To make idli, place four parts uncooked rice to one part split black lentil (minapa pappu, urad dal) in a pan and soak. Grind the lentils and rice to a paste in a heavy stone grinding vessel (rolu-rokali, oralu kallu). Leave the paste to ferment overnight, until it has expanded to about 2½ times its original volume. In the morning, put the idli batter into the ghee-greased molds(traditional method in tamil nadu avoids greasing & uses pure white cloth which is placed on moulds and batter is poured over it after the idlis are cooked the trays along with cloth are inverted upside down in a plate & water is sprinkled on the cloth, then the cloth is pulled &idlis come out without sticking to the cloth .So that idlis are prepared without a single drop of oil / ghee.Those cloths are washed daily and kept separately in kitchens.) of an idli tray or "tree" for steaming. The perforated molds allow the idlis to be cooked evenly. The tree holds the trays above the level of boiling water in a pot, and the pot is covered until the idlis are done (about 10–25 minutes, depending on size). The idli is somewhat similar to the attu, dosa, a fried preparation of the same batter.

In the olden days, when the idli mold cooking plates were not popular or widely available, the thick idli batter was poured on a cloth tightly tied on the mouth of a concave deep cooking pan or tava half filled with water. A heavy lid was placed on the pan and the pot kept on the boil until the batter was cooked into idli. This was often a large idli depending on the circumference of the pan. It was then cut into bite-size pieces and eaten.

Idlis are usually served in pairs with Coconut chutney (thengai chutney/ kobbari chutney) or Kaara Chutney (Onion chutney), Sambar and Idli milagai podi(karam podi) with ghee. Kobbari pachadi and Karampodi are first used to eat in combination of idlis in Andhra Pradesh, specifically in Kostha Andhra Districts. 

"Allam Pachadi" (which is made of Ginger and available in both the sweet and spicy varieties), also goes very well with Idlies and Dosas.

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