Idli

Idli are steamed, feather-light cakes of fermented rice-and-lentil batter. They are South India's everyday breakfast, and they carry almost no flavour of their own — everything the dish tastes of comes from what is served alongside.

What it really is

Rice and urad dal are soaked, ground separately and combined into a thick batter, then left to ferment overnight until it visibly doubles and turns faintly sour. Ladled into a stacked, perforated mould and steamed for around ten minutes, the batter sets into small, round, spongy cakes with a texture closer to a soft bread than to any rice dish. Nothing seasons the batter itself — no salt is added by many traditional cooks, and no spice at all.

Fermentation is what makes an idli light rather than dense. The bubbles the fermentation produces are what steam into the cake's open, springy texture; a fresh, unfermented batter steams into something closer to a heavy rice pudding.

How it is served

• Two or three to a plate, straight from the steamer.
• With sambar for dipping and at least one coconut chutney.
• Hot; a cooled idli firms up and loses the softness that defines it.

How to write it on the menu

• It is naturally vegan and gluten-free as standard, worth flagging plainly.
• Say if the batter is made in-house and properly fermented, since a same-day, unfermented version is a genuinely different, denser food.
• Note what accompaniments are included, since idli on its own is intentionally bland and depends entirely on what comes with it.