Rava Idli

- Submitted by Dahlia

(Semolina Cakes, Sooji ka Idli, Instant Idlis)

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Rava Idli is an interesting variation to the traditional idlis. It is a traditional dish from the state of Karnataka. The best part about making these idli is that it needs no planning ahead, no grinding the batter, no fermentaion etc. It can be made instantly with vey few ingredients which most of us already have on hand. This makes it perfect for busy week days and for unexpected guests.

You can mix in colorful vegetables and make the idlis kid friendly. I have elaborated below. In our house, my daughter loves rava idlis with beetroot and green pea topping. My son on the other hand like to have carrot idlis. You can make according to each ones liking and enjoy. So here comes the recipe.

Recipe For Rava Idli

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves : 6

Ingredients

• Rava – 2 cups
• Green chilies – 2 (minced)
• Sour curd – 2 cups
• Onion -1/2 (finely chopped)
• Baking (or Cooking) Soda - 1/4 tsp
• Cilantro - 3 stalks (finely chopped)
• Salt - to taste

For Tempering

• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Ghee - 1 tbsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Channa dal - 1 tsp
• Urad dal - 2 tsp
• Asafoetida - a pinch

Other Optional Ingredients

• Cashew nuts - 1 tbsp
• Carrot - 2 tbsp (grated)
• Coconut (grated) - 2 tbsp
• Beetroot - 2 tbsp (grated)
• Green Peas - fresh or frozen (2 tbsp)

Method

1. Heat oil and ghee in a pan. Temper the mustard seeds, urad dal and bengal gram dal. 

   

2. Add the asafoetida, chopped onion, green chili and curry leaves. Fry for a minute. 

   

3. Add the rava and roast it till a nice aroma comes. 

   

4. Mix it with sour curd and keep aside for 10-15 minutes. 

   

5. Add required water to make a thick batter. Also add cooking soda, salt and chopped cilantro (optional)  to the above mixture and mix well. You can also add the finely chopped (or grated) vegetables or grated coconut or chopped nuts to the batter at this stage. But, I like to layer it in the idli moulds while preparing the idlis as shown in the picture.

   

6. Grease the idli plates with few drops of oil and pour the batter if you have mixed the vegetables with the batter. If you are like me, I like to first place a cashew on the idli moulds.

   

7. Next, add about 1 tsp of grated vegetables in each mould. 

   

8. Finally pour the batter and steam it for about 15 - 20 minutes. When you demould the idli, you will have pretty vegetable topping on each idli which makes it visually appealing. 

   

Tips

• You can also make grits idli, cornmeal idlis or semiya idli using the same procedure.
• Today I have mixed in the seasoned oil with the batter and topped the vegetables while making the idlis. You can do it the opposite by mixing in the vegetables and adding the seasoning to the idli plates while making the idlis. I have made adai idlis in that way. Do take a look and try out that way also some day.

Serving Rava Idli

• Enjoy the hot rava idlis with idli podi, coconut chutney, spicy pudhina chutney and/or sambar.

More Idli/Dosa Recipes

Ragi Adai	Masala Dosa	Kanchipuram Idli	Tricolour Idli
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Comment by Lata Belgaumkar
Nice recipe.
Thanks.

Reply :-
U r welcome.

Comment by tanzil khan
liked ur recipe , just wanted to know whether we can store the batter for a day or 2

Reply :-
yes you can store for a maximum of 2 days.

Comment by Savitha Harish
Do we need to soak the batter after we mix rava in the sour curd?

Reply :-
Yes. Its a good idea to soak for atleast 5 minutes so that the rava absorbs the moisture.

Comment by nivedidha kumar on 30 March 2010 12:30PM
awesome recipes

Reply :-
Thanks Nivedidha..

Comment by Uma Sivakumar on 02 February 2010 00:31AM
Hi Dahliaji,
Great recipe ,rava is that normal suji or do we have separate rava for preparation of idli

Reply :-
Rava idli is made with normal suji....
Just for your information, normal idlis can be made with idli rava... Idli rava is coarsely ground rice.

Comment by Ninette D'Souza on 13 December 2009 14:42PM
Great recipes on the site. Just wanted to check whether Eno could be used instead of baking soda. All the best.

Reply :-
Hi Ninnette, I've never tried using Eno. I guess it should work.  Do let us know if you try it.

Comment by sravs vana on 05 December 2009 06:27AM
rava idli

Reply :-
Yes it is Rava Idli!!!

Comment by divya fernandes on 03 July 2009 11:29AM
hi,
i tried your rava idli...it came out perfect...i am a S.Indian and the idli turned out just like how my mom makes,,thanks a lot for the recipe

Reply :-
Thats nice to hear divya!!!

Comment by DEVIKA SUMITRA on 30 December 2008 09:53AM
DEAR FRIEND, I NEED ARECIPES FOE AVIAL VEGETABLE CURRY PLEASE.

Reply :-
Hi Devika, The recipe for Kerala style aviyal is given here. By adding curd at the end, you will get a tamilnadu style aviyal vegetable curry.

Comment by dulcina on 17 September 2008 16:33PM
Dear Dahlia, I just came across your recipes. I will def try your idlis. Could u pl give me the recipe of idlipodi? Thanks, dulcina.

Reply :-
hi dulcina, thanks for the compliments. the recipe of idli podi is http://simpleindianrecipes.com/idlipodi.aspx

Comment by visitor on Sat 5/03/08 1:31 PM
Rava idli
yammi recipe.Thanks giving for us knowledge.Keep it up!

Reply :-
Thank You