How many calories does one Idli have?

One Idli gives 33 calories. Out of which carbohydrates comprise 28 calories, proteins account for 4 calories and remaining calories come from fat which is 1 calories.  One Idli provides about 2 percent of the total daily calorie requirement of a standard adult diet of 2,000 calories.

See Idli recipe. Fluffy as cotton balls, white as the moon’ - every South Indian remembers those fond descriptions of Idli that mom used to convince them to eat breakfast when they were kids. 

Indeed, that is how the perfect Idli must be too. Grinding of batter and the preparation of Idli is an almost daily affair in South Indian homes. Being a safe, tasty and wholesome breakfast, it is preferred by people all over the world now. 

Choose good quality par-boiled rice (ask for idli rice, which is small and stout) and urad for making idlis, as the colour and softness of the end product depends on it. 

The amount of water to be added when grinding the urad changes according to the quality of the dal, so keep adding little by little till the batter is soft and fluffy, and do not make it watery. 

Is Idli healthy?

One Idli has only 33 calories. Great for weight loss, and an ideal fermetned food. Forms a perfect low calorie breakfast recipe and a snack enjoyed all over the country. So you are better off snacking on an idli than eating any form of processed foods. 

Idli is made from urad dal, par boiled rice, methi seeds and thick beaten rice. 

Let's understand the Ingredients.

What's good.

Urad Dal : 1 cup of cooked urad dal gives 69.30% of folic acid of your daily requirement of folate.  The folic acid in urad dal helps your body to produce and maintain new cells, especially red blood cells. Being rich in Phosphorus it works with Calcium to build our bones. See here for 10 super benefits of urad dal. 

What's the problem?

Parboiled Rice : Parboiled rice is also known as ukda chawal. The parboiled rice is made with the rice grain soaked, steamed and dried with the hull and finally the hull is removed. In the process of steaming water soluble B Vitamins like thiamine, riboflavin and niacin from the bran integrate into the grain, thus making parboiled rice superior to white rice.  

Note : 1 cup = 200 ml (standard cup available in the market). The weight in grams varies for each ingredient.

Can healthy individuals have idli?

Yes, but don't eat too many as they are high in carbs. Read on to understand. Idli is a perfect combination of urad dal and par boiled rice which make it a complete protein. A cereal pulse combo like in the case of Idli ( par boiled rice and urad dal) would serve as a complete protein comprising of all the 9 essential amino acids.

It additionally is without gluten, so if you need to go gluten free, Idli would be the best option for you. It is also a low calorie recipe, thus making it a good option for people on weight loss. Parboiled rice has more fiber than white rice making  you feel fuller and this is a better choice than junk food or fried food.When you eat idli for breakfast or lunch, make sure your remaining meals in the day contain fibre and low in carbs.  Note that idli is high in carbs so don't eat too many of them. 

Is idli safe for Diabetics?

Idli is a moderate Glycemic Index (GI) recipe and since it is fermented it is pre digested by micro organisms, thus prove not a very happy food for diabetics. But we have a idli recipe which does not use par boiled rice and safe for diabetics. Try the green moog dal and vegetable idli.

Green Moong Dal and Vegetable Idli

What is a healthy accompaniment to Idli?

To idli, we recommend a nice piping hot bowl of sambar.

Sambhar

idli is good for

1. Healthy Lifestyle (have some veggies with your meal)

2. Weight Gain

3. Diabetics (limited quantity)

4. Heart Patients

5. Kids

8 Pointers to Go Healthy and Stay Healthy

1. Eat healthy and say yes to good home cooked food. Prefer whole grains like oatmeal, quinoa, buckwheat, barley and healthy flours like bajra flour, jowar flour, quinoa flour, wheat flour etc. rather than refined ones like maida.

2. Opt out of junk food, packaged food, deep fried foods. Prefer steamed snacks and other non-fried snacks. Check out some Healthy Indian Snacks. Remember to eat small frequent meals through the day as that will keep you always full and prevent your blood sugar from dropping. By starving your body through some diet, will not help you one bit. In fact, dieting will make you binge on 2 to 3 meals which is not good. 

3. Have 4 to 5 servings of vegetables and 2 to 3 servings of fruit is a must. Follow the logic of a vegetable in each main meal of the day and a fruit in-between meals. Check out a few Healthy Indian Soups and Healthy Indian Salads  recipes using this food group.           

4. Cut down on sugar and salt in your diet and pick honey ( very small amounts) or dates to sweeten your food. Slowly cut the sugar habit as this is not going to happen over night. Sugar  is also called white poison. It is a simple carbohydrate with zero nutritional value. On intake, sugar will cause inflammation of the body which will last for many hours. It will spike your blood sugar level and shut down the fat burning process. This also causes high blood sugar levels in your body. The development of prediabetes comes from uncontrolled eating sugar and refined food products for many years and the classic symptom is if you have excess belly fat. This leads to diabetes and further onwards to heart attack, high blood pressure, strokes, impotence and kidney damage. 

Salt and blood pressure. Apart from stress and obesity, one of the main reasons for high blood pressure is excessive sodium and salt intake. Most people find it difficult to limit the amount of salt in their cooking, thinking it will affect the taste of their favourite dishes. 

This is not true. Bajra and jowar are rich in potassium and critical for those with High Blood Pressure as it lessens the impact of sodium. Eating more Potassium Rich Foods will remove more sodium from your body through urine. So include the basic bajra roti and jowar roti in your daily diet to have with Lower Blood Pressure Subzis Recipes. 

5. Befriend a few healthy seeds and nuts like chia seeds, flax seeds, sesame seeds, walnuts and almonds. 

6.  Sprouts are called ‘living food’. They are high is most nutrients and easy to digest as well. Let them feature in your meals at least thrice a week. Also Read : All Benefits about Sprouts. 

7.  Exercise 45 minutes every day. No excuse. You can walk fast, run, do weights, play your favourite sport or go to the gym.

8.  Sleep early and get up early. Get your body into rhythm and it will function best. Sleep helps your body to recover.

How to burn 33 calories that come from one Idli?

Note: These values are approximate and calorie burning differs in each individual.