Tricolour Mini Rava Idlis
Recipe: Tricolour Mini Rava Idlis
Want to celebrate India’s Independence in style? Try out this easy instant tricolour mini rava idlis where I have not used any artificial colours. For orange idlis I added cooked carrot puree and for the green ones cooked spinach puree. Rava idli batter is white. Healthy, easy to make and a satisfying breakfast or brunch with coconut chutney, tomato chutney, sambar or podi masala. The choice is yours.
What Is Rava Idli?
Rava is semolina in hindi. Generally, idli is made from fermented rice and lentil batter. But for a faster and quicker idli, semolina is used. Semolina is allowed to soak in water and plain yogurt for 30 minutes. This process helps the semolina grains to become a bit softer. Then a tempering of mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves is added. If you make normal idlis, chopped onion, green chillis, grated carrot or zucchini are added.
For this Tricolour Mini Rava Idlis I have not added grated vegetables or onion. Instead, I have used carrot and spinach purees.
Some Ideas Of Serving Mini Tricolour Rava Idlis
Besides enjoying as a breakfast or brunch idea, how about serving it as a teatime snack? Or better still make your Independence Day more colourful by serving as a cocktail, starter or appetizer.
Some More Idli Recipes
Ingredients Required For Mini Tricolour Rava Idlis
Semolina – sooji, suji, rava, rawa. Use the fine or medium sooji.
Plain Yogurt – use thick yogurt and not the watery kind. Also, helps in enhancing the flavour of the idli if the yogurt is a bit sour.
Water – required to make the batter.
Salt – add according to your taste.
Eno – Fruit salts. Usually for fermented batter we don’t any leavening agent. As the rava batter is an instant one, we need one. I like to use Eno as it does not alter natural colours of carrot or spinach purees.
Oil – required a little to add to the batter and to grease the mini idli molds. Also need about 1 tbsp for the tempering.
Carrot – you need 1 or 2 orange carrots for the puree. Peel and chop the carrots. Boil or steam them till done. Puree in a food processor. Use very little water.
Spinach – bring some water to boil. Add about 2-3 cups of spinach leaves. As soon as the leaves wilt, remove them from the water. Puree in a food processor. Use some water.
Urad Dal – split black lentils. Need some for the tempering.
Curry Leaves – need some for the tempering.
Mustard Seeds – rai. Need some for the tempering.
Asafoetida – hing. An optional ingredient if you want gluten free idlis. Or use pure asafoetida. Usually all hing powders contain a bit of wheat flour.
Watch How To Make Triclour Mini Rava Idlis
TRICOLOUR MINI RAVA IDLIS
Ingredients
FOR THE BATTER
- 1 cup semolina
- ½ cup plain yogurt
- 1 cup water divided
- 1 tsp Eno divided
- ¼ cup carrot puree
- ½ cup spinach puree
FOR TEMPERING
- 1 tbsp oil
- ½ tsp mustard seeds
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- ½ tsp urad dal
- ¼ tsp asafoetida optional
Instructions
PREPARE THE SEMOLINA BATTER
- Add semolina, yogurt and water in a mixing bowl.
- Mix it well so that there are no lumps.
- Cover and allow the batter to rest for 20-30 minutes.
- While the batter is resting let us prepare the purees.
PREPARATION OF THE PUREES
- For the carrot puree, peel and chop 1-2 medium carrots.
- Boil or steam them till done. I added the carrot pieces in a microwavable bowl with some water. Allowed it to cook for 2 minutes.
- Puree the cooked carrot in a food processor to a fine paste. Add a bit of water if required.
- For the spinach puree, I took 3 cups of baby spinach leaves.
- Add them to the boiling water. Allow them to wilt.
- Remove the wilted spinach leaves from the water.
- Puree it by adding about ¼ cup water in a food processor. Make a fine paste or puree.
PREPARE THE TEMPERING
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a small pan over low medium heat.
- When the oil is hot, add the urad dal. Allow it to become a bit pinkish in colour.
- Add the mustard seeds. As soon as they begin to pop add the curry leaves.
- Add asafoetida if you are using any. Remove the pan from the heat.
GET THE IDLI MOLD AND STEAMER READY
- Grease the molds with a bit of oil.
- Add water in the steamer or a pan. Bring it to a boil over low heat.
- In the meantime lets get the tricolour batter ready.
PREPARATION OF THE TRICOLOUR BATTER
- Add salt to the batter.
- Also add the tempering to the batter and mix well.
- Divide the batter into 3 equal parts.
FOR THE WHITE BATTER
- As the batter is a bit thick, we need to add about ¼ cup of water.
- Also add 1 part of the divided Eno or use ¼ tsp. Mix the batter well.
FOR THE ORANGE BATTER
- Add the carrot puree to one part of the batter.
- Add 2-3 tbsp water, depending on how thick the puree is.
- Also add 1 part of the divided Eno or use ¼ tsp. Mix the batter well.
FOR THE GREEN BATTER
- Add spinach puree to the remaining batter.
- Here I didn't need to add any water as my spinach puree was enough.
- Add the remaining part of Eno or add ¼ tsp.
- Mix well.
STEAM THE IDLIS
- Add about 1 teaspoonful of white batter in the greased mini idli mold.
- Do the same with the orange and green batter.
- Put the molds in the hot steamer or pan. Cover and steam for 7-10 minutes.
- After 7-10 minutes, insert a toothpick in one of the idli. It should come out clean if it is cooked.
- Remove the molds from the steamer.
- Allow the idlis to rest in the mold for 5 minutes.
- Remove the idlis from the mold using a spoon or plastic knife.
- Serve it with your favourite chutney, sambar or rasam.
Notes
- If the orange carrot puree appears a bit pale, add ¼ tsp turmeric powder.
- If you don't have Eno then replace it with baking soda. If you are using baking soda, don't add turmeric to the orange batter. On steaming it will turn brown.
- Can make normal size idlis if you want to. Add a cashew nut on top before steaming.
- Add ginger chilli to the batter if you are making normal size idlis.
- It is important that the water in your steaming device is simmering before you add the idli molds for steaming.
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If you do try this recipe then please either
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2 Comments
Azlin Bloor
August 18, 2023 at 6:37 am
Such a wonderful post, Mayuri. I am a huge fan of anything cooked with semolina, so I know I’ll love. And such a beautiful way of presenting it too, perfect for parties!
mayurisjikoni
August 19, 2023 at 1:30 pm
Thank you so much Azlin. I often make it for brunch as it is an easy recipe. When I steam the normal size idlis I add grated carrot, zucchini and chopped onion too.Makes a filling and healthy meal.