Rava Idli

Rava Idili and coconut peanut Chutney made with so much of love by my sister in laws Mom when we visited Hyderabad

Rava Idli is a popular South Indian dish made from semolina (also known as rava or sooji). It is a variation of the traditional idli, which is typically made with fermented rice and lentil batter. 

Rava Idli

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Urad Dal
2 cups Idli Rava
3 tablespoons Poha
1/4 teaspoon Fenugreek Seeds
1/2 teaspoon Salt

Directions:

step-1

Rinse urad dal in water 4-5 times. Combine urad dal, fenugreek seeds and poha in container and soak in water  mix should be completely sub-merged in water for 4-5 hours.

step-2

Soaked dal volume would increase to almost double in 4-5 hours

step-3

Rinse and clean idli rava in water for 4-5 times and Soak rinsed rava in water for 4-5 hours. Water should just cover the rava.

step-4

Drain the excess water from urad dal mix. Do not discard the drained water, it can be used while grinding the batter. Place drained dal in the jar of a mixer grinder.

Grind it into a smooth paste, add water  as needed while grinding the dal. The batter should be fluffy

step-6

Pour it into a deep large vessel. We will ferment the batter in the same vessel and its size would increase, so make sure that vessel is sufficiently large.

step-7

Drain excess water from soaked rava, gently squeeze it using your hand and add it to the grinder jar.

step-8

Add water as needed and grind into a smooth batter. It will have medium coarse texture and it will not be as smooth as urad dal batter. Grinding the idli rava is an optional process; you can also add drained and squeezed rava directly in the ground urad dal batter.

step-9

Pour it to urad dal batter, add salt and mix well. Batter should not be very thin or very thick.

step-10

Cover it with a plate and keep it in warm place for around 8 hours for fermentation. Batter’s volume would increase after fermentation. Depending on the weather and room temperature, time required to ferment the batter. In cold season, place covered batter and keep it in warm place.

step-11

Place the idli mould in steamer and cover with a lid. Steam it for 10 minutes over medium flame. After 10 minutes, insert a toothpick into the cooked idli and check if it comes out clean; if yes, then it is cooked; if not, then it is not cooked yet; steam it for few more minutes and check again.

step-12

Remove the idli moulds from the steamer and let them cool for few minutes. Remove the idli with a spoon and transfer to a plate. Serve hot idli with Sambar and Coconut Chutney.