This traditional Uttapam Recipe is a delicious South Indian tiffin breakfast and snack of a thick, tangy, fluffy, savory and soft pancakes made from fermented rice and lentil batter. I share the method of making the batter from scratch to make a simple plain Uthappam. You can also make Uttapam with a leftover Idli Batter or Dosa Batter.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 540 minutes
  • Cook time: 30 minutes
  • Total time: 570 minutes
  • Yield: 8
  • Category: Breakfast
  • Cuisine: South Indian

Ingredients

  • 2 cups idli rice (or parboiled rice, 400 grams)
  • 2 cups water (- for soaking rice)
  • ½ cup urad dal (- whole and husked, 120 grams)
  • 1 cup water (- for soaking urad dal)
  • ¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds ((methi seeds))
  • ½ cup water (- for grinding urad dal or add as required)
  • ¾ cup water (- for grinding rice or add as required)
  • 1 teaspoon rock salt ((edible and food grade) or pink salt or sea salt - can add as required)
  • oil (or ghee or butter - add as required)
  • 1 cup onions (- finely chopped or sliced shallots or pearl onions)
  • 1 cup tomatoes (- chopped)
  • 1 cup carrots (- grated)
  • ½ cup capsicum (- finely chopped)
  • ⅓ cup coriander leaves (- chopped)
  • 12 to 15 curry leaves (- chopped)
  • 2 to 3 green chilies (- chopped)
  • Idli Podi (or Sambar Powder or Pav Bhaji Masala, add as required, optional)

Method

Soaking rice and lentils

  1. In a bowl take the usked whole urad dal and fenugreek seeds. You can also use split husked urad dal instead of husked whole urad dal.
  2. Rinse both the urad dal and methi seeds for a couple of times with water.
  3. Soak them in 1 cup water for 4 to 5 hours.
  4. In another bowl take the parboiled rice or idli rice. Rinse the parboiled rice or idli rice for a couple of times and set aside.
  5. Add 2 cups of water. Mix well and soak everything for 4 to 5 hours.

Blending and Fermenting Batter

  1. Strain the urad dal and reserve the water. Keep this water for blending/grinding the dal.
  2. Add the strained urad dal in the grinder or blender.
  3. First add ¼ cup of the reserved water and blend for some seconds. Then add the rest of ¼ cup water and continue to blend until the batter is light, smooth and fluffy. If the mixer becomes too hot while blending, then stop for a few minutes. Let the mixer cool down and blend again.
  4. Quantity of water depends on the freshness of urad dal. So add water as required.
  5. Pour the urad dal batter in a large bowl or pan. The batter should be fluffy, smooth and light.
  6. To the same blender or grinder, add half of the rice.
  7. Then add ¼ to ½ cup water and blend till smooth. A fine grainy consistency of rice is also alright. You can blend the rice in two to three batches.
  8. Pour the rice batter in the bowl containing the urad dal batter.
  9. Add 1 teaspoon rock salt or as per taste. In very cold temperatures, avoid adding salt. Instead add ¼ teaspoon sugar. Sugar aids in the fermentation process.
  10. Mix both the batters very well with a spoon or spatula.
  11. Cover and allow the batter to ferment overnight for 8 to 9 hours. The timing will vary depending on the temperature in your city.
  12. The batter should increase in volume and double or triple. It will also have a pleasant sour aroma and many tiny air pockets.
  13. Simply lightly stir the batter. Check the consistency. If the batter looks too thick, you can add about ⅛ to ¼ cup water or more if required. Mix well.

Making Uttapam

  1. Heat up a tawa or a cast iron pan, brush or spread some oil on the tawa. Pour the batter with a ladle or spoon. For nonstick pan, you need not grease the pan. The tawa has to be hot. While making uttapams, you can regulate the heat from low to high. Before pouring the batter, reduce the heat to low.
  2. Gently spread the batter to a thick pancake. Note that the quantity of batter to make uttapam will be more than what you would normally use for a dosa. The uttapam must be thick.
  3. At this point, after spreading the batter on the tawa/griddle, you can consider add veggie toppings of chopped onions & tomatoes, grated carrots or beets, finely chopped capsicum and herbs like coriander leaves, curry leaves and green chilies.
  4. Cook them on a medium heat. Drizzle some oil on the top and sides.
  5. These pancakes takes a longer time to cook than dosa. Cook until the base is golden.
  6. Then flip and cook the other side.
  7. Both sides should be cooked well. Prepare more uthappam this way with the rest of the batter in batches.
  8. If there is any leftover batter, store it in the refrigerator. It keeps well for a few days. You can also make paniyaram or appe with this batter.
  9. Serve Uttapam hot or warm with coconut chutney and sambar. You can also pack them in tiffin box as they remain soft even after cooling.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.