Rava Idly

Rava Idly (Semolina Idly) is one of the best options you can think of when it comes fixing a quick south-indian breakfast/dinner. Unlike the normal idly which requires grinding and lots of fermentation time, rava idly can be prepared in a jiffy and it is a good variation from the normal idly.

Rava Idly has 2 versions - a plain version and a vegetable version. Plain version is just idly made with the rava batter & seasoning of dhals , while the vegetable version includes some vegetables too.

This is a very simple plain version of the rava idly provided here.

Once the rava batter is prepared, it need not be kept aside, you can immediately steam them for idlies, otherwise if you wish to keep, just half an hour of soaking time is enough for the batter and then steam it.

English Name : Semolina / Tamil Name : Ravai / Hindi Name : Sooji

Ingredients:

Rava (Semolina) - 1 Cup
Curd - 1 1/2 Cups
Water - 1 Cup
Salt - 1 to 2 tsp
Seasoning :
 Oil - 1 tsp
 Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
 Broken urud dhal - 1 tsp
 Channa dhal - 1 tsp
 Cashews - 10 (broken into two)
 Green chillies - 2 (chopped to fine pieces)
 Curry leaves - 10
 Coriander leaves (Cilantro) - 2 tsp, finely chopped

 Pre-requisite:

1. Dry fry rava until it turns light brown.

2. Soak channa dhal in hot water for 20 minutes and strain and use in seasoning (this adds crunchy taste to the dhal, however this is optional)

Method:

1. In a broad bowl, add the fried semolina (rava), curd, water and salt and mix well. Make it into a medium batter, which is neither too thick nor too watery.

2. Season as given and pour the seasoned ingredients into the bowl and mix with the rava batter well.

3. Grease the idly plates with oil and take a ladle of semolina batter (rava batter) and pour into the plates and steam like normal idlies for about 10-12 minutes and remove.

 Tips:

For rava idly, It is desirable to keep the batter slightly thick, because if batter is made very loose with excess curd &
water, even after the idly is steamed, you will find loose layers of curd (or curd water) on top of the idlies and it gives a semi-cooked feel to your idlies.