Idli

Idli

Alternative names	Idly
Course	breakfast
Place of origin	Indian subcontinent
Region or state	South India
Associated national cuisine	India, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Malaysia
Serving temperature	Hot with a condiment such as sambar or chutney
Main ingredients	Black lentils (de-husked), rice
Variations	button idli, tatte idli, sanna, sambar idli, rava idli
Cookbook: Idli   Media: Idli

Idli or idly ( pronunciation ) (/ɪdliː/) are a type of savoury rice cake, originating from the Indian subcontinent, popular as breakfast foods throughout India and northern Sri Lanka. The cakes are made by steaming a batter consisting of fermented black lentils (de-husked) and rice. The fermentation process breaks down the starches so that they are more readily metabolized by the body.

Idli have several variations, including rava idli, which are made from semolina. Regional variants include sanna of Konkan and Enduri Pitha of Odisha.

History

A precursor of the modern idli is mentioned in several ancient Indian works. Vaddaradhane, a 920 CE Kannada language work by Shivakotiacharya mentions "iddalige", prepared only from a black gram (urad dal) batter. Chavundaraya II, the author of the earliest available Kannada encyclopaedia, Lokopakara (c. 1025 CE), describes the preparation of this food by soaking black gram in buttermilk, ground to a fine paste, and mixed with the clear water of curd and spices.^[1] The Western Chalukya king and scholar Someshwara III, reigning in the area now called Karnataka, included an idli recipe in his encyclopedia, Manasollasa (1130 CE). This Sanskrit-language work describes the food as iḍḍarikā.^[2] The food prepared using this recipe is now called uddina idli in Karnataka.

The recipe mentioned in these ancient Indian works leaves out three key aspects of the modern idli recipe: the use of rice (not just urad dal), the long fermentation of the mix, and the steaming for fluffiness. The references to the modern recipe appear in the Indian works only after 1250 CE. Food historian K. T. Achaya speculates that the modern idli recipe might have originated in present-day Indonesia, which has a long tradition of fermented food. According to him, the cooks employed by the Hindu kings of the Indianised kingdoms might have invented the steamed idli there, and brought the recipe back to India during 800-1200 CE.^[3][4] Achaya mentioned an Indonesian dish called "kedli", which according to him, was like an idli.^[5][3] However, Janaki Lenin was unable to find any recipe for an Indonesian dish by this name.^[6]

The Gujarati work Varanaka Samuchaya (1520 CE) mentions idli as idari, and also mentions its local adaption idada (a non-fermented version of dhokla).^[7] The earliest extant Tamil work to mention idli (as itali) is Maccapuranam, dated to the 17th century.^[8][9]

In 2015, Chennai-based Idli caterer Eniyavan started celebrating March 30 as the "World Idli Day".^[10]

Preparation

To make Idli, four parts uncooked rice (Idli rice or parboiled rice) to one part whole white lentil (urad dal, Vigna mungo) are soaked separately for at least four hours to six hours or overnight. Optionally spices such as fenugreek seeds can be added at the time of soaking for additional flavour. Once done soaking, the lentils are ground to a fine paste and the rice is separately coarsely ground, then they are combined. Next, the mixture is left to ferment overnight during which its volume will more than double. After fermentation some of the batter may be kept as a starter culture for the next batch. The finished idli batter is put into greased moulds of an idli tray or "tree" for steaming. The perforated molds allow the idlis to be cooked evenly. The tree holds the trays above the level of boiling water in a pot, and the pot is covered until the idlis are done (about 10–25 minutes, depending on size). A more traditional method is to use leaves instead of moulds.^[12]

• Making idlis
• 
  Key Ingredients used are Rice and Black gram
• 
  Idli batter
• 
  Idli molding plate
• 
  Batter poured into molding plate
• 
  Stack the molding plates one over another
• 
  Steam the idli until the steam comes out from cooker
• 
  Idli at cooker
• 
  Detached from the making pan
• 
  Idlis detached from molding plate

Serving

Since plain idlis are mild in taste, a condiment is considered essential. Idlis are often served with sambar but this varies greatly by region and personal taste. Idlis are also frequently served with chutnies (coconut based), kaara chutney (onion based) or Spicy Fish Curries. The dry spice mixture podi is convenient while travelling.

