Oats Idli Recipe (Requires No Fermentation)

Four oats idli arranged on silver plate.

4.83 from 35 votes

Oats Idli Recipe (Requires No Fermentation)

Oats Idli are soft, fluffy steamed cakes made with oats, curd (yogurt), semolina, herbs, spices and a leavening agent. This instant, no-fermentation recipe is quick to make and ideal for a light breakfast or healthy snack. Serve with coconut chutney or sambar for a wholesome meal.

Prep Time25

Cook Time15

Total Time40

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: South Indian

Diet: Vegetarian

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Servings: Oats Idli

Calories: 62kcal

Author: Dassana Amit

Ingredients

Main ingredients

1 cup oats - quick cooking oats or rolled oats
½ cup rava (sooji or cream of wheat), fine textured
½ cup curd (yogurt), fresh or sour
1 cup water or add as required
1 teaspoon eno or ½ teaspoon baking soda
⅓ to ½ cup carrot - grated or 1 small to medium-sized carrot
1 tablespoon coriander leaves - chopped (cilantro)
salt as required

For tempering

½ to 1 tablespoon oil
½ teaspoon mustard seeds
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon urad dal - husked, split black gram (optional)
1 teaspoon chana dal - husked, split bengal gram
1 pinch asafoetida (hing)
½ teaspoon black pepper - crushed
1 teaspoon green chilies - chopped or 1 to 2 green chillies
1 teaspoon curry leaves - finely chopped
1 teaspoon ginger - finely chopped or 1 inch ginger
8 to 10 cashews - chopped
1 or 2 tablespoons coconut - grated, optional

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preparation

Take rolled oats or quick cooking oats in a grinder or blender jar. Blend to a fine flour.
Peel and grate 1 small to medium carrot.
Finely chop the ginger, curry leaves, coriander leaves and green chilies.

Making tempering

Heat oil in a pan. On a low to medium-low heat, add the mustard seeds, chana dal and urad dal.
Stir and fry till the mustard seeds crackle and both the urad dal and chana dal become golden.
Now add the green chilies, ginger, curry leaves, cashews and a pinch of asafoetida. Saute for a minute.

Making batter

Add sooji (rava or cream of wheat). Stirring often roast for 2 minutes on a low heat.
Next add the oats flour. Mix very well and keep on stirring often while roasting the flour.
Roast for a total time of about 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer this mixture in a bowl and let it cool completely.
Once the oatmeal mixture has cooled, add grated carrots and chopped coriander leaves.
You can also add steamed green peas or blanched/steamed french beans or skip the veggies altogether.
Add curd. You can either add fresh or sour curd.
Add water. Combine and mix very well. The batter should have a medium consistency. Cover and allow the batter to rest for 5 to 6 minutes.
Meanwhile, grease the idli moulds with some oil or ghee.
Place a small trivet/perforated plate in a 5 to 6 litre stovetop pressure cooker, a large pot/pan, Instant Pot or electric rice cooker.
Add 1.5 to 2 cups water in the stovetop pressure cooker, large pot/pan, electric rice cooker or Instant pot and heat until the water comes to a boil.
You can also use the traditional idli steamer to steam oats idli.
Now add salt according to taste to the batter and mix very well.
Next add 1 teaspoon fruit salt (eno) or ½ teaspoon baking soda.
For a less soapy alkaline aroma you can add ½ teaspoon fruit salt or ¼ teaspoon baking soda. The texture in this case is less fluffy and soft.
As soon as you add the fruit salt, quickly begin to mix it with the batter.
Be quick and mix thoroughly so that the fruit salt is mixed evenly in the batter.

Steaming

Pour the batter in a the greased idli moulds. Try to use all the batter in one steaming batch.
Gently place the moulds on the trivet/perforated plate inside the pot/pan, electric rice cooker, Instant Pot or stovetop pressure cooker.
Cover and steam for about 10 to 12 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the oat idli should come out clean.
If using a pressure cooker, remove the vent weight (whistle) from the lid before sealing the cooker tightly with the lid prior to steaming. Steam for 10 to 12 minutes on medium heat.
For Instant pot, keep the valve in the venting position. Press the Steam button and steam the idlis for 10 to 12 minutes. Use a kitchen timer to track the time, as the Instant Pot timer may not start in venting mode.
Once done, open the lid right away and carefully remove the idli stand.
Allow the steamed oatmeal idli to rest for some minutes. Then remove them with a spoon dipped in hot water.
Serve these light, healthy and instant oats idli hot or warm with coconut chutney or sambar.

Serving suggestions

Serve oats idli hot or warm with coconut chutney, onion chutney, tomato chutney, idli podi or sambar. These oatmeal idli also make for a good tiffin box or lunchtime snack.

Storage and leftovers

Keep leftover oats idli in a covered container in the refrigerator. Reheat in a microwave sprinkling a few drops of water on the idli or you can steam them for 1 to 2 minutes in a pan or pot.
You can even pan fry or shallow fry them until crispy and golden. Serve the fried oats idli with any dip like a tomato ketchup or schezwan sauce or coriander chutney.

Notes

Type of Oats: Rolled oats or quick-cooking oats both work well for soft, fluffy idlis. Rolled oats add a mild nutty flavor, especially when lightly roasted. Avoid instant or flavored oats, as they may alter the taste and texture.
Leavening ingredients: For a less soapy alkaline aroma, you can add ½ teaspoon of fruit salt or ¼ teaspoon of baking soda. In this case, the texture will be less fluffy and soft.
Use up all the batter at once: Try to use all the batter in one steaming lot. If you keep the batter for the second round of steaming, then the oatmeal idli won’t become that soft.
Preparing chutney: The recipe of these instant oats idli gets done quickly. When the idli are steaming, prepare the Coconut Chutney, then you will have a healthy breakfast at your table in less than an hour.
Vegan option: You can use a vegan yogurt like cashew yogurt or almond yogurt. Cashew yogurt will taste better in the recipe. Or just skip adding curd and add about ½ to 1 teaspoon of lemon juice to get a slight sour taste and also to help in the acid-alkaline reaction.

Nutrition