Idli sambar

Name: Idli sambar
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 75 min
Total time: 1015 min
Yield: 4 people
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 300 g Rice, parboiled (idli) rice; 100 g Urad dal, skinned white, whole or split; 0.5 tsp Fenugreek, seeds; 350 ml Water, ice-cold, for grinding; 1.5 tsp Salt; 1 tsp Neutral oil, for greasing the moulds or bowls; 150 g Toor dal, rinsed; 0.5 tsp Turmeric; 25 g Tamarind, a walnut-sized piece, soaked in 200 ml hot water and squeezed; 12 piece Shallot, small, peeled and left whole; 1 medium Carrot, in chunks; 1 small Eggplant, in chunks, or a few pieces of drumstick (moringa); 1 medium Tomato, chopped; 1 tsp Jaggery; 1.5 tsp Salt; 800 ml Water, 500 ml for the dal, 300 ml for the vegetables; 1 tbsp Ground coriander; 4 piece Dried chilli, red, stalks removed; 0.25 tsp Fenugreek, seeds; 0.5 tsp Cumin, seeds; 2 tbsp Neutral oil, or gingelly (sesame) oil; 1 tsp Mustard seeds; 15 piece Curry leaves; 2 piece Dried chilli; 1 pinch Asafoetida, most contain wheat flour; use a gluten-free one if needed; 1 handful Coriander, leaves, chopped

இட்லி சாம்பார்

Soft steamed cakes of fermented rice and urad dal, served with sambar, a sour lentil and vegetable stew with tamarind and a mustard-seed tempering.

Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: இட்லி சாம்பார்.

Start cooking

Prep: 40 min
Cook: 1 hr 15 min
Rest: 15 hr
Total: 16 hr 55 min
Difficulty: Medium
Spice: Medium heat
Cost: Cheap nightUnder $8 USD · indicative, not a store price

Know it before you cook it

Image coming soon

About

Idli are small, pale, spongy cakes steamed from a batter of parboiled rice and urad dal, soaked separately, ground and left overnight until it doubles. Sambar is the stew they are eaten with: toor dal cooked to a mush and simmered with tamarind, vegetables and a spice powder of roasted coriander, chilli and fenugreek, then finished with mustard seeds, curry leaves and asafoetida fried in oil. Idli moulds are cheap in Indian shops, but you do not need one. Small heatproof bowls, ramekins or a cloth-lined steamer basket in a lidded pot make good idli. The ferment matters far more than the shape.

What you'll need

26 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.

0 of 26 ready

4 servings

Idli
Sambar
Sambar powder
Tempering

Ingredients

Servings

Idli

Rice, parboiled (idli) rice300 g
Urad dal, skinned white, whole or split100 g
Fenugreek, seeds2½ ml
Water, ice-cold, for grinding350 ml
Salt7.4 ml
Neutral oil, for greasing the moulds or bowls4.9 ml

Sambar

Toor dal, rinsed150 g
Turmeric2½ ml
Tamarind, a walnut-sized piece, soaked in 200 ml hot water and squeezed25 g
Shallot, small, peeled and left whole12
Carrot, in chunks1 medium
Eggplant, in chunks, or a few pieces of drumstick (moringa)1 small
Tomato, chopped1 medium
Jaggery4.9 ml
Salt7.4 ml
Water, 500 ml for the dal, 300 ml for the vegetables800 ml

Sambar powder

Ground coriander15 ml
Dried chilli, red, stalks removed4
Fenugreek, seeds1.2 ml
Cumin, seeds2½ ml

Tempering

Neutral oil, or gingelly (sesame) oil30 ml
Mustard seeds4.9 ml
Curry leaves15
Dried chilli2
Asafoetida, most contain wheat flour; use a gluten-free one if needed (optional)1 pinch
Coriander, leaves, chopped1 handful

Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.

