Proso Millet Idli (No Rice Idli Recipe) (2024)

Step By Step Recipe to Make Proso Millet Idli or Pani Varagu Idli at home. A No Rice Idli Recipe that tastes best with Sambar and Chutney for breakfast.

Starting the New Year with a healthy South Indian Vegetarian, low oil breakfast recipe made with millets. Presenting Proso Millet Idli Recipe or Pani Varagu Idli.

The Proso Millet Idli is super soft and delicious and contains No Rice. Yes, you heard it right - this is a No Rice Idli Recipe. This recipe also doesn't call for poha or flattened rice, cooked rice either.

Proso Millet or Pani Varagu in Tamil is one of the many varieties of Millets. It is also known as Barri in Hindi.

Like all millets, Proso Millet can be cooked in different ways like khichdi, upma or just pressure cooked like rice and eaten with a choice of protein (dal) and vegetables. They are Gluten Free and Vegan in nature.

I cook with a variety of millets at home and often include them as part of our breakfast meal.

Since Narayan is a huge fan of Idlis, I end up making Proso Millet Idlis atleast once or twice a week either as part of breakfast or early dinner. The love for Idli is quite evident from the list of recipes on the blog, tried with many ingredients.

Some Idli Recipes on the blog

• Kollu Idli or Horsegram Idli Recipe - A protein packed Idli Recipe with many health benefits.
• Rava Idli - An Instant Idli variety made with Rava or Semolina.

Adding millets in lieu of Rice in the Idli batter makes a lot of difference in terms of fullness and satiety levels. There is absolutely no compromise in taste, softness and texture of the idlis, whatsoever.

In case you haven't tried Ragi Idli or Finger Millet Idli recipe from the blog, then I urge you to try the same. It is not an instant recipe and uses whole Ragi Seeds instead of Ragi Flour.

For the Ragi Idli Recipe, I added Rice so this time I thought of sharing a No Rice Idli Recipe for many who avoid white rice. For the very same reason, I have avoided adding Poha or cooked rice too in the batter, which is otherwise added to increase softness.

Softness depends on good fermentation and sufficient water used while grinding. Excess water leads to flat Idlis and less water would turn the idlis hard.

The step by step pictures below will help you gauge the quantity of water required for grinding the batter.

Another common issue is the fermentation - Since its winters in India, my batter took around 10 hours to ferment which otherwise ferments within 7 to 8 hours.

When I saw the batter still not fermented after 5 - 6 hours, I chucked the vessel inside the OTG and ended up with a beautiful fermented batter.

Tip - In cold countries, you can leave the oven light on and keep the vessel inside, covered. Ensure you keep a plate below the vessel to avoid the batter from overflowing.

The Proso Millet Idli batter is ground using a Mixer Grinder and not in a stone grinder, like all my Idli recipes on the blog. So if you are wondering only stone grinders yield soft idlis, think again!

If you are trying Idli for the first time and are looking for tips and tricks on how to soak batter, fermentation tips etc, please go through the Traditional Idli Recipe on the blog with tips to make soft idlis every time.

Note - You can follow this recipe and try it with any available Millet of your choice like Foxtail Millet, Barnyard Millet etc too with the same proportions as mentioned below.

Step by Step Proso Millet Idli Recipe

(1) Measure Proso Millet and add it to a bowl.

(2) Similarly, measure Urad Dal and add it in a separate bowl along with methi seeds or fenugreek seeds.

(3) Soak both the above i.e. Millets and Urad Dal, separately with enough water for atleast 6 hours.

(4) After they have soaked, drain the water and first add the Urad Dal to the mixer grinder jar. Just cover it with little water for grinding (as shown below)

(5) Thick Urad Dal batter is ready.

(6) Now in the same mixer grinder jar, add the soaked and drained millets. Add some water for grinding (once again, as shown below) and grind it to a smooth paste.

(7) Add the ground millet batter to the Urad Dal batter.

(8) Mix both the batters by hand (important step especially during winters)

(9) Set the batter aside (covered) in a warm spot or inside an OTG / Microwave if the weather is cold outside to ferment for 8 to 10 hours or overnight.

(10) The fermented batter is ready.

(11) Gently mix the batter and add salt.

(12) You can either make idlis immediately or store this batter in the refrigerator in a box or vessel with tight lid.

(13) If you plan to make idlis immediately, grease the idli plates with oil.

(14) Pour the batter carefully into the idli moulds. As you can see, Always leave room for the idlis to spread while steaming, which leads to fluflly idlis. Do not overflow the plate with idli batter.

(15) Steam the idlis for 10 to 12 minutes.

(16) After steaming, allow the idlis to rest on the counter top for 5 minutes before serving them.

(17) Soft Proso Millet Idlis are ready to eat

What is Idli without Chutney? - Here are Some Chutney Recipes For you!

• Green Tomato Chutney - Spicy, Tangy and Sweet flavors makes it an excellent combination with Idli and Dosa. This Chutney recipe does not contain Coconut.
• Thakkali Chutney or Tomato Onion Chutney - Combination of Madras Onions or Shallots and tomatoes is my number one choice for any idli variety.
• Kothamalli Chutney or Coconut Coriander Chutney - Coriander and Coconut combined with green chillies makes this aromatic and best combo for idlis.

Some Other Traditional South Indian Breakfast Recipes

• Adai (Mixed Lentils and Rice Dosa) - High Protein Dosa or Savory Crepes that is quite filling as breakfast or brunch. Combine with a chutney of your choice or enjoy with jaggery during winters.
• Uppu Kozhukattai - Steamed Rice and Lentil filling Breakfast Dumplings.

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Vidya Narayan