WHEAT RAVA IDLI

 

Wheat rava is a nutritious  food and a perfect choice for people with dietary preferences: Its rich in fibre content and helps in weight loss; good for heart health and assists in effective control of diabetics. The preparation of this idli is akin to rava/semolina idli. But considering the health benefits,this variant has an edge over semolina idli.

INGREDIENTS :

 

WHEAT RAVA- 1 CUP

WHISKED CURD- 2 CUPS

ENO- 3/4 TSP

SALT TO TASTE

CHOPPED CORIANDER LEAVES

FOR SEASONING :

OIL- 3 TSP

GRAM DAL- 1 TSP

URAD DAL-1 TSP

MUSTARD- 3/4 TSP

CASHEW NUTS- 8-10

GROUNDNUTS- 4TSP

ASAFOETIDA- 1/2 TSP

GREEN CHILLIES-2 NOS

GINGER GRATINGS- 1 TSP

PROCEDURE :

1. Heat oil in a pan and crackle mustard seeds,urad dal,gram dal,curry leaves,asafoetida,groundnuts,green chillies and at last add ginger gratings and fry.

2. Roast cashew nuts in ghee and keep it separately.

 

3.Roast wheat rava along with the seasoned ingredients for a couple of seconds and switch off.

4, Transfer the roasted wheat rava and other ingredients to a wide bowl.

5. Pour the whisked curd over it. Add salt,chopped coriander leaves and mix well to a smooth batter and allow it to rest for 30-40 minutes.

6. After 35 minutes,you can notice that the wheat rava has absorbed the curd and risen in volume. If the batter is too thick,then dilute it with either butter milk or curd and adjust it to pouring consistency. Add Eno prior to steaming.

 

7. Grease idli plates and place the roasted cashews on each plates. Fill the idli plates with batter and steam it 7-8 minutes.

8. Allow it to rest for 10 minutes and then scoop out the idlis and serve with any accompaniment of your choice.

THAYIR / CURD IDLI

There are many intriguing factors,that influence our taste preference. There is a great linkage between our DNA and our choice of food. Hence the genes we inherit from parents, determines our likes and dislikes. Hence,we love certain foods and hate others. My affinity for curd/yogurt hasn't changed over the years. I pair curd with almost every dish: Idli,upma,dosa,chapati,upma and the list goes on. Curd based dish in any cuisine fascinates me.I love thayir idli. Thayir is Tamil word for curd/yogurt. Actually the recipe calls for mini idlis.You can even use the normal idlis in this dish after chopping it into pieces.

 

In my previous post,I had mentioned about Seeralam - lentil based idli.I had excess amount of ground batter of the same. Hence, after utilizing half the amount of batter for seeralam,I decided to upcycle the remaining batter in preparing this curd based delicacy.

At this juncture,I would like to share an important hack pertaining to left over idlis.Don't store left over idlis in the refrigerator,as the idlis will turn harder. Instead,store it in a closed container at room temperature. Heat the left over idlis using idli cooker/maker,the same way you prepare idli. Fill the idli cooker with water. Now place the left overs in the stand and steam for 7-10 minutes.You can relish pipping hot and fresh idlis!! 

 

 

 

INGREDIENTS TO GRIND

COCONUT GRATINGS-  1 CUP

GINGER MINCED- 1 TSP

GREEN CHILLIES- 1 NO

 

OTHER INGREDIENTS :

 

CHOPPED IDLIS-  2 CUPS

WHISKED CURD-3 CUPS

CUMIN POWDER- 1/2 TSP

CHOPPED CORIANDER LEAVES- 1 TBSP

 

SALT TO TASTE

 

FOR SEASONING:

OIL- 1 TSP

 

GHEE - 1 TSP

 

MUSTARD- 1 TSP

 

URAD DAL- TSP

 

CURRY LEAVES- 2 SPRIGS

 

ASAFOETIDA-1/2 TSP

 

PROCEDURE:

 

1. Whisk curd along with salt,roasted cumin powder and keep it aside. Blend coconut,green chilli and ginger to fine paste using water.

2.Now add the coconut paste to the whisked curd.Prepare the seasoning and add it to the curd mixture and blend well.

3. Transfer the idli pieces to the curd mixture and mix well.

4. At last add chopped coriander leaves.

5. Set it aside for an hour,so that idlis take in the curd and  turn soft.You can even refrigerate the mixture.

6.You can even garnish with grated carrots and boondis.

 

 

 

 

 

SEERALAM / LENTIL IDLI

Seeralam is a protein rich idli from the Tambrahm cuisine. This is the first time,I'm hearing about this dish.I was really fascinated by the name,hence decided to delve into the etymology of the term. Seeru or seerana in Tamil has several connotations: steady,consistent. But in this context,it implies equal.Thus,all the ingredients are of equal proportions. I have come across similar combo in dishes like: Thavala adai and deep-fried version-thavala vadai.But the cooking procedure of this dish varies slightly.It can be likened to North Indian dhokla. Unlike dhokla,this dish doesn't require fermentation or any kind of leavening agent.If you are looking for healthy breakfast dish-this is a great option.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INGREDIENTS

 

 RAW RICE- 1 CUP

TOOR DAL- 1 CUP

MOONG DAL-1 CUP

GRAM DAL- 1 CUP

RED CHILLIES- 4-5  NOS

SOLID ASAFOETIDA- GOOSEBERRY SIZE

 

SALT TO TASTE

FOR SEASONING

OIL- 2 TSP

GHEE- 2 TSP

URAD DAL- 1 TSP

MUSTARD- 1 TSP

CURRY LEAVES- 2 SPRIGS

 

IDLI MILAGAI POWDER/ GUN POWDER- 21/2 TSP

PROCEDURE :

1.After cleaning the impurities from the rice and lentils,soak it for 2 hours. Also soak red chillies along with the ingredients.

