As Google Doodle Celebrates Idli, Know Why It Is Not An Indian Dish

Last Updated:October 11, 2025, 17:17 IST

A chef in London once tried making idlis with yeast, but they turned out hard as stones, until he reverted to the traditional overnight fermentation process.

Light yet satisfying, simple yet soulful, idli, belongs to everyone who has ever sat down to eat it with their fingers, dipping it into chutney and sambar, until the flavours felt like home and if India had to vote for a national comfort food, this simple South Indian breakfast staple would win without contest.

So when Google turned its Doodle into a steaming banana leaf spread of idlis and vadas on October 11, 2025, people everywhere paused to smile and the internet naturally celebrated.

But did you know while India may have perfected the art of making idlis, it may not have actually invented them. This quintessentially Indian food may not really have been born in India at all.

Google Doodle on Idli

Google honoured India’s most comforting breakfast, the humble idli, transforming its logo into a banana leaf platter of soft white idlis, bowls of chutney, sambar, and a golden medu vada. The design is a celebration for millions who start their day with this steaming delicacy.

The Doodle tribute captured the essence of South Indian cuisine, a visual story of comfort and community. Traditionally served on banana leaves, idlis are loved for being light, wholesome, and versatile. It has travelled from the kitchens of Tamil Nadu to breakfast tables in London, New York, and Sydney, becoming a global symbol of Indian simplicity.

Yet, food historians argue that the dish’s origins point away from India. Culinary evidence and linguistic references suggest that the idli we know today might have travelled from Indonesia to the Indian subcontinent nearly a thousand years ago.

Where Did Idli Come From?

Renowned food historian KT Achaya, in his Historical Dictionary of Indian Food, presents a comprehensive, A-Z guide to Indian food history, covering ingredients, recipes, and cultural aspects from ancient times to the modern day; traced the roots of idli to Indonesia, a region known for its fermentation traditions. Between 800 and 1200 CE, Hindu kings from Indonesia often visited South India, seeking alliances and brides. With them came cooks skilled in fermentation and steaming techniques uncommon in India at the time.

Achaya’s theory proposes that these royal cooks introduced the method of fermenting lentil and rice batter and then steaming it into soft cakes. The idea was simple, but revolutionary. India, back then, lacked steaming vessels, as even the Chinese traveller Xuan Zang noted in the 7th century. So the Indonesian influence likely introduced not just the technique but the vessel itself.

In Indonesia, fermented foods like tempeh (fermented soybeans) and kedli–a steamed rice cake strikingly similar to idli, were already part of local diets. It is plausible, then, that the dish evolved when these culinary practices blended with South Indian ingredients such as rice and urad dal.

Did Ancient India Did Not Have Idli Vessels Too?

Some historians counter the Indonesian theory, arguing that steaming as a method was not unknown to ancient India. People might have improvised by tying a cloth over boiling pots, an early version of a steamer. After all, culinary innovation often thrives in constraint.

Still, the timing of idli’s emergence, between 800 and 1200 CE, aligns too neatly with Indonesia’s royal connections to southern India to dismiss the theory entirely. Perhaps, like many beloved foods, idli was the product of exchange rather than invention.

Tracing Idli in Indian Texts

References to idli appear sporadically in early Indian literature, though not in its modern form.

• The 920 AD Kannada text Vaddaradhane mentions Iddalige, a dish made from urad dal batter- unfermented and unsteamed.
• The 1130 AD Sanskrit text Manasollasa describes Iddarika, small spiced balls of urad flour, again without fermentation.
• The Tamil term Itali appears only in the 17th century, pointing to a later evolution of the dish.

These early records describe something closer to lentil dumplings than the fluffy fermented idlis we eat today. The absence of fermentation and steaming suggests that the defining features of idli, its texture and lightness came much later, perhaps under foreign influence.

How Is Idli Cooked?

What makes an idli so light is not yeast but bacteria, the same kind that gives yoghurt its tang. Author Harold McGee, who writes about the chemistry of food and cooking explains that while leavening agents create bubbles, the magic lies in trapping them. Rice, unlike wheat, lacks gluten, so it relies on natural fermentation to thicken the batter enough to hold air pockets. Overnight fermentation allows lactic acid bacteria and natural yeasts to work together, producing a slightly sour, fluffy batter.

Once idlis made with yeast in London turned out “like stone” until the chef switched back to the traditional overnight process. The result was perfect idlis– soft, airy, and subtly tangy.

What is The Saurashtrian Idli Theory?

Another school of thought connects idli’s origins to Gujarat. Historians believe that Saurashtrian silk weavers, who migrated to Tamil Nadu around the 10th century after Ghazni Mohammed’s invasion of Somnath, brought with them idada– a white, steamed dish made from rice and urad dal, resembling dhokla. As they settled in southern India, the dish evolved into idli, adopting the local name and ingredients.

The phonetic similarity between idada, iddalige, and idli strengthens this theory. It shows how migration shaped cuisine, transforming one community’s meal into another’s breakfast staple.

Regardless of its origins, idli is deeply Indian in spirit. Its preparation– soaking, grinding, fermenting, steaming is an act of patience and care.

It is vegan, gluten-free, easy to digest, and nutritionally balanced between carbohydrates and protein. Served with spicy sambar or cooling coconut chutney, it reflects the diversity of Indian flavours in one meal.

Across generations and geographies, idli has adapted to every table from traditional tiffin houses in Chennai to brunch cafes in New York. There are millet idlis, quinoa idlis, even fusion versions with beetroot and cheese but the heart of it remains unchanged– a warm, soft bite that feels like home.