Idli in Instant Pot

5 from 35 votes

Idli is the quintessential South Indian breakfast made with fermented lentils and rice. Learn how to make soft, fluffy and delicious idlis with this fail-proof Instant Pot idli recipe! This authentic idli recipe has been tried and tested to perfection, ensuring that you get perfect idlis every single time. I am sharing how to make soft and fluffy idlis using idli rava (coarsely ground rice or rice grits).

Prep Time15

Cook Time15

Fermentation Time8

Total Time8 30

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: Indian

Diet: Diabetic, Gluten Free, Hindu, Low Lactose, Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings: to 35 idlis

Calories: 65kcal

Author: Shilpa Kerur

Equipment

Ingredients

1 cup urad dal split black gram
2 cups idli rava
½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon oil

Instructions

Soaking:

Take urad dal and fenugreek seeds in a large bowl and rinse it well under running water. Soak it in water for 4-5 hours.
In a separate bowl, take idli rava and add water to cover it fully. Let it sit for 10 minutes. The idli rava should settle down and any dust particles will remain in the water. Carefully drain all the water from the idli rava.
Add fresh water and soak it for 4-5 hours.

Grinding and making batter:

Once the urad dal is soaked, drain all the water from the dal into a bowl and set it aside. grind it into a very smooth batter by adding little water.
Transfer the dal into a mixie or blender. Add a small amount of the soaked water and grind the dal into a very smooth batter by adding little water. You can use also use fresh water; however, using the soaked water helps with the fermentation process.
If you are using Instant Pot for fermentation, transfer the ground dal to the inner pot. If not, transfer it to a large steel container. Aerate the batter using your hands.
Drain the water from the soaked idli rava. Scoop out a handful of rava in your hand and squeeze out as much water as possible. Squeezing and removing the soaked water from the rava is a very important step and cannot be skipped.
Add the squeezed rava to the ground dal. Repeat with the rest of idli rava.
Now mix the dal and rava well making sure that they are fully incorporated. Use your hands to mix the batter. Do not add salt at this stage.

Fermentation of the batter:

Fermenting the batter in Instant Pot: If you are using Instant Pot for fermentation, then do the mixing process in the inner pot itself. Place the inner pot in the Instant Pot and cover it with the glass lid. Set it to yogurt mode for 12 hours.
Fermenting the batter in an oven: Put my oven in the keep-warm mode for exactly 5 minutes, then turn off the oven and once the oven cools down a bit, place the batter inside the oven. The heat retained by the oven should keep the batter warm for a long time. Alternatively, you can keep the oven light on during the entire fermentation process.
The batter will ferment by the next morning and air pockets will be visible on it.

Steaming the idlis in Instant Pot:

Use a stainless steel 4-rack idli stand and lightly grease the mold on idli plates.
Add salt to the batter and mix well. Spoon in batter about ¾ of the mold.
Add 1½ cups of water to the inner pot of the Instant Pot and set it to Saute mode on high. Once the water begins to boil, press cancel and place the idli stand.
Close the lid and set the Instant Pot to steam mode in the venting position. Keep an external timer and steam for 12 minutes.
Let them sit for another 5 minutes in the idli stand. Wet a spoon with some cold water and scoop out the idlis.
Serve hot idli with chutney of your choice.

Steaming in an idli steamer:

Pour water into the idli steamer and place it on high heat. Once it boils, reduce to heat to low and place the stand.
Close the steamer lid and steam for 12 minutes. Let the idlis sit for another 5 minutes in the stand. Wet a spoon with some cold water and scoop out the idlis.
Serve hot with chutney of your choice.

Notes

Use whole urad dal and not split urad dal where possible. This is really important as the dal helps with the fermentation of the batter.

Wash the urad dal before soaking. Don’t wash it after soaking. Use the soaked water to grind it. Dal contributes more during fermentation so using dal-soaked water for grinding will help in fermentation.

The consistency of the batter is very important for the idlis to rise and become fluffy. Watery or runny batter will result in flat idlis. The batter is thicker in consistency when compared to the dosa batter. So, while grinding the dal, use less water. Start with a half cup of water and add more as needed.

See the tips section above for more useful tips for making soft and fluffy idlis.

Nutrition