2. After two hours,drain excess water and grind the lentils along with salt,solid asafoetida,salt and raw rice to smooth,thick batter. The batter should be of idli batter consistency.

3.Grease idli plates and pour the ground batter over it. Steam the contents for 8-10 minutes and switch off.

4. Allow the steamed contents to cool. On cooling,scoop out the idlis and keep it aside.

5.Cut the idlis to small pieces as shown in the pic and keep it aside. Prepare the seasoning and toss the cut pieces over it.

6. At last add the gun powder and mix it uniformly. You can even add coconut shavings.

 

SAGO IDLI

 I prefer dosa to Idli. A few years back, when I expressed my subjective opinion about Idli on Quora, it drew flak from the idli lovers. I had to pacify them from my standpoint. Even now,I prefer other variants to  conventional idli.Idli as such doesn't have any taste of its own,it can only be relished with varied accompaniments. With the proliferation of healthy foods, there are different avatars of this humble dish.

 

 

 

 

INGREDIENTS

SAGO-  2 CUPS

SEMOLINA- 1 CUP

SALT TO TASTE

BUTTERMILK- 2 1/2 CUPS

COOKING SODA- 1/4 TSP

FOR SEASONING

OIL- 3 TSP

MUSTARD- 1 TSP

GRAM DAL- 1 TSP

URAD DAL- 1 TSP

CURRY LEAVES- 2 SPRIGS

ASAFOETIDA-3/4 TSP

CUMIN SEEDS- 1 TSP

GREEN CHILLIES- 2 NOS

GINGER GRATED- 1 TSP

CHOPPED CORIANDER LEAVES- 1 TBSP

PROCEDURE

1. Wash sago thoroughly to eliminate the starch content. Soak sago in water for 4-5 hours.

2. Soak semolina separately in water for a hour.

 

3. In a wide bowl,add both the soaked ingredients,buttermilk,salt and mix well. Allow it to rest for twenty minutes.

4. Prepare the seasoning from the ingredients cited in the column.

5.Add the seasoned ingredients to the sago mixture and mix well.

6. Add the chopped coriander leaves and mix well.

7. If you find the mixture too thick,then add some more buttermilk . Take care not to make it runny,else,idlis won't rise.

8. Grease the idli plates with oil and pour the sago mixture. Steam the contents for 10 minutes and switch off.

9. After five minutes,scoop out the idlis and serve with any chutney/ sambar.

SEMOLINA / RAVA IDLI

 Rava idli,is my favorite variant. This idli can be easily prepared as it doesn't require fermentation.When running out of batter or bored of the eating the traditional idli,you can try this dish! Though the ingredients used in this idli are similar to the one used in upma;the cooking procedure and inclusion of curd ,makes it slightly different. I have prepared this idli many times,but it didn't make it to my blog !! Couple of years back,I wrote about this idli on Quora. I was really thrilled by the positive feedback. I would like to share the same here. 

                                                                                   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 INGREDIENTS

 

RAVA /SEMOLINA- 2 CUPS

CURD- 4 CUPS

 

SOUR BUTTER MILK- 11/2 CUPS (Optional)

ROASTED GROUNDNUTS- 1 1/2 TBSP

GREEN CHILLIES- 3 NOS

GINGER GRATINGS- 2 TSP

CORIANDER LEAVES-1/2 CUP

ROASTED MOONG DAL- 1 1/2 TBSP

COOKING SODA- 1/2 TSP

SALT TO TASTE

GHEE- 2 TSP

 

OIL-  2 TSP ( For greasing idli plates)

 

FOR SEASONING

OIL- 2 TSP

MUSTARD-1 TSP

URAD DAL- 1 TSP

CURRY LEAVES- 1 SPRIG

 

ASAFOETIDA- 1/4 TSP

 

 

PROCEDURE

 

 1. In a pan,add 2 tsp of ghee and roast semolina till nice aroma emanates.Keep the roasted semolina aside. In the same pan,roast moong dal and allow it to cool. On cooling,grind the lentils to powder.

 

2. In a wide bowl take roasted semolina,roasted and powdered moong dal,salt,curd and whisk till it becomes homogeneous mixture.

3.Add chopped green chillies,ginger gratings to the semolina batter and mix well. Allow the batter to rest for 20-25 minutes.

4. After 20 minutes,take the semolina mixture,and add the tempered ingredients to it and mix well.If you find the batter thick,then dilute it with water or sour butter milk.Make sure that the batter,is of pouring consistency else,your idlis will turn hard.

5. Add roasted groundnuts,chopped coriander leaves and blend it well.

6. Prior to steaming,add the cooking soda to the mixture. For even disturbution,mix cooking soda in water and then add it to the batter.

 7. Grease the idli batter with oil and fill it with batter.

8.Steam the contents for 10 minutes and switch off.

9. Allow it cool and scoop out the idli.