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| Rava Idli |
This is one dish which is so amazing, it is quite difficult to explain how such a simple thing can turn out to be an awesome meal....just paired (or is that trioed - if that is a word,should check that out ) with sambhar & chutney of course...
Surprisingly though we are a south Indian family (my folks ) and for us idli, dosas etc.....form quite a staple in our diet, and Mom had tried out quite a few varieties of dosas - where as in case of the idli - we would stick to the traditional rice & udad dal variety.
In our native place ( S. Karnataka ) they would sometimes add "tadi" or "kali" - got from the trees grown at home (coconut in our case, some also use the sap from palm tree ) - that was supposed to soften the idli by helping in the fermenting process and amp up the taste factor too...did not have access to that in B'bay so here we would rely on good old heat and keeping the batter overnight...
So nyways coming back to the rava idli, I have had it at restaurants and other friends/ relatives place, so decided to try my hand at making it too,
tried quite a few recipes from the net...and after a few failures and near successes...managed to zero in down on a basic recipe ( from Show me the curry ) with a few modifications taken from other sites.
Have made it many times since....and all who have had it have loved it - so here's the final version...
I have found it easier to make it in two stages - first is the preparation of the rava. I find that roasting rava with the dry ingredients and keeping it ready either much prior to making the dish ( or even the day before ) helps, as it needs to be cooled for the final mix before steaming.
I generally make double the quantity of the roast rava mix - and use half in my idli mix and keep the other half for another day - to be used either for rava upma or rava idli again.
Ingredients:
1) For rava roast:
Rava - 2 cups
Oil - 2 Tblspns
Chopped Cashews - 1 Tblspn
Udad dal - 1 tspn
Chana dal or Dalia - 1 tspn
Dry Red Chilli - 1 split in half
Mustard - 1 tspn
Pinch of asafoetida
2) For making idli mix:
Take half of the above rava roast mix.
Yogurt - 1/2 cup
Water - 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup
Green Chilli - 1
Ginger grated - 1/2 tspn
Salt - 1/2 tspn
Eno Fruit salt - 1 tspn
Grated Fresh Coconut - 1 Tblspn
Carrot grated - 1 medium
Method:
1) For rava roast :
- Take a non-stick pan, heat the oil, add mustard - wait till it splutters, then add red chilli split, udad dal, chana dal, cashew, and fry till it changes color a bit - then add rava and roast till it just start to change color ( do not allow it to become brown/red ).
- Take out the rava in another dish and allow it to cool completely
- Now divide the rava into 2 portions - store one portion subsequent use - this can be refrigerated or even frozen for longer time.
- One half portion to be used for the second step - i.e making of the idlis, this makes approx 15-16 medium sized idlis...enough for 3-4 people for breakfast/snack...in case of lunch it is sufficient for 2-3 people.
2) For the idli mix and steaming :
- Take a large mixing bowl - mix the yogurt and 1/2 cup of water thoroughly - add the grated carrot, ginger, coconut, chilli, salt and mix well.
- Then add the half portion of the rava roast mixture which was prepared and cooled earlier.
- Mix the entire batter so that there are no lumps.
- At this stage if the batter appears to be too thick add the remaining 1/4 cup of water bit by bit - the batter should be thicker than dosa batter.
- Keep the mix for about 20 minutes. The rava absorbs the water and the batter becomes a bit thicker - adjust water if required.
- Prepare the idli stand by greasing it with oil or butter.
- Prepare the idli cooker with requisite water and cover and keep on gas for heating.
- Put 1 tspn of Eno in the batter - and mix - it will froth a bit.
- Pour the idli batter into the idli trays and keep it in the idli cooker for steaming for about 15 minutes.
Serve hot with coconut chutney and sambhar.
You could also add some curry leaves and coriander leaves to the mix in Stage 2.
