To make ghee podi idli, cut chilled idlis into pieces, toss them in a pan with hot ghee and a brief mustard-seed tempering, then take the pan off the heat and coat the pieces in podi, a coarse powder of roasted urad dal, chana dal, sesame and dried red chilli. One tablespoon of ghee for a plate of four idlis is our starting point; the arithmetic below shows what each spoon adds.
At a glance
- A 1965 study in Applied Microbiology found Leuconostoc mesenteroides to be the predominant organism behind both souring and gas production in idli batter.
- A 2010 laboratory study in the Journal of Food Science and Technology saw idli batter rise to 1.62 to 3.2 times its volume, and steamed the idlis for 5 to 8 minutes.
- At USDA FoodData Central's 900 kcal per 100 g for ghee and ICMR-NIN's 5 g teaspoon and 15 g tablespoon, a teaspoon on the plate adds 45 kcal and a tablespoon 135 kcal.
- ICMR-NIN says: "Limit ghee or butter to just 1 to 2 teaspoons/day or avoid, if possible."
- ICMR-NIN advises eating cooked food within 4 to 6 hours, a fridge below 5°C, and no repeated reheating.
What is ghee podi idli?
Ghee podi idli is steamed idli, cut into pieces and tossed in ghee with podi, a dry powder of roasted dals, sesame and dried chillies. The idli itself is a fermented rice and black gram (urad dal) cake; a 2019 study in Applied and Environmental Microbiology calls it "a small acid-leavened steamed cake" made from dehulled black gram and parboiled rice. Recipes differ from kitchen to kitchen; what follows is our starting point, not a standard.
What makes idli batter rise without yeast?
Bacteria, not yeast. The 1965 Applied Microbiology study isolated the organisms in fermenting idli batter and found Leuconostoc mesenteroides, a lactic acid bacterium, to be the predominant organism responsible for both souring and gas production.
The 2019 study, which tracked the batter's microbes with DNA sequencing, says the acid and gas needed for leavening come solely from heterofermentative bacteria, that the batter ferments overnight at ambient temperature without any starter culture, and that "it normally takes 12 to 15 hours to obtain the fermented batter at ambient temperature". In its batter, parboiled rice and black gram at 2:1, the pH fell from 6.3 to 4.5 over 24 hours. The 2010 laboratory study made batters at rice to black gram ratios of 2:1, 3:1 and 4:1 by weight and reports a rise "from 1.62 to 3.2 times its original volume".
For the cook: the batter needs warmth and time, the rise comes with sourness because the same bacteria make both, and two to four parts rice to one of urad dal by weight is within what the research tested.
How do you make the podi?
Dry-roast urad dal, chana dal, sesame seeds and dried red chillies separately until each smells toasted, cool them, and grind them coarse with salt. Our starting point for a small jar is below; shop-bought podi works too.
- Urad dal (split, skinned): half a cup, roasted on low heat, stirring, until light brown and nutty.
- Chana dal: a quarter of a cup, roasted the same way; it takes a little longer.
- White sesame seeds: two tablespoons, roasted until they start to pop, then tipped out at once.
- Dried red chillies: eight to ten, stalks removed, roasted briefly until they puff; fewer for a milder podi.
- Asafoetida: a pinch, warmed in the pan at the end.
- Salt: half a teaspoon to start; adjust after grinding.
- Optional: crisp-roasted curry leaves, and a small piece of jaggery.
Roast each ingredient on its own, because they brown at different rates. Cool everything before grinding, and pulse the grinder so the podi stays sandy. Store it in a dry, airtight jar. No source we opened gives a shelf life for homemade podi, so we give none; if it smells stale, make a fresh batch.
How do you make ghee podi idli step by step?
Cut cold idlis, heat ghee in a wide pan, temper mustard seeds and curry leaves briefly, toss the pieces until coated and lightly browned, then fold in the podi off the heat. Quantities are for a plate of four idlis and are our starting points, not tested standards.
The idlis go in cold because a cold idli holds its shape: fresh from the steamer it is soft and full of steam, and tossing it breaks the edges into crumbs, while one that has spent an hour in the fridge cuts cleanly and browns in the ghee. That is a kitchen observation, not a laboratory finding.
- Cut. Cut four chilled idlis into four wedges each, or into cubes.
- Measure. Keep two to three teaspoons of podi and one tablespoon of ghee beside the stove.
- Heat the ghee in a wide, heavy pan over medium heat until hot but not smoking.
- Temper. Add half a teaspoon of mustard seeds. When they pop, add a few curry leaves for a few seconds. Our guide to using ghee in a tadka and everyday cooking gives the full order for spices in hot fat.
- Toss. Add the idli pieces in a single layer, leave them a minute to colour, then turn them gently.
- Add the podi off the heat. Turn the flame off, sprinkle the podi over and fold through until each piece is coated. Podi scorches over direct heat, so it goes in last.
- Serve straight away, while the outside is crisp and the inside soft. Extra ghee at the table is the usual finish.
