The Idli Project
Pizza Idli
Modern & Fusion

Pizza Idli

also called Idli Pizza

A flat steamed idli base topped with pizza sauce and cheese, finished on a tava under a lid - no oven required.

Modern café fusion

Image: Kannamma Cooks - Idli Pizza · Blog photo

Pizza Idli is a cafe-friendly fusion that began as a gimmick and has since settled into a regular kid-pleaser: a flat thatte-style idli base (a regular domed idli is too round) topped with quick-cooked tomato sauce, sliced vegetables and grated cheese, then finished on a hot tava under a lid so the cheese melts without ever seeing an oven.

Best eaten immediately - the base softens as the toppings cool.

The Recipe

Yield · 2 medium pizzas

Effort profile

Soak4 hours (for the underlying idli batter)
Ferment8–12 hours (for the underlying idli batter)
Steam6–7 minutes (for the base)
Steps5

Each axis is scaled against the longest example in the archive.

Soak4hFerment10hSteam7mSteps5

Ingredients

Base

  • 1 cup thick fermented idli batter
  • A small piece of banana leaf (lining the steamer for the round flat base)

Tomato sauce

  • 3 tsp peanut oil (divided use)
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • ½ cup onions, finely chopped
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
  • ½ tsp sugar
  • 4 ripe tomatoes, deseeded and puréed

Toppings

  • Sliced onion
  • Sliced capsicum
  • Chilli flakes
  • Coriander leaves
  • Cheese (Amul / processed cheese melts well)

Method

  1. 1.

    Sauce - heat 2 tsp oil; sauté garlic, onions and salt until soft. Add turmeric, sugar and chilli powder. Pour in the tomato purée; simmer 4–5 minutes until jammy. Cool.

  2. 2.

    Base - ladle ½ cup of the idli batter onto a banana-leaf-lined steamer (or a shallow plate); steam 6–7 minutes into a flat disc. Cool completely.

  3. 3.

    Assemble - spread the cooled tomato sauce over the base; add onion and capsicum; cover with cheese; sprinkle chilli flakes and coriander.

  4. 4.

    Cook - heat 1 tsp oil on a flat tava. Slide the pizza onto the hot pan, cover with a lid, and cook on low flame 3–4 minutes - until the bottom is roasted and the cheese is melted.

  5. 5.

    Slide off and serve immediately.

Serve with

eaten as is, hot off the tava

Notes

No oven required. The thatte-style flat steamed disc is the right base; a regular round idli is too domed. The lid traps steam, which is what melts the cheese.

Adapted from kannammacooks.com.