• Idlis
• 
  Idli and medu vada served with sambar, green chutney, and red chutneys on banana leaf
• 
  Idli and vada served with separate sambar and chutney
• 
  Idli with sambar
• 
  Idlis with ghee, ginger pickle and coconut chutney

Variations

With the emigration of south Indians and Sri Lankans throughout the region and world, many variations on idli have been created in addition to the almost countless local variations. Hard-to-get ingredients and differing cooking customs have required changes in both ingredients and methods. Parboiled rice can reduce the soaking time considerably. Store-bought ground rice or cream of rice may also be used.^[13] Similarly, semolina or cream of wheat may be used for preparing rava idli (wheat idli).^[14] Dahi (yogurt) may be added to provide the sour flavor for unfermented batters. Prepackaged mixes allow for almost instant idlis.^[15]

In addition to or instead of fenugreek other spices may be used such as mustard seeds, chili peppers, cumin, coriander, ginger, etc.^[16] Sugar may be added to make them sweet instead of savory. Idli may also be stuffed with a filling of potato, beans, carrot and masala.^[17] Leftover idlis can be cut-up or crushed and sautéed for a dish called idli upma.^[18] You can even prepare dahi idli by combining curd and idli together and then tempering the dish. Rather than a stovetop steamer, microwave and automatic electric idli steamers are available with convenient non-stick coating. Batter preparation using a manual rocking rock grinder can be replaced by electric grinders or blenders (mixies). Many restaurants have also come up with fusion recipes of Idlis as idly manchurian, idly fry, chilly idly and a lot of different ideas.

• 
  Tatte idli, a plate sized variant of Idli from Karnataka
• 
  Mini Sambar Idli, mini idlis floating in sambar as served in Tamil Nadu
• 
  Sanna(s), a Goan variant of idli a.k.a. Hittli in Konkani.
• 
  Muday idli is a Mangalorean variant of idli.
• 
  Rave idli (Sooji idli) is a specialty of Karnataka
• 
  Ragi idli - Ragi flour mixed with small portion of Rice flour, Urad dal.

Idli Batter Fermentation Mechanism

Fermentation of idli batter results in both leavening caused by the generation of carbon dioxide as well as an increase in acidity. This fermentation is performed by lactic acid bacteria especially the heterofermantative strain Leuconostoc mesenteroides and the homofermantative strain Enterococcus faecalis (formerly classified as Streptococcus faecalis). Heterofermantative lactic acid bacteria such as L. mesenteroides generate both lactic acid as well as carbon dioxide whereas homofermantative lactic acid bacteria only generate lactic acid.

Both L. mesenteroides and E. faecalis are predominantly delivered to the batter by the urad dal. Both strains start multiplying while the grains are soaking and continue to do so after grinding.

L. mesenteroides tolerates high concentrations of salt unlike most other bacteria. Hence the salt in the batter and the ongoing generation of lactic acid both suppress the growth of other undesirable micro-organisms.^[19][20]

See also

References

Bibliography

• K. T. Achaya (May 12, 1994). Indian Food: A Historical Companion. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 978-0-19-563448-8.
• Devi, Yamuna (1987). Lord Krishna's Cuisine: The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking, Dutton. ISBN 0-525-24564-2.
• Edward R. Farnworth (2003). Handbook of Fermented Functional Foods. CRC Press. ISBN 978-0-8493-1372-1.
• Jaffrey, Madhur (1988). A Taste of India, Atheneum. ISBN 0-689-70726-6
• Rau, Santha Rama (1969). The Cooking of India, Time-Life Books.