The Idli Thesaurus

By Nisha Ravi

Idlis.

I have the softest spot for idlis in my heart. Of the myriad things that could remind me of home, the humble idli does that job the best. The thought of piping hot, soft idlis with an assortment of chutneys and sambhar is currently making me salivate.

I remember how my grandmother would walk out into the kitchen garden, pluck banana leaves, fold and cut them into these strange octagonal spheres, rub a generous amount of coconut oil and place them into the wedges of the idli thattu before pouring the batter in. I remember that exquisite flavour of coconut oil and a faint lingering hint of banana leaves every time I bit into my idlis. And while my grandmother passed away a few years ago, I can still close my eyes and picture her doing that very activity and very much feel that taste surfacing from somewhere at the back of head. 

Today I make idlis promptly but I go the extra step. I add a tadka of mustard, hing, finely chopped onions, green chillies, ginger and curry leaves into my batter for that extra oomph. And I kid you not I can polish of a large heap in minutes. 

My worldview of idlis however was limited to that classic Tamil/ Malayali style of making it until I came to Bangalore and ate at a darshini. The more common Udupi idli variant is not as soft and is instead rather coarse. 

And just like that the door to a larger world of idlis opened up. I am going to list the most popular ones here to honour this humble dish on World Idli Day. And honestly, thank god there is one because I am celebrating the heck out of it.

• Thatte Idli
  

The near flat and absolutely spongy, soft idli from parts of Bidadi and Tumkur is a true delight. With a dollop of white butter and gatti coconut chutney, this one is what idli fantasies are made of. A drive towards Mysore is made better only by the multiple thatte idli joints you can stop at. 

• Ramasseri Idli

A very close cousin of the thatte idli, Ramasseri idli is found only in parts of Palakkad. It is believed that immigrant population from Kanchipuram brought this recipe over. The idli is steamed using an earthen pot containing boiling water. The mouth is lined with a thick muslin cloth and the top is covered with an earthen lid to trap the heat. The result is an indulgent and mind numbingly soft idli which is removed from the mould with a special leaf that infuses it's fragrance into these idlis. Ramasseri idlis are often eaten with a luscious chicken curry.

Kappa Chakka Kandhari, a Kerala restaurant in Bangalore and Chennai is credited for having brought back this humble idli to the forefront.

• Kanchipuram Idli
  

These idlis are spiced with pepper, cumin and ginger and poured into moulds lined with mandharai leaves. Traditionally they were steamed in a bamboo funnels giving it the distinct shape. These are the very same idlis that are offered to Lord Vishnu in the Varadharaja Perumal Temple in Kanchipuram thus earning the alternative name kovil idli and have a distinct flavour to them. 

• Khushboo/ Kottamuthu/ Mallige Idli

Softness of this idli, is otherworldly. That’t perhaps all you need to know. The origin of the name Khushboo is really unknown but rumour has it that it’s named after the actress Khushboo from Tamil Nadu. The Karnataka variant is known as mallige and it’s simply a depiction of how the idli is as soft as a jasmine petal. The recipe includes kottamuthu or castor seeds and is perhaps the most pillowy idli you will ever try. 

• Spot Idli

Spot idli is one of the oddest idli in this list. A popular Hyderabadi street side find, this idli is made by pouring a ladleful of batter onto a spicy tomato gojju on a tawa and then covered and steamed. Unlike a regular idli this one is not as fluffy or spongy but quite delectable in it’s own right. 

• Rava Idli

MTR or Mavalli Tiffin Room is iconic for their invention of the rava idli. During World War II when rice was in short supply, it is believed that MTR tried creating idlis with semolina or rava and since then rava idlis are iconic to Bangalore. 

In the recent past health conscious folks have taken inspiration from this idea and begun to create a multitude of grain based idlis. Millets, oats, barley, black rice and so on are a few of the variants. 

• Kotte Kadubu/ Hittu/ Khotte/ Gunda Idli

An aromatic idli made in jackfruit leaves fashioned into a mould by joining the ends together. This idli from Coastal Karnataka and the Konkan belt has a very unique flavour from being steamed in jackfruit leaves. In the Andhra and Telangana region these idlis are called pottikalu or panasa butta idli.

• Moode Idli
  

In Tulunad, a similar variant is made by rolling up screw pine leaves into a cylindrical mould with the batter inside. Yet again, a very aromatic idli with rich pandan leaf like flavours. Today people try to replicate the shape by using steel glasses as moulds thus giving birth to another variant called Tumbler idli. 

• Sannas

A Catholic style idli made out of a fermented rice batter, a plate of soft sannas and pork sorpotel or meat curries is a common way to start your day in Mangalore and Goa. 

• Enduri Pitha

Speaking of fermented batters, enduri pitha is a popular dish made in Odisha. While it doesn’t resemble an idli as much as it does a tamale, the batter bears a striking resemblance to the idli batter and given South India’s obsession with steaming idlis in just about any leaf, this turmeric leaf variant is really not too far away from the original idli. 

• Mini/ Button Idlis

Perhaps a humble effort to make picky eaters eat idlis, is how mini or button idlis were born. They are cute and fun and easy to transform into idli manchurian, pepper idli, and just about anything. So while this is nothing different from a regular idli, mini idlis have converted many fussy children into idli eaters and so it very much deserves a spot in this list.

• Podi/ Guntur Idli

Idlis are great as is. But the best thing to happen to an idli is the act of drizzling podi over it. A road trip from Bangalore to Chennai is incomplete without a pit stop at Murugan Idli Kadai. Soft idlis are plunged into warm ghee and fished out and dunked into a generous heap of karam podi. Followed by a strong filter coffee and suddenly the long drive ahead seems possible. This insidiously addictive combo also features in Telangana with a generous sprinkling of the iconic gun powder. 

• Kedli/ Kedari

An international sibling of idli from Indonesia, it is in fact also believed that kedli, the steamed rice cake from the region made its way to India in 700CE. So does that mean, that the kedli came first?