Rava Idli - Back to blogging??!!

Everyone must be tired of hearing me say, 'I am back'.. It is fun to hear it from Arnold again and again, but for a food blogger, giving too many breaks to blogging means losing readers, fans, traffic and missing out on a lot more things that itself deserve a separate post. I have been telling myself that I should resume blogging for a long time now. Not that people out there are desparately missing me, but it is for me to feel good about myself. That I am not letting my brain getting rusty. *wink wink*

But with a hyperactive toddler around, leave along blogging, even day-to-day cooking is a feat! And trying to click the pictures of the food I cooked, is a disaster with a capital D. Still I manage to click a pic or two every now and then, only to find a couple of tiny fingers or a pair of naughty eyes playing peek-a-boo into my frame. Sheesh, it is not so easy to be a food blogger, right??!!

In tamil there is a saying, Aadina kaalum paadina vaayum chumma irukaathu (meaning: the legs that dance can never be still and the mouth that sings can never remain silent). So here I am!!

Coming to our recipe, Rava Idli is one of the most delicious breakfast items from the south India. It originates from Karnataka and it is said that the famous Mavalli Tiffin Rooms (MTR) is the creator of the dish during WWII when the rice was in shortage.

The beauty of this dish is that it is so easy to put together in a jiffy because there is no need of fermentation of the batter like the regular idli. It tastes best when eaten hot, immediately out of the steamer. Make sure you dont burn your tongues!

Rava Idli
Steamed semolina dumplings with mild spices

What we need:

Rava/Sooji(Semolina) - 1 cup
Thick curd - 1/2 cup
Salt - as needed
Green chillies - 2 small, finely chopped
Coriander/Cilantro - 4 tbsp., finely chopped
Curry leaves - a sprig, finely chopped
Ginger - 1" inch piece, grated
Carrot - 1/4th cup, grated
Water - as needed

Cooking soda - 1 tsp. Optional

To temper:

Oil/Ghee - 1 tbsp.
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp.
Cumin/Jeera - 1 tsp.
Ural dal - 1 tsp.
Chana dal - 1 tsp.
Asafoetida - a pinch

Cashew nuts - to garnish

How to do:

1. In a small pan, heat oil/ghee and add mustard followed by cumin, urad dal, chana dal. When the dals start to turn light brown, switch off and stir in the asafoetida
2. In a mixing bowl, take all the other ingredients, except water. Mix well.
3. Add this tempered ingredients to the rava mix. Now adjust the consistency by adding water. The batter should be as thick as the idli batter.
4. Let this sit for about 30 minutes to an hour. If you are adding the cooking soda, you can start the cooking process right away.
5. Roast the cashewnuts in a tbsp of ghee and set aside.
6. Grease the idli plates with little oil. Place a cashew on each mould and spoon in the batter on top of it leaving a little space for them to rise.
7. Steam in the idli mould or pressure cooker (without weight) for 10 to 12 minutes.
8. After 10 to 12 minutes, insert a knife to check if it is done. If the knife comes out clean, the idlis are good to go the plates.

Serve hot with coconut chutney or Sambar or Milagai podi!

Variations:
1. Mix a tbsp or two of ghee for an enhanced taste and flavor.
2. I generally roast the rava for this dish, but if you would like to, go ahead and roast it till brown in a tbsp of ghee.
3. Drizzle ghee before serving and win some brownie points from your guests :)
4. I dont add cooking soda because of my little one. If you want your idlis to be spongy soft and have them risen as well, please do add the soda.

See you all soon with another interesting recipe!