Steps

Step 1
Rinse the rice and soak it in plenty of water for 4 to 6 hours. In a separate bowl, rinse and soak the urad dal with the fenugreek seeds for the same time.
5 min
Step 2
Drain the dal and blend it with about 150 ml of the iced water in short bursts for 5 to 8 minutes, until very smooth, pale and fluffy; a drop should float in a glass of water. Scrape it into a large bowl. Blend the drained rice with about 200 ml water to a fine paste with a slight grit, like wet semolina. Add it to the dal with the salt and mix by hand for a minute.
20 min
Tip: Mixing by hand is not superstition. It warms the batter slightly and spreads the yeasts evenly.
Step 3
Cover the bowl loosely and leave it somewhere warm, ideally 26 to 32°C, for 8 to 14 hours, until the batter has roughly doubled, looks bubbly and smells pleasantly sour. In a cold kitchen, put it in the oven with only the light on.
5 min
Tip: Leave room in the bowl. A good batter can climb over the edge overnight.
Step 4
For the sambar, simmer the toor dal with the turmeric and 500 ml water, partly covered, for 40 to 50 minutes, or about 10 minutes in a pressure cooker, until it collapses completely; add a splash of hot water if it thickens before the dal is soft, then whisk it smooth. Meanwhile toast the dried chillies, fenugreek and cumin in a dry pan for 1 to 2 minutes, until the fenugreek turns light brown, add the ground coriander for the last 30 seconds, then cool and grind to a powder.
50 min
Step 5
In a saucepan, simmer the shallots, carrot, eggplant and tomato in the tamarind water and 300 ml water with the salt and jaggery for 10 to 12 minutes until tender. Stir in the sambar powder for 3 minutes, then the dal, and simmer 5 minutes more to the thickness of a hearty soup.
20 min
Step 6
To steam the idli, grease idli plates, small heatproof bowls or ramekins with oil. Stir the batter gently once and fill each two-thirds full. Set them on a rack or trivet over 3 to 4 cm of boiling water in a wide pot, cover and steam on medium-high for 10 to 12 minutes, or 15 for deeper bowls, until a skewer comes out clean. Rest 5 minutes and loosen with a wet spoon.
20 min
Tip: No mould and no bowls: line a steamer basket with damp muslin, pour in 1.5 cm of batter, steam 15 minutes and cut into squares.
Step 7
Heat the oil in a small pan, add the mustard seeds and let them pop, then the dried chillies, curry leaves and asafoetida for 10 seconds. Pour the tempering over the sambar and add the coriander. Serve the idli hot with sambar poured over or in a bowl on the side, with coconut chutney.
3 min
Watch: Curry leaves spit hard in hot oil. Stand back as they go in.

Nutrition

Per serving · estimate

Calories: 391 kcal
Protein: 13.9 g
Carbs: 62.9 g
Fat: 10.4 g
Saturated fat: 1.2 g
Fibre: 10.9 g
Sugar: 14.1 g
Sodium: 2082 mg

Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.

Allergens

Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.

Wheat

Vegetarian
Vegan
Dairy-free
Gluten-free
Nut-free

Adapt this recipe

The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.

Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 13 November.

Substitutions

Parboiled rice → Idli rava (coarse rice semolina)
Rinse 300 g idli rava, soak 30 minutes, squeeze it out and mix it with the ground dal instead of grinding rice. Common in diaspora kitchens.
Toor dal → Masoor dal (red lentils)
Cooks in 15 minutes and goes smooth easily. The sambar is a little thinner and less nutty.

Tips

Batter that has not risen after 14 hours is usually too cold, not dead. Move it somewhere warmer and give it a few more hours.
Leftover batter keeps four days in the fridge and gets sourer. Use it for dosa or uttapam.
Sambar thickens as it stands. Loosen it with hot water before serving.

History & culture

Idli and sambar is breakfast across Tamil Nadu and the rest of South India, eaten at home, at railway stations and in the standing cafés of Bengaluru, usually with coconut chutney and filter coffee. It is also what people are given when they are ill, and travel food, packed in banana leaf for long train journeys because it keeps.

Steamed cakes are old in South India. Kannada and Sanskrit texts from around the 10th to 12th centuries describe iddalige and iddarika, though those early versions may not have been fermented or made with rice. Some food historians argue the method came from Indonesia; that is debated. The story goes that sambar itself was first cooked in the 17th-century Maratha court kitchens at Thanjavur.

Traditional — Tamil homes grind idli batter in a wet grinder, a stone drum that keeps the batter cool and fluffy. A blender works if you grind the dal in short bursts with iced water so it does not heat up. Idli plates are the standard mould; bowls and ramekins give slightly taller, denser idli. Asafoetida is marked optional only because most brands contain wheat flour.

Provenance: Editorial adaptation.

Questions about this recipe

Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.

How long does Idli sambar take?

16 hr 55 min all in — 40 min prep, 1 hr 15 min cook, 15 hr rest. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.

How many does it serve?

The recipe is written for 4 people. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.

How hard is it?

Medium.

How spicy is it?

Medium heat.

What allergens should I watch?

This recipe is labelled for Wheat. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.

Does it fit a diet?

The published recipe is labelled Vegetarian, Vegan, Dairy-free, Gluten-free, Nut-free.

8 more questions

What does it cost to cook?

Cheap night — about Under $8 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.

What equipment do I need?

Blender, Mixing bowl, Saucepan, Stockpot, Frying pan, Mortar and pestle.

How much salt do I put in?

The recipe lists Salt at 1½ tsp.

What can I use instead?

Parboiled rice → Idli rava (coarse rice semolina). Rinse 300 g idli rava, soak 30 minutes, squeeze it out and mix it with the ground dal instead of grinding rice. Common in diaspora kitchens. Toor dal → Masoor dal (red lentils). Cooks in 15 minutes and goes smooth easily. The sambar is a little thinner and less nutty.

What should I watch for?

Curry leaves spit hard in hot oil. Stand back as they go in.

Any tips from this recipe?

Batter that has not risen after 14 hours is usually too cold, not dead. Move it somewhere warmer and give it a few more hours. Leftover batter keeps four days in the fridge and gets sourer. Use it for dosa or uttapam. Sambar thickens as it stands. Loosen it with hot water before serving.

Can I prepare this ahead?

Leftover batter keeps four days in the fridge and gets sourer. Use it for dosa or uttapam. Leave room in the bowl. A good batter can climb over the edge overnight.

Can I use an air fryer?

This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.