Is Kedli Mother of Idli : Tried To Find Out Answer In Indonesia

Recently I traveled to Indonesia and surprised to learn that culturally Indonesian are very close to us. Even their food has certain commonality. And interestingly I come to know that our very own Idli has its origin in Indonesia.

Let us start with religion. Hindu and Budhist influences arrived in this archipelago much before birth of Jesus Christ. It is however unclear that how the cultural and spiritual ideas from India were diffused in the area. It appears that there had been regular trade links between southern part of India with Ceylon, Java, Sumatra, Bali as well as many other Islands in Indian as well as Pacific ocean. The traders from India brought their cultural, culinary and religious influences. Java legends refer to Saka-era, traced to 78 AD . Stories from the famous epic Mahabharat have been traced in Indonesian islands to the 1st century; whose versions mirror those found in southeast Indian peninsular region. The Javanese prose work Tantu Pagelaran of the 14th century, which is a collection of ancient tales, arts and crafts of Indonesia extensively uses Sanskrit words, Indian deity names and religious concepts. Similarly ancient temples called Chandis locally were excavated in Java and western Indonesian islands, as well as ancient inscriptions such as the 8th century discovered in Indonesia, confirm widespread adoption of Shiva Lingam iconography, his companion goddess Parvati, Vishnu, Ganesh as well as many other Hindu deities by about the middle to late 1st millennium AD.

Ancient Chinese traveler Fa Hien recorded on his return voyage from Srilanka to China in 414 AD that two strong schools of Hindu thoughts existed in Java, While Chinese documents from 8th century refer to the Hindu kingdom of King Sanjaya as Holing, calling it "exceedingly wealthy," and that it coexisted peacefully with Buddhist people and Sailendra ruler in Kedu Plains of the Java island.


Several notable ancient Indonesian Hindu kingdoms were Mataram, known for the construction of one of the world's largest Hindu temple complexes – the Prambanan, followed by Kediri and Singhasari. Numerous sastras and sutras were translated into the Javanese language, and expressed in art form. Rishi Agastya for example, is described as the principal figure in the 11th century Javanese text Agastya parva; the text includes purans, and a mixture of ideas from the Samkhya and Vedanta schools of Hinduism. The Hindu-Buddhist ideas reached the peak of their influence in the 14th century. The last and largest among the Hindu-Buddhist Javanese empires, Majapahit influenced the Indonesian archipelago.



But I tried to trace origin of the most favorite Indian food idli in Indonesia. Idli originated in Indonesia and is a modified form of “Kedli”, a fermented food which was quite popular in Indonesia. I tried to search for Kedli, I could lay my hands on fermented soya preparation something very close to Tofu. In fact Indonesia has a long tradition of fermented products, like tempeh (fermented soy cakes), kecap (from where we get ketchup) or something called kedli, which is like an idli.



It is believed that during 8th Century, a Hindu king of Indonesia visited the Southern part of India in search of a suitable Bride. The cooks who accompanied the King prepared Kedli and served him. The Indian cooks, who happened to study the preparation, modified it according to their imagination.

Claims and Counter Claims

But those who disagree with this theory says that book Vaddaradhane written by Sivakoti Acharya in 920 AD describes Idli as having originated in Karnataka. It also describes Idli as one of the 18 items usually served to a Brahmachari (A man who practices celibacy) visiting a home. But the indications are that this was made from an urad dal batter only, which was neither fermented, nor steamed to fluffiness.

The Sanskrit Manasollasa of 1130 AD has ‘iddarika’, but again made from urad dhal flour only. It actually describes iddarika as made of fine urad flour fashioned into small balls and then spiced with pepper powder, cumin powder and asafoetida. In Karnataka, a century later, the idli is described as being 'light, like coins of high value.'.

It is interesting to note that Idli originated in Tamil Nadu as “Ittali” found only in 17th century. Nevertheless, Idli has been getting popular all over the country owing to its goodness and its ability to make you feel light even after eating, and without a doubt, the nutrients that it is packed with, giving you a great start to the day.

Modification of Kedli to Idli

Interestingly, Indonesian Kedli was later modified by adding rice to fasten the fermentation process. Overlooking the debate of whether Idli originated in Indonesia or India, its worth noting that Idli is an amazing dish that fulfills all that a fasting stomach requires. It provides Carbohydrates for Energy and Protein for Growth. The good bacteria present in Idli generate a lot of Vitamin B. It is interesting to note that, a person who consumes Idli every day will not suffer from headaches owing to the black gram present in it. Black gram possesses the amazing quality to prevent headaches. The side dish usually accompanying the Idlis, Sambar, is one of the most nutritious vegetable soup containing spices, tamarind (Imli), asafoetida (Heeng), etc


What Is So Unique About Idli

Whether imported from Indonesia or invented in India, it’s worth noting how unique the idli fermentation process is. Its sometimes assumed that it’s like bread fermentation for bread, so it could be facilitated by yeast. Restaurants abroad often do this, as Mumbai hotelier Vithal Kamat discovered while working as a young man in a London restaurant. But he notes in his lively autobiography, titled Idli, Orchid and Will Power, “the idlis made there were like stone.” He surreptitiously started making them the proper way, leaving unleavened batter to ferment overnight, and the problem was solved.



This extraordinary phenomenon is also explained by Harold McGee, a food science expert- Leavening is often thought of as just being a matter of producing gas bubbles, through chemical substances like baking powder, or biological ones like yeast. But as important as making bubbles is trapping them, which is what elastic gluten proteins do in bread made from wheat. Rice has little gluten, so something else is needed and this McGee suggests is provided by bacteria similar to the ones that make yoghurt, which work in idli batter alongside gas producing organisms to thicken it enough to trap the bubbles. Yeast might work too fast, producing bubbles that would escape because the batter wasn’t thick enough yet.



Only overnight fermentation would result in the perfect light, slightly sour batter that is steamed to made idlis. Light, wholesome, low in fat, well balanced between carbs and proteins, perfectly textured to absorb spicy sauces like sambar or cool chutneys.

Steaming Vessels

So apparently, we Indians didnt know of this fermentation process till the Indonesian kings came to find brides. And as usual, we embraced the dish and the process and made it our own.

Another reason purported in favour of idlis immigration is the lack of steaming vessels in India till 7th century AD. Remember Xuan Zang, whose exploits we had to painfully mug up during our history classes, was categorical in stating that India did not have a steaming vessel. And Indonesians had steaming vessels.