One who can sit Idly in front of Idli is a saint ;-).

Need I say more about it than what the picture an tell.

Idly is the best fermented steamed breakfast of south India. So what defines a perfect idli ? The porosity of the steamed idli and the light fluffy texture.

Idly was my arch nemesis in two stages of my life. I hated idli when I was a kid, and I hated not knowing how to make the damn idly right when I was an adult. Not anymore.

Idli usually is made with a batter made of rice and Urad dal soaked and grind to a smooth consistency. Making the idli from the regular idli dosa batter I prepare every week was the norm at home. The batter is fermented for 6 to 8 hours during which the batter increases to three folds absorbing the bacteria and the wild yeast in the atmosphere. The idly was light but had a soft closed dense texture on the outside. Using the usual rice makes the batter denser than required for an idli but is perfect for a dosa.

That’s when idli rava came into the picture.

for more details of how the batter ferments ?

Today’s idli is not made with rice, but with Idly rava. Idly rava is made from raw rice. Idli rava is readily available in stores these days, so for this recipe I will assume that you have a store bought Idli rava available. Here is a link to make idly rava at home.

Home made idly rava.

Idli rava prepared by soaking raw rice in water, partially dried and powdered to a grainy consistency. This rice when added with the ground urad dhal remains grainy and gives the required porosity for a perfect restaurant style idli.