A man from Hyderabad has spent a staggering Rs 6 lakh on idlis, a popular south Indian delicacy, over the past year. According to food-delivery platform Swiggy, the customer ordered 8,428 plates of idlis, including orders for friends and family, while travelling across cities like Bengaluru and Chennai. In honor of World Idli Day on March 30, Swiggy released an analysis covering the period from March 30, 2022 to March 25, 2023, which reveals the immense popularity of idlis in India. The platform has delivered 33 million plates of idlis in the past 12 months, with Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai being the top three cities where idlis are ordered the most. Other cities that follow closely are Mumbai, Coimbatore, Pune, Vizag, Delhi, Kolkata, and Kochi.
The analysis also reveals that the most popular time to order idlis is between 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., with consumers from Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Coimbatore, and Mumbai also ordering idlis during dinner time. Plain idli is the most popular variant across all cities, with a plate of two pieces being the most common order. Rava idli is more popular in Bangalore than any other city, while ghee/neyikarampodiidli is popular in cities across Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana. Thatteidli and mini idli also feature regularly amongst idli orders across all cities.
Idlis are not just a popular breakfast item but also a healthy one, often touted as one of the most important meals of the day. The analysis reveals that idlis are the second most ordered breakfast item on Swiggy, after Masala Dosa. Customers also tend to order other dishes such as sambar, coconut chutney, karampuri, meduveda, saagu, ghee, red chutney, Jain sambar, tea, and coffee along with their idlis.
Swiggy has identified the top five restaurants popular for their idlis as A2B – Adyar Ananda Bhavan in Bengaluru and Chennai, Varalakshmi Tiffins in Hyderabad, Sangeetha Veg Restaurant in Chennai, and Udipi’sUpahar in Hyderabad.
