Instant Semolina Idli /Rava Idli

EVENT: FOOD BLOGGERS RECIPE SWAP

THEME: JANUARY 2019 SWAP 

After a long lull, the gentle storm has come back. Food Bloggers Recipe Swap has been revived by fellow blogger Mireille who blogs at The Schizo Chef. If you’re looking for exciting International dishes, then her blog is the place to visit.

Mireille decided that instead of just having the partners cook from each others blog, she mixed us all up. For example though I have to cook a recipe from Renu’s blog, Cook With Renu, she cooks from someone else’s.

I’ve been partners with Renu before and had learnt to make bajra idli from her blog which is was an instant hit with my friends and family. If I’m inviting them home for a meal they want me to make the idlis. This time round I wanted to make Zhingyalov Hats from her blog but was not able to get fresh herbs. So had to change my plans and choose something else. Most her baked goodies look so tempting, but I just had to click through them quickly as I didn’t want to make anything sweet. Finally I landed up with another idli recipe. Renu must be thinking ‘oh no not another idli recipe from my blog.’

The reasons for making these idlis were, one I wanted to make some travel food and secondly though I simply love rawa idli, I had not made them at home. Her recipe just attracted me to try and I’m so glad that I did. Simple, easy and so delicious. The other charming thing about this recipe is that one can add any vegetables to the idli batter. I tweaked her recipe a bit by also adding some boiled peas. It took me hardly 20 minutes to make them. As I made them to enjoy them on our first train journey on the new SGR from Mombasa to Nairobi, I didn’t make any sambhar. Take it from me the cold idlis with the chutney just tasted awesome. A hearty breakfast on the the train.

Without wasting much time lets get to the easy peasy recipe.

INSTANT SEMOLINA IDLI/RAVA IDLI

Makes about 20

Recipe Source: Cook With Renu

1 cup semolina (sooji)

1-2 finely chopped green chilllis

1 tsp grated ginger

½ cup grated carrot

½ cup boiled peas

¼ cup sour plain yogurt

¾ – 1 tsp salt

1½ – 1¾ cups water

¾ – 1 tsp Eno (plain fruit salt)

1 tsp ghee

For tempering:

1 tbsp oil

1 tsp urad dal (split black lentils)

1 tbsp  roasted chana dal (split chickpea)

7-8 curry leaves, chopped

½ tsp mustard seeds (rai)

2 tbsp chopped coriander (dhana)

a generous pinch of asafetida (hing)

extra oil for greasing the idli mold

1. Add ghee into a wide pan. Heat it over low heat.
2. Add semolina and roast it for about 2 minutes.
3. Take the pan off the heat. Let the semolina or sooji cool down completely.
4. Add the semolina to a bowl.
5. Add chopped chillis, ginger, salt, vegetables, water and yogurt.
6. Mix well till the mixture has no lumps.
7. Heat the 1 tbsp oil in a small pan over low heat.
8. Add chana dal and roast it till it begins to turn light brown in colour.
9. Add the urad dal and roast till it changes colour.
10. Add mustard seeds, curry leaves and coriander. Mix and let it sizzle for a few seconds.
11. Add asafetida and immediately pour the tempering into the batter.
12. Mix well. Let the batter rest for 10 minutes.
13. Prepare the idli steamer, add water for steaming. Grease the idli molds with oil.
14. When the water begins to boil, add Eno to the batter and give it a good mix till its appears fluffy.
15. Using a ladle, fill the idli molds or cavities with the batter.
16. Steam the idlis for 10 minutes.
17. Remove the mold from the steamer. Let the idlis cool down a bit about 5-10 minutes.
18. Using a butter knife or a thin spatula, carefully remove the idlis from the mold.
19. Serve the idlis with your choice of chutney and sambhar or vegetable stew.

 

Tips:

• The batter should not be too dry or too watery.
• Add vegetables of your choice like finely chopped French beans, corn, finely chopped spinach etc.
• Use medium coarse semolina.
• Add nuts if you like.
• For travel purpose I chopped the idlis into quarters which was so much easier to enjoy with a fork.
• Check Renu’s blog to see what an idli steamer looks like.
• I highly recommend that you add the tempering as that makes the idlis taste completely different.
• Many people presume semolina is gluten free, but its not.
• For vegan option omit dairy yogurt and replace it with vegan yogurt.

 

Pin for later:

 

A little request:

If you do try this recipe then please either

• add a comment below,
• send a picture to my email mayuri.ajay.patel62@gmail.com
•  tag me as #mayuri_jikoni on Instagram
• or tag me on Twitter as #Mayuri1962

 

You may want to check out the following recipes:

bajri idli

idli chaat

idli sambhar

 

Sharing this recipe with the following event:

Recipe Swap Club

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do check out the other delicious recipes from this month’s Recipe Swap!

Recipe Swap Recipes

• Kerala Curried Rice by Priya
• Cantaloupe Carrot Beet Smoothie by Jayashree
• Pumpkin Chia Popsicles by Seema
• Green Apple Mocktail Martini by Jagruti
• Double Bean Sriracha Hummus by Rafeeda
• Instant Semolina Idli by Mayuri
• Homemade Rice Flour by Sasmita
• Vegan Pumpkin Falafel by Lathiya
• Instant Ragi Idli by Renu
• Blueberry Cardamom Lemon Muffins by Ali
• Chocolate Bread by Nayna
• Fresh Chickpea Salad – Hara Chana Chaat by Archana
• Garlic Chutney Powder by Sandhya
• Githeri – Kenyan Vegetable Bean Stew by Mireille