Рецепт Organic Rava Idlis with Sambar and Chutney
A bowl of organic idlis made with lots of freshness of veggies is a great way to start your day. I'm fond of cooking, & like re-mixing my recipes without compromising the goodness and nutrients. I love to add colorful chopped or pureed veggies to my dough or batter, what ever dish is on the go. This time I added handful of blanched and pureed veggies to the rava idli batter and the results were rewarding. Within a few minutes a cute and colorful platter of idlis was waiting for me to be tried and tasted. A few months back I had cooked a small batch of cocktail colored idlis at my son's birthday. My idlis were a huge success, specially with the Kids.
Traditionally the idlis are made by soaking rice flour and urad dal, grinding to make a smooth batter, thereafter steaming in a pressure cooker. In my present post, I'm sharing my recipe of instant rava (sooji or semolina) idlis. Semolina is made from durum wheat. It is low fat and high carbohydrate food, full of vitamin E and B complex, minerals, nutrients, so is popularly used to make pasta, cereals or cooked as rice or in sweets.
If you are craving for hot idlis and don't have much time, go for Instant Rava Idli Mix. This can be made at home too by simply dry roasting the semolina, adding dry roasted curry leaves, mustard seeds and cashews. Store in ziplock bag or airtight container. Here is the procedure of instant oil free idlis ...
Eno Salt: 1 tsp or one sachet (or 1 tsp baking soda plus 1 tsp lime juice)
Spinach Puree : 2 tsp, boiled and pureed
Preparation:
First things first for making idli, we need a idli maker. Idli can be made traditionally in a pressure cooker or steamer. In this recipe, we are going to steam the Idli's in a microwave safe idli maker.
Microwavable idli makers are readily available in the market these days, in fact these are available in different sizes. On my last visit to India, I picked up a mini idli maker. I found a couple of these on Amazon
Preparing the base mix:
Add measured quantities of semolina (sooji), salt and whipped curd/yogurt in a bowl.
Mix these ingredients gently for 1 minute with a spoon until it develops into a smooth consistency batter. Divide this batter into three separate bowls.
Preparing Idli's:
We will now add different ingredients into each bowl to get three different colors and flavors of idli.
To make fresh green idli, add spinach puree and eno salt in the first bowl, mix gently.
For red idlis, add red pepper, tomato puree and eno to the second bowl, give it a quick stir.
For white idlis, add roasted cashews and eno to the third bowl, again mix well.
Prepare the idli moulds by lightly brushing with oil and pour half cup of water at bottom of idli stand. Use a tablespoon to pour separate batters into the idli moulds. As you can see in the picture I added a mustard seed on top of each idli. (Makes it look Good :-P !!! )
Once we are done with the batter, cover the idli maker with the lid and place it in a microwave.
For Regular size Moulds, cook in the microwave for approx 4 minutes, and for mini-idlis's cook for ~2 minutes. Once done, wait for a couple of minutes, remove the lid & scoop out the Idli's using a spoon or idli spatula.
Piping Hot Idli's are ready to be enjoyed with homemade tomato, coconut chutneys and sambar.... !!!
Sambar or Sambar is a vegetable stew or chowder based on a broth made with tamarind and toor dal, and is very popular in the cooking of southern regions of India. It can be made tangy or spicy to suit your taste, and a makes a deadly combo with Idli's.
Recipe of Sambar:
Ingredients: -
- Onions: 1, finely chopped
- Tomatoes: 2, finely chopped
- Ginger: 2', grated
- Carrots: 1, grated (add more veggies like eggplant,bottleguard to taste)
- Spinach: 1/4, finely chopped
- Salt : 1tsp
- Oil: 2tsp
- Coconut chutney: 2tsp,optional
- For Tempering:
- Mustard seeds: 1tsp
- Curry Leaves: few sprigs
- Cilantro(coriander): few leaves
- Cooking Oil: 1/2 tsp
Method:
Wash the dal and gently steam it in a pressure cooker by adding water, salt and turmeric.
The traditional method of adding veggies is by cutting into big chunks.
But I prefer to finely chop/shred the seasonal veggies at hand.
This makes the dal more uniform and its being like by the kids too.
In a nonstick skillet, take 2-3 drops of oil and add mustard seeds.
When the seeds pop up, add curry leaves.
Take this tempering out of the pan and keep aside to be added later.
Add some oil in the skillet. Add chopped onions, tomatoes and ginger, saute well, followed by carrots and spinach, give it a quick stir. Season the masala with salt and chilli to taste.
Now to add tanginess to the sambar, add tamarind paste and half cup of water.
Finally add sambar masala. Let all the ingredients simmer for 5 minutes on a slow heat.
Add this masala to the steamed dal and check the thickness.
If the sambar is too thick, add some warm water and adjust the spices to taste and can also add some coconut chutney. Finally add the tempering of mustard seeds and curry leaves and cilantro sprigs.
A refreshing and hot sambar is ready to be enjoyed with idlis or rice.
I'm also sharing with you my recipe of instant coconut chutney when I am out of stock on fresh coconuts. Most of the ingredients below are always there in my kitchen closet, so can easily make nice chutney in few minutes.
Instant Coconut Chutney
Ingredients: -
Salt, Chilli: 1/2tsp or to taste
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves: few
Oil: 2 drops
Method:
Soak the coconut flakes in water for half an hour.
In the mean time, if you dont have these, then dry roast the channa dal and peanuts, let it cool.
Grind coconut, channa dal and peanuts in a mixer.
Add a yogurt for consistency & tanginess, Season with salt and chilli to taste.