Oats idli - Swasthi's Recipes (2024)

Oats idli recipe made with oats, tempering spices, herbs and veggies. Make these quick, healthy, fluffy and delicious instant oatmeal idlis in a flash. Serve them for a breakfast, snack or a meal with a good chutney, tiffin sambar or sagu. We do love our fluffy and soft idli and is a staple breakfast on most weekdays. Rava Idli and this oats idli are a stand by when I do not have stock of idli dosa batter but prefer to eat idli.

These oats idli are good only if paired with a real good chutney or a tiffin sambar. You know what I mean! No compromises with the sides, so you will love these as much as the hotel style Rava idlis.

I have been making oats idli for few years now and have experimented a lot. The recipe shared here has been giving me good results consistently.

If you are a newbie and wondering what these are?

About oats idli

Oats idli are steamed cakes made with an instant batter consisting of oatmeal, spices, herbs, veggies, yogurt and a leavening agent. Traditionally idlis are made with ground and fermented lentil rice batter. These oats idlis are a shortcut way to make the steamed cakes, where we just make a batter with all the ingredients and leaven it with a leavening agent such as Eno or baking soda. This gives us the same results as the fermented batter does.

The batter is then steamed in idli molds. How easy.. isn’t it? We love these as much as these MTR style Rava idlis which I shared with you all before.

I make oats idli with both semolina and whole wheat rava or daliya or samba rava. Bombay rava or semolina is a processed food and is good to consume in moderation. If you are trying to avoid refined foods, then I suggest using whole wheat rava instead of semolina.

You can find a picture of oats idli made with whole wheat rava at the end of this post.

If you are health conscious and trying to include oats in your diet, you may like this collection of Oats recipes.
Oats dosa
Easy oats upma
Oats chilla
Masala oats
Oats uttapam
Oats omelette

How to make oats idli (stepwise photos)

Preparation

1. Add 1 cup oats to a blender.

2. Make a coarse powder. Making a coarse powder prevents stickiness in the oats idli.

3. Pour 1½ tablespoon oil to a hot pan. Do not reduce oil. If using cashews, fry them until golden and set aside. Then add ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds, ½ teaspoon cumin seeds and 1 teaspoon urad dal. Saute until the dal turns golden. Sprinkle a pinch of hing.

4. Add 1 finely chopped green chilies, 1 teaspoon chopped ginger (optional) and few curry leaves. Saute for a min.

5. Next add half cup semolina / rava or whole wheat rava /daliya.

6. Saute on a medium heat until the rava turns fragrant.

7. Add the powdered oats. Mix and fry on a low heat without burning until the oats begin to smell good.

8. Then add salt. Mix this and set aside to cool completely. This is the instant oats idli mix. You can also bottle this and use when ever needed. Keeps good in refrigerator for 1 week to 10 days.

Making oats idli batter

9. Once the mix is cooled completely, add 1 cup water and ¼ cup curd.

10. Mix well and Set aside for 10 mins. Drizzle a few drops of oil on each idli plate. Grease them and keep aside. Optionally place fried cashew in each mould.

11. After 10 mins, the batter turns slightly thick. If it is too thick then add 1 to 2 tbsps more water to bring it to a thick consistency like that of idli batter. The batter must be thick and not of pouring consistency. Add water only as needed. You can also skip water depending on the kind of oats used.

Transfer lemon juice, finely grated carrots, peas (optional) & few coriander leaves. Do not use too much carrots it lends a sweetish flavor.

12. First get the steamer ready with 1.5 to 2 cups water like you do for the regular idli. When the water is getting hot, about to come to a boil, then add ½ teaspoon baking soda or 1 teaspoon fruit salt – eno. You can also reduce 1 to 2 pinches of soda. Mix well. You will begin to see bubbles in the mixture. The mixture has to go right away for steaming otherwise the idli will turn dense.

How to make oats idli

13. This recipe makes around 8 to 9 idlis. Pour the batter to the greased plates. Put the idli stand inside when the water comes to a boil. Cover and steam for 11 to 12 mins on a high flame. The color of the idli depends on the kind of oats used. I had used rolled oats, hence the yellowish color.

14. Allow them to cool down a bit. Dip a spoon or knife in water and remove the oats idli.

Serve oats idli hot with chutney or sambar. These are best served hot.

Oats idli made with whole wheat.

Pro tips

• Make sure you roast the semolina very well on a low heat until crunchy. We do not want to brown the semolina as this will also alter the flavor of the oats idli.
• Do not reduce the quantity of oil as this prevents the idlis from turning sticky.
• Avoid using slimy or sour yogurt. Slimy yogurt makes the idlis sticky and sour yogurt imparts a sour flavor to the idlis.
• If you reduce the amount of baking soda or eno your oats idlis will turn out to be dense. The quantities mentioned in the recipe won’t make your idlis have an aftertaste but ensure you use enough lemon juice to leaven it.

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