Corn meal idli is a delicious twist on the traditional South Indian favorite. Made with a mix of cornmeal and lentil flour, these idlis have a slightly coarser texture and a subtle sweet flavor from the corn. They are perfect for a light and healthy breakfast or snack, especially when served with coconut chutney or sambar. Give this unique variation a try and enjoy a flavorful and nutritious meal!
Corn Meal Idli
4
servings30
minutes40
minutesDiscover a delicious twist on traditional South Indian idlis with corn meal idli. Perfect for a light and healthy breakfast or snack!
Ingredients
Cornmeal – 2 cups
Curd – 2 cups
Salt – 1 teaspoon or as per taste
Eno Fruit Salt (Regular) – 3/4 (three fourth) teaspoon
- For seasoning
Oil – 3 to 4 teaspoons
Mustard – 1/2 teaspoon
Urad dhal – 1 teaspoon
Bengal gram dhal – 1 teaspoon
Pepper and Jeera – Crushed coarsely 1 teaspoon
Green chillies – 2 to 3
Fresh ginger – a small piece chopped finely
Cashew nuts – few (Optional)
Carrot gratings – 1 or two tablespoons for garnishing
Directions
- In a thick-bottomed kadai, heat the oil and then add mustard, urad dal, Bengal gram dal, pepper, jeera, green chilies, and chopped ginger. Fry until the dals turn light brown.
- Next, add the cornmeal to the seasoning and fry briefly, just until it emits a pleasant aroma; there’s no need to fry it for long. Let it cool, then add salt. Mix in beaten curd and let it soak for only 5 to 10 minutes.
- Sprinkle the fruit salt over the idli batter and drizzle one tablespoon of water over it. Stir well. If needed, add a little water to achieve the consistency of idli batter. If the curd is too sour, use one cup of curd mixed with one cup of water.
- Fill the idli cooker with water and bring to a boil. Grease the idli plates and sprinkle a few carrot gratings on them. Pour the batter over the carrot gratings and steam for 12 to 15 minutes.
- After cooking, remove the plates from the cooker and use a spoon to remove the idlis. Serve with your choice of chutney.
Kamalaji,
You give different recipes with high nutritive values- Hats off to your recipes
Thank you Satya.
hi kamala
i dont have the below one with me
Eno Fruit Salt (Regular) – 3/4 (three fourth) teaspoon
will this affect the outcome of the recipe ???
Rgds
Hi Shobi Vatsan,
Adding Eno fruit salt will soften the idli. If you do not have it, then you can add a pinch of Cooking Soda. Without that also you can prepare, but the idli will be slightly hard.
Corn meal idli looks soft and delicious!
Hello Mano Saminathan,
It is a honour to receive comments from a Culinary Expert like you. Thank you very much.
thanx ….
I tried this last week, taste was ok but it was too hard… i dont know why… is it because i have added the corn meal seasoning to curd immediatly after frying ?
Hi Prabha,
Reason may be – adding hot fried corn meal (without ooling) to the curd or not enough raising agent (like “Eno Fruit Salt”) or cooking soda. Another reason may be the variety of the corn meal used. Some variety is very fine and it will make the idli hard. You have to use coarsely ground (like rawa) corn meal for the idli.
Hi Kamala,
As you said i have used a fine variety of corn and instead of Eno fruit salt i have added a pinch of backing powder… i will try to find the correct ingredients and i will let you know.
Hi kamala jee
I just tried ur recipe and the outcome was really fantastic …usually the oats idli or the semiya idli those all stuffs doesnt raise and it will all be nice but not fluffy..this was really the way like the pic u have posted …and btw the baking soda works .. ! As u said .. ! thanx ! Happy cooking !
Rgds
Hi Shobi Vatsan,
Thank you for your kind feed back.
Will try, as the pic looks grt. Do we get cornmeal in India
Hi Manjula,
Yes. We get cornmeal in India. I got this from grocery store in Chennai.
i need a diet food with spicy taste can u give any tips to reduce body weight
I made this, but i think the 10 minute soaking is not enough. Also may be the quantity of eno was not sufficient. Taste was good, was soft in first minute, then the corn meal started going back to its raw state and in fifteen minutes, it became just like new from packet. guess i need to soak it for more time and add a little more eno. but it sure is easy and different and tasty. Thanks madam for the recipe..
can we u corn flour instead of corn meal
Hi Manjula,
NO. Corn flour is most used for binding the other sustances and if you use corn flour, idli will be very hard and tasteless.
hi kamala ji,
your recipies look great.i needed some suggestions from u.
i am hosting a family dinner for 20 people nd want to keep my menu completely south indian.i live in delhi so maybe some of the authentic ingredients might not b available.please help me deside a menu which wuld b appreciated.
thank u.
Hi Meenu Goyal,
South Indian Dinner – consists of variety rices / vadai / desert like payasam/kesari etc. Also for dinner people serve idli/dosa/vada also.
Tamarind Rice/sambar rice / curd semiya /plainrice and rasam/vadai/papad/chips / curd pachadi or sweet pachadi – for desert you can go for kesari or payasam. Chapati is also commonly served in South India now. You can go for chapati and any spicy kurma.
I have used tinned corn using mixer i grinded. The paste was so soft, than i added equal quantity of idly rava (broken rice). Then i followed the procedure mentioned by you excepting Eno salt. Not added Eno salt. The result was fantastic, it was buffy & soft. i really enjoyed . I am in Saudi Arabia & from Chennai, whenever i need cook south Indian dish i follow your web pages. Thanks & good to have such web for the youngsters to follow. i need your response about addition of idly rava.
Best Regards,
Thank you for sharing your method of preparation. Will try it soom.
HI Kamala
I am going to try this tomorrow morning. I am planning to keep it for the whole night.
I will let u know about the result.
I am staying in Botswana (Near South Africa) and a pure vegetarian..If this works well I am going to have good break fast every morning
Thank youuuuu
I would like to know an alternative to Eno salt. Can we grind the dried corn coarsely and prepare the corn meal at home?
Please suggest.
Yes. You can grind the dried corn to a coarse powder and make the idli. You can use cooking soda instead of Eno salt.
Hi kamala,
Is this corn meal is called polenta.. Bcos I got polenta and I also made idli like this.. It came soft but I think since the batter was bit watery the batter was spilling out of the idli stand.. Can u pls clarify whether corn meal is also called polenta..
Yes.
Hi Kamala,
Can I do this without the Eno salt ?
Eno salt is added as “Raising Agent”. If you do not add, idli will not raise and become hard. However the taste will be same. If you do not mind hard idli, you can prepare it without eno salt. Or you can add a pinch of cooking soda instead of eno salt.
Thank you !
Hello mam,
Corn meal n benzi Rawa both are same
Sorry ma’am bansi Rawa
Looks yummy and healthy. Thanks for sharing.