with different ingredients and ratios to get that perfect idli you can show off. Top it with butter or ghee to enhance its flavour tenfold.  Enjoy!

Try 24 Mantra Organic’s Idly Rava/Idli Rava to try super tasty and easy Idly batter and feel the goodness inside!