Fermented Foods: 15 Indian Fermented Foods You Already Eat

You Already Eat Fermented Foods Every Day

Fermented foods are not a Western trend. India is one of the oldest fermentation cultures in the world. If you eat curd, idli, dosa, or pickle, you are already eating fermented food. You just never called it that.

Fermentation is when tiny living organisms - bacteria and yeast - break down food. They eat sugars and starches. They create acids, gases, and new flavours. The result is food that lasts longer, digests easier, and feeds good bacteria in your gut.

Gold nugget: India has a huge range of fermented foods. A 2022 review by microbiologist Jyoti Prakash Tamang of Sikkim University says that "about 1000 types" of fermented foods and drinks are made across India (Journal of Applied Microbiology). Most families eat a few of them every week without thinking about it.

15 Indian Fermented Foods (With How They Are Made)

Out of these 15, many Indian families eat several every week. Curd, buttermilk, and idli or dosa alone cover three. Add kanji during Holi season and you have four. India does not need to learn about fermentation. It has been fermenting food for a very long time.

Where is paneer? Paneer is not on this list because it is not a fermented food. See the next section for why.

Top 10 Fermented Foods in India

If you want a short top 10 list, start with the fermented foods most Indian homes already make. All ten are vegetarian.

1. Curd (dahi) - milk set with a spoon of old curd.
2. Buttermilk (chaas) - curd churned with water.
3. Idli - steamed rice and urad dal batter.
4. Dosa - the same batter, cooked on a tawa.
5. Dhokla - steamed besan or rice batter from Gujarat.
6. Appam - rice and coconut batter from Kerala.
7. Kanji - black carrot and mustard drink from North India.
8. Panta bhat - cooked rice left in water overnight.
9. Ambali - ragi flour and water, left overnight.
10. Pickle (achar) - only the kinds that are truly fermented.

Is Paneer a Fermented Food? No, and Here Is Why

No. Paneer is not a fermented food. Paneer is made by heating milk and adding an acid, like lemon juice, citric acid, or sour whey. The acid makes the milk split into soft curds and whey. No live bacteria grow in it, so it does not ferment.

Indian food rules say the same thing. The Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules define paneer as "the product obtained from cow or buffalo milk or a combination thereof by precipitation with sour milk, lactic acid or citric acid" (quoted in a 2014 paneer review in the Journal of Food Science and Technology). The same review says paneer is made by "heat and acid coagulation of milk", without a starter culture.

Curd is different. Curd sets because live bacteria eat the milk sugar and make acid over many hours. That is fermentation. Sour whey used for paneer may come from a fermented food, but the paneer itself is not fermented.

Paneer is still a good protein food. It just does not carry live bacteria. Want to make it at home? See our guide on how to make paneer at home.

Fermented Foods by Region: North India, South India and Kerala

Every part of India has its own fermented foods. South India ferments rice and dal batters. North India leans on curd, buttermilk and kanji. The Northeast ferments greens and soybeans. Tamang's 2022 review names idli, dosa and dhokla in South and West India, gundruk and fermented soybean foods in the Northeast, and toddy in coastal regions.

Fermented Foods in Kerala

The main fermented foods in Kerala are appam, idli, dosa, curd, moru and toddy. Appam batter is rice and coconut, set overnight with toddy or yeast. Kallappam is a version made with toddy. Moru is the Kerala name for spiced buttermilk. Toddy (kallu) is fermented palm or coconut sap, and it contains alcohol.

South Indian Fermented Foods

South Indian fermented foods are mostly batters. Idli, dosa, uttapam and appam all use a rice batter that is left to ferment overnight. Ragi ambali, curd and buttermilk are also common in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

North Indian Fermented Foods

North Indian fermented foods are mostly dairy and drinks. Curd, lassi and chaas are daily foods. Kanji is a sour black carrot drink made around Holi. Jalebi batter is also fermented before it is fried. Some North Indian pickles are fermented too.

East, West and Northeast India

East and Northeast India have the widest range. Panta bhat comes from Bengal, Odisha and Assam. Enduri pitha comes from Odisha. Gundruk comes from Sikkim and Darjeeling. Hawaijar comes from Manipur. In the West, Gujarat has dhokla. For every state, see our state-by-state guide to fermented foods in India.

Indian vegetarian fermented foods: all 15 foods in our table are vegetarian. Toddy contains alcohol, so it is not for children.

Why Fermentation Makes Food Better

Fermentation does four things to food that cooking alone cannot:

• Breaks down anti-nutrients - Phytic acid in rice and dal can block the uptake of minerals like iron and zinc. A study on idli batter found that fermentation lowers phytic acid and trypsin inhibitor. How much it drops depends on the batter and the time.
• Creates new vitamins - Some lactic acid bacteria can make B vitamins like folate and riboflavin. A study on idli batter measured riboflavin, thiamine and folic acid during fermentation. The amount depends on the food and the bacteria.
• Pre-digests protein - Bacteria break some proteins into smaller pieces. Many people find curd easier to digest than milk.
• Adds good bacteria - Fermented foods eaten without cooking, like curd, chaas and kanji, carry live lactic acid bacteria. Cooking, frying or steaming kills most of them.

Research data: A 2021 Stanford study in the journal Cell put 36 healthy adults on a high-fibre diet or a high-fermented-food diet for 10 weeks. In the fermented-food group, 19 of 93 inflammatory proteins in the blood went down. Their gut microbes also became more varied. The foods were yogurt, kefir, kombucha, kimchi and other fermented foods, not Indian ones.

Health Benefits of Indian Fermented Foods

Here is what research suggests so far. Most studies are small, so treat these as likely, not certain:

• Better digestion - Live microbes in fermented foods may support digestion. Results vary from person to person.
• Calmer immune signals - In the Stanford study, the fermented-food diet lowered 19 of 93 inflammatory proteins in the blood. It was one small study.
• Better nutrient absorption - Fermentation lowers phytic acid, which can block mineral absorption
• More varied gut microbes - The same Stanford study saw gut microbe variety rise steadily over the 10 weeks
• Potential blood sugar benefits - Fermented foods may improve insulin sensitivity, though more research is needed

Food is an easy way to get live microbes. A bowl of fresh curd, a glass of chaas, and a glass of kombucha each bring different microbes. Idli is a good fermented food, but steaming kills most of its bacteria.

How to Add More Fermented Foods to Your Diet

If you already eat curd and idli, you are ahead of most people. Here is how to add even more variety:

• Morning - Start with a glass of buttermilk (chaas), kanji, or kombucha
• Lunch - Add a bowl of curd, or a spoon of a pickle that is truly fermented
• Snack - Dhokla or fermented ragi ambali
• Dinner - Idli, dosa, or appam. Or a small glass of kombucha before the meal.

Store fermented drinks in glass containers to keep them fresh. The InstaCuppa Glass Water Dispenser (5 litre) works well for kanji, kombucha, or buttermilk. It is made of borosilicate glass with a steel tap, so you pour without opening the lid.