Here the ghee is both cooking fat and flavour, unlike ghee pongal, where it arrives at the end as a tempering.
How much ghee goes on a plate of four idlis?
One tablespoon in the pan for four idlis is our starting point. The table uses ICMR-NIN's household measures (5 g teaspoon, 15 g tablespoon) and USDA FoodData Central's SR Legacy entry for clarified butter (ghee), 900 kcal and 60 g of saturated fat per 100 g, so 9 kcal and 0.6 g per gram; USDA notes the entry was back-calculated from a product label. This is the ghee alone.
| Ghee on a plate of 4 idlis | Grams (ICMR-NIN measure) | Calories (grams × 9) | Saturated fat (grams × 0.6) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 teaspoon | 5 g | 5 × 9 = 45 kcal | 5 × 0.6 = 3 g |
| 1 tablespoon | 15 g | 15 × 9 = 135 kcal | 15 × 0.6 = 9 g |
| 2 tablespoons | 30 g | 30 × 9 = 270 kcal | 30 × 0.6 = 18 g |
ICMR-NIN's Dietary Guidelines for Indians (2024) say: "Limit ghee or butter to just 1 to 2 teaspoons/day or avoid, if possible." On its 5 g teaspoon, that is 5 to 10 g a day. A teaspoon on the plate sits inside that; a tablespoon, 15 g, is already past it from one meal; two tablespoons is 30 g.
The guidelines also cap all visible fat, which includes cooking oils, butter and ghee: they recommend that "adult women or men with sedentary lifestyle limit daily fat intake to 20g and 30g of visible fat, respectively", so two tablespoons on one plate is a sedentary man's whole day. They call saturated fat use high "when more than 10g/day of visible saturated fats (for a 2000 Kcal diet/ day) is consumed in the form of ghee, butter"; the two-tablespoon plate carries 18 g. Our article on ghee spoon measures in grams explains why a tablespoon weighs 12.8 g in one reference and 15 g in another. If a doctor or dietitian has set your fat intake, follow their figure.
How should you store leftover idli and idli batter?
Cool cooked idlis quickly, keep them in a lidded container in a fridge below 5°C, reheat them thoroughly once, and never again. Keep risen batter in the fridge too. These rules come from the ICMR-NIN guidelines; nothing we opened is written specifically for idli or batter.
ICMR-NIN says to "consume cooked foods within 4–6 hours of preparation" and, if food has been left at room temperature, to "reheat thoroughly before consuming". Cooked food that must be kept should be "cooled quickly (below 5°C)", because "most microorganisms multiply at temperatures between 5°C and 60°C", and "repeated heating of stored, cooked food should be avoided".
- Idlis for tomorrow. Cool them, then store them "in refrigerator in containers with lids, preferably in small portions", as ICMR-NIN puts it. Frying them in ghee the next morning is their one reheating.
- Idlis left in the steamer. Do not leave them sitting warm; ICMR-NIN says keeping cooked food in warm conditions for several hours promotes bacterial growth.
- Batter. Once risen, refrigerate it; in the 2019 study the pH kept falling through 24 hours at ambient temperature. ICMR-NIN says perishable foods "should be refrigerated, preferably at a temperature of less than 5°C, which retards multiplication of microorganisms". No source we opened gives a safe number of days for batter; discard any that smells off or shows mould.
If you are choosing a ghee for the pan, Himdhara's A2 bilona ghee is made from curd churned on a wooden bilona, and each batch's laboratory report is published before it ships.
The short version
Ghee podi idli is cold idli, cut and fried in ghee with a short mustard-seed tempering, then coated off the heat in podi, a coarse powder of roasted urad dal, chana dal, sesame and dried chilli. The batter's rise comes from lactic acid bacteria, chiefly Leuconostoc mesenteroides, which also sour it. One tablespoon of ghee for four idlis is our starting point: 135 kcal at 9 kcal per gram, already past ICMR-NIN's 1 to 2 teaspoons a day. Keep leftover idlis and batter below 5°C, and reheat idlis thoroughly once, never twice.
Sources
Further reading behind the figures above. Himdhara's own numbers — yields, batch results — come from our production records and the batch reports on the lab reports page.
- Mukherjee SK, Albury MN, Pederson CS, van Veen AG, Steinkraus KH (1965). Role of Leuconostoc mesenteroides in leavening the batter of idli, a fermented food of India. Applied Microbiology.
- Ghosh D, Chattopadhyay P (2010). Preparation of idli batter, its properties and nutritional improvement during fermentation. Journal of Food Science and Technology.
- Mandhania MH, Paul D, Suryavanshi MV et al. (2019). Diversity and Succession of Microbiota during Fermentation of the Traditional Indian Food Idli. Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
- ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition (2024). Dietary Guidelines for Indians. ICMR-NIN, Hyderabad.
- U.S. Department of Agriculture (2019). Butter, Clarified butter (ghee). FoodData Central (SR Legacy).