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Rava Idli

Rava Idli Recipe | Healthy breakfast | South Indian Breakfast

rawa idli

South Indian cuisine is known for its healthy recipes and rava idli (suji idli) is one of the simple recipes which combines the goodness of many dals and spices. Rava idli is a popular BREAKFAST FOOD that originated in the Tiffin centers of Karnataka. Rava, also known as suji in Hindi and cream of wheat or semolina in English, is simply granulated wheat. This popular variation is made with semolina, curd and some basic spices, which is different from the traditional idli made with fermented rice and lentil batter. The batter is made by just tempering the ingredients & then mixing them up with yogurt which makes it more flavourful and also gives this soft idli a bite. You can make it even more healthy by adding vegetables into the batter. Add grated carrots, as it adds a great texture to the Sooji idlis. You can even substitute carrots with any vegetables of your choice such as corn, peas, beetroot, etc.

Prep Time : 20 mins
Cook Time : 10 mins
Resting : 30 mins
Servings : 8

INGREDIENTS

For tempering:

  • 1 cup semolina or bombay rava or suji or chiroti rava
  • 2 tablespoon GHEE or clarified butter
  • ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
  • ¼ teaspoon cumin or jeera
  • ½ tablespoon chana dal or bengal gram
  • 1 tablespoon cashews chopped (optional)
  • 10 curry leaves
  • 2 green chilies chopped (skip for kids)
  • ¾ tsp ginger grated or paste

 

Other:

  • 1/3 teaspoon salt (use as needed)
  • 2 to 3 tablespoon coriander leaves chopped finely
  • ¾ cup curd or yogurt or dahi (fresh, not sour)
  • ½ cup water for soaking rava
  • 2 to 3 tablespoon water for batter consistency
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice (skip if using eno)
  • 1 teaspoon Eno or fruit salt or ¼ tsp cooking soda (or soda-bicarbonate)
  • 1 teaspoon oil for greasing idli plates
  • 4 cashew nuts or 8 split cashews
  • 1 teaspoon carrot, grated

     

 

INSTRUCTIONS

 

 

Preparation for rava idli:
  1. Heat 2 tablespoons ghee in a pan.Fry 8 split cashews until golden and set aside for garnishing.
  2. To the same pan add ½ teaspoon mustard, ¼ teaspoon cumin, 1 tablespoon broken cashews and ½ tablespoon chana dal. Fry until the dal turns golden.
  3. Reduce the flame and add 10 curry leaves, 1 to 2 chopped green chilies and ¾ teaspoon ginger. Saute until it turns fragrant just for 30 seconds.
  4. Then quickly add 1 cup rava. Mix well to coat the semolina with ghee.
  5. Roast on a low flame stirring consistently until the rava turns crunchy and slightly aromatic. Do not brown the rava. Set this aside and cool completely.

     

 

Making rava idli batter:
  1. When the rava is cooled down completely, add salt, 2 to 3 tablespoons coriander leaves, ¾ cup curd and half cup water.
  2. Mix well until the batter is uniform. Cover this and set aside for 30 mins.
  3. After 25 mins, grease the plates and place a cashew in each of the moulds.Also sprinkle some carrots. Set this aside.
  4. Add 1 tsp lemon juice to the batter and give a quick stir. Then sprinkle eno or soda and gently give a good mix.
  5. Avoid over mixing. The batter needs to be steamed immediately otherwise the rava idli will not turn fluffy & soft.
  6. Immediately transfer the batter to moulds.Place it in the hot steamer and steam for 10 mins on a high flame.
  7. Remove from the stove and allow the idlis to cool down for 2 mins.

     

Prepare rava idlis with coconut chutney for a healthy start on busy days.