Instant Rava Idli

I had an INDULGENT weekend. I-N-D-U-L-G-E-N-T!!!

I'm spelling out stuff, so I guess you get the picture.

Spicy Biryani lunch, Cheesy Pasta for dinner, Deep fried Bread Rolls for snacks and a heavenly TRIPLE Chocolate Milkshake, I’ve had it all. And I cooked none of it. Nada. 

I’m sure it will take me a month to work it off. Sigh!!

All those guilty pleasures made me want to eat a healthier breakfast this Monday morning. I’d never been a Rava Idli fan, regular Idli, give it to me anyday and I’ll eat it. But I wondered why would one eat that hard lump of rava (semolina) for any meal? This was until I made my own.

Eye opener – Rava Idli does not have to be a hard lump. It can be soft like the regular rice Idlis. It can actually be delicious.

All credit goes to Gee, my sis. Someday she got the MTR instant rava idli packet and made it and repeatedly kept telling me how good they had become. MTR is a legendary restaurant in Bangalore that actually invented the Rava Idli when there was food shortage during a war. A place you should visit for some rich South Indian food.

The restaurant rocks, but I won’t accept defeat from a packet. Na-ah.

So I made just to show her that she can make equally good Rava Idlis with just the ingredients she has at home. I had no plans of liking them at all. It was just a competition with the packet, that’s IT. (I'm competitive that way). At least that’s what I thought, until I ate them. I mean if I make them, I have to taste it, right? And what a pleasant surprise it was. Soft smooth Rava Idli. And so easy to make as well. No overnight soaking, no overnight fermenting. Just mix and steam.

I'm always on a lookout for breakfast recipes. And they obviously have to be HEALTHY and EASY to make. These Rava Idlis satisfy all my criteria. So they have been back on the menu time and again since that day. 

Some additional steps that you may have to do if making your own healthy Rava Idlis, and it is totally worth it:

• Toast the Rava / Semolina - You can either toast it when you decide to make the Rava Idlis or you can toast the rava whenever you have time and store it. Toasting helps increase the shelf life of rava. You can then use it instantly while making Upma too.
• Grate a carrot, Chop a chilli - Yup, you will need to grate a carrot and chop some chilli and coriander. 
• Tempering - Heat a little oil, throw in some lentils (dals), mustard seeds, curry leaves and chilli. This is seriously a 10 seconds job.
• Mix once - Mix tempering with the rava.

The rest is exactly like the packet. Mix in the ingredients. Allow it to rest for some time. Then steam them as usual. Ta-da - Instant soft smooth Rava Idli.

Instant Rava Idli

Popular South Indian instant steamed breakfast cakes made from semolina or rava and yogurt.

Recipe Type:  Breakfast
Cuisine:            South Indian
Prep Time:     30 minutes
Cook time:     30 minutes
Yield:                8 Idlis

Ingredients:

1.25 cups Semolina or Upma Rava
1 cup Yogurt (Curd)
1 small Carrot
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
2-3 tsp Oil
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
1 tsp Urad Dal
1 tsp Chana Dal
8-10 Curry leaves
1 Tbsp chopped Coriander leaves
1 chopped Green Chilli
1/2 cup Water
Salt to taste 
Oil to grease

Method:

Toast the rava in a kadhai on low flame for 8-10 minutes. Stir frequently to avoid burning. Remove it into a large bowl once done.
Heat oil in the kadhai and add mustard seeds to it.
Once the mustard seeds splutter, add the urad dal and the chana dal.
Once the dals brown slightly, add the curry leaves and chilli. Pour this tempering to the toasted rava.
Mix well and allow to cool.
Once the rava has cooled, add grated carrot, yogurt, chopped coriander, baking soda and salt and mix well.
Add water by the spoonful. The consistency of the batter should be similar to the regular idli batter.
Leave aside for 10-15 minutes.
In the meanwhile, prepare the idli steamer. The water in the steamer should be boiling when we put in the idli, else the idli will become hard.
Now grease the idli mould, and pour in the batter.
Steam for 10-15 minutes.
Serve hot with chutney or sagu.

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Instant Cucumber Dhokla | Cucumber Chickpea Steamed Cakes

Cucumber Dhokla is a savory steamed chickpea flour and semolina cake with added cucumber that is perfect for breakfast or as a tea time healthy snack.

I've been missing around the blog for 2 weeks now. I've been busy cooking up an amazing spread that will soon appear here. Now that's what I would love to say. But that's not what I have been doing. Everyone at home has been under the weather and what I have been cooking has been just soup and regular dal rice. and my taste buds totally ditched me too. I could barely make out what the food tasted like. 

I can finally taste the food and I'm SOO happy about it. 

I've recently gotten obsessed with one particular fruit and one particular vegetable - the water melon and the cucumber. And today is all about the Cucumber. I've been adding cucumber to almost everything - Upma, Akki Rotti, Sambar etc. What I love about adding Cucumber to any dish is that it ends up giving it that moistness along with a very subtle flavor. That is exactly what it did to this Dhokla.

Cucumber Dhokla is my own concoction that is inspired from the traditional Dhokla. I recently had a cucumber pakoda (Seriously!!!) and it tasted good (Really!). I never would have guessed that cucumber that besan (chickpea flour or gram flour) would go so well together. So when I set out to make dhokla this time, I got a little creative, I added in a grated cucumber and a bit more. I also added in a little bit of grated carrot, a few frozen peas, and finely chopped capsicum. Although technically, I should be calling it a mix vegetable Dhokla. I prefer calling it the Cucumber Dhokla, cause that flavor it had in the end was all fresh Cucumber.

You can skip the remaining vegetables and just stick to the cucumber and it will taste just as good - I promise.

Instant Cucumber Dhokla | Cucumber Chickpea Steamed Cakes

Instant Cucumber Dhokla is a savory steamed chickpea flour and semolina cake with added cucumber that is perfect for breakfast or as a tea time healthy snack.

Recipe Type:  Breakfast
Cuisine:            Indian
Prep Time:     15 minutes
Cook time:     20 minutes
Yield:                Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

For the Cucumber Dhokla:

3/4 cup Chickpea Flour or Besan

3/4 cup Semolina or Rava

1 grated Cucumber

1 tsp of Ginger- Garlic Paste

1 crushed Green Chilli

1 grated Carrot (Optional)

1 Tbsp Green Peas (Optional)

2 Tbsp chopped Capsicum

1.5 tsp Fruit Salt or Eno

1/4 tsp Asafoetida or Hing

2 Tbsp Yogurt or Curd

1 cup Water

Salt to taste

Oil to grease the steamer

For the Tempering:

3-4 tsp Oil

1 tsp Mustard Seeds

8-10 Curry Leaves

1-2 tsp of Lemon juice

1/2 tsp of Sugar or Jaggery

For Garnish:

2 Tbsp fresh grated Coconut

2 Tbsp finely chopped Coriander leaves

Method:

Preparing the Steamer:

1. You can steam in an Idli steamer or a pressure cooker or a large deep saucepan. If using a pressure cooker, remove the whistle.
2. Pour around 2-3 cups of water in it and cover it and allow the water to come to a boil.
3. Place a small upturned  flat bottomed bowl or vessel at the bottom of the steamer.

Preparing the Dhokla:

4. Mix together all the ingredients except the water, oil and the fruit salt.
5. Add 3/4 cup of water and mix well. Add more water if required. The dough should be thick yet pourable. Almost like a cake or idli batter. The quantity of water depends on the type of rava and besan.
6. Once your steamer is ready, grease a flat vessel that will fit into your steamer with oil. 
7. Now add the fruit salt and the remaining water and mix well. The fruit salt should cause the batter to start foaming and become light.
8. Pour the batter into the greased vessel and place it in the steamer.
9. Allow it to steam for 10-15 minutes. Depending on the depth of your vessel, you may need to keep it in longer. The Cucumber Dhokla is ready when a skewer or knife comes out clean.
10. Allow it to cook and remove from the vessel. 

Preparing the Tempering:

11. Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds.
12. Once the seeds splutter, add the curry leaves.
13. Remove it off the heat and add the sugar and the lemon juice.

Assembling the Cucumber Dhokla:

14. Cut into bite sized pieces.
15. Pour the tempering over the Cucumber Dhokla.
16. Garnish with the coconut and the coriander.
17. Serve warm with coriander chutney or sweet and spicy yogurt.

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Matar Dhokla

Dhokla is a steamed savory cake that is a favorite of western India. They are usually made of semolina and chickpea flour. They are light and fluffy and taste delicious with a tangy green chutney.

I never knew there was so much variety in something this simple.

I was browsing through cookery books in the library when I glanced upon Tarla Dalal’s Non-Fried Snacks. I’m a big fan of non-fried snacks. The book has some good recipes, majorly it has different types of dhoklas and muthias. And this Matar Dhokla or Green Peas Dhokla was a featured recipe.

It is still just as simple to make as the regular dhokla, but now has the added goodness of green peas. You can use either fresh or frozen peas, according to what you have available. 

The addition of peas gives it that lovely vibrant green colour and the slight sweetness of peas. 

Some people like to soak their dhoklas in a diluted syrup of sugar and lime juice, while some enjoy it with creamy yogurt. It tastes awesome with both.

Step-by-step Instructions:

1) Puree the green peas with a little water.

2) Mix together the chickpea flour, semolina, pea puree, salt, ginger- chilli paste, yogurt and salt into a smooth batter.

3) Now add the fruit salt or eno to  the batter. Pour the remaining water over it and mix well. It should start getting frothy.

4) Grease a shallow vessel that fits inside the steamer and add the batter to it.

5) Place the vessel in the steamer and steam on medium flame for 12-15 mins. Insert a knife in the middle and if it comes out clean, it is done.

6) Turn off the stove and allow it to rest for around 2-4 mins.

7) Then remove slowly and cut into desired shape.

8) Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds.

9) Once they splutter, add the curry leaves and chilli and fry for 20-30 seconds.

10) Pour over this tempering on the dhoklas. 

11) Garnish with the fresh coconut and the coriander leaves. I also sprinkled a few pomegranate seeds to add some freshness.

Matar Dhokla

Steamed savory cake made with green peas and chickpea flour.

Recipe Type:  Snacks

Cuisine:          Indian / Gujarati

Prep Time:     15 minutes

Cook time:     30 minutes

Yield:              Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

Dhokla

1 cup Fresh or Frozen Green Peas

1.5 cups of Chickpea Flour / Besan

4 Tbsp Fine Semoline / Chiroti Rava

1 tsp of Ginger-Green Chilli Paste

2 Tbsp of Yogurt / Dahi

1/2 cup of Water

1.5 tsp Fruit Salt (Eno)

2 tsp of Oil for greasing

Salt to taste

Tempering

4 tsp of Oil

½ tsp of Mustard Seeds

10-15 Curry Leaves

1-2 Slit Green / Red Chillies

Garnish

2-3 Tbsp of grated Fresh Coconut
2 Tbsp finely chopped Coriander Leaves

Method:

Puree the green peas with a little water.
Mix together the chickpea flour, semolina, pea puree, salt, ginger- chilli paste, yogurt and salt into a smooth batter.
Prepare the steamer. (see note)
Now add the fruit salt or eno to  the batter. Pour the remaining water over it and mix well. It should start getting frothy.
Grease a shallow vessel that fits inside the steamer and add the batter to it.
Place the vessel in the steamer and steam on medium flame for 12-15 mins. Insert a knife in the middle and if it comes out clean, it is done.
Turn off the stove and allow it to rest for around 2-4 mins.
Then remove slowly and cut into desired shape.
Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds.
Once they splutter, add the curry leaves and chilli and fry for 20-30 seconds.
Pour over this tempering on the dhoklas. 
Garnish with the fresh coconut and the coriander leaves.

Notes:

STEAMER - I used an idli steamer. You can use a pressure cooker without the whistle or any deep saucepan with a lid. 

1) To prepare it, add around 2-3 cups of water to the steamer and cover and cook on high flame until the water boils. 

2) Next place a small flat bottomed vessel or bowl upside down in the steamer. The top of this bowl should be above the level of water.

3) Place the plate / vessel with the dhokla over this upturned bowl. The purpose of the bowl is that the dhokla plate / vessel does not touch the boiling water directly and is slightly higher than the water level.

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Steamed Modaks | Ukadiche Modak | Sihi Kadabu

Lord Ganesha's birthday aka Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated with fervor and grandeur in Goa. People take a nice vacation from their hectic lives and move into their ancestral houses for a week usually. The entire family gets together to welcome Ganesha into their house and hearts. You can see colorful idols of Ganesha everywhere you turn. His throne is decorated with flowers and banana leaf. Everyone is dressed in their festive best.

And when everything is at its best, so is the Food. In India, every festival revolves around Food. Ganesh Chaturthi is no exception. While one may not make as many variety of sweets and snacks as one does for Diwali, there are a few that are made especially for beloved Ganesha only.

Modaks are considered to be Lord Ganesha's favorite sweet and a must on Ganesh Chaturthi.
Modaks are made in myriad different ways. Some deep fry it while some steam it. Sometimes the filling is of fresh coconut and jaggery, while sometimes it is dry coconut and sugar. I have also seen a recipe where it is filled with chocolate. Sometimes all this is skipped and modaks are just modak shaped pedas.

In our culture, we do not deep fry modaks. My grand mother was totally against deep frying anything on Ganesh chaturthi so we always made the steamed version stuffed with fresh coconut and jaggery. And this is the version I absolutely LOVE.
Steamed Modaks or Ukadiche Modak or Sihi Kadabu have the outer layer made of a rice flour dough and a stuffing of fresh coconut, jaggery (unrefined sugar) and cardamom powder.

To make the outer layer of rice flour, the rice flour is added to boiling water and mixed until it forms a stiff dough. Getting the consistency of the dough right is probably the toughest part of making the Modak. If the dough isn't made properly, there are chances that the modaks will split while steaming, which, believe me isn't really as disastrous as it sounds. They still taste great and means just some more modaks for the Cook. Hurray!!

The filling is made by cooking together grated fresh coconut and jaggery. In this recipe, the jaggery cannot be replaced with refined sugar, as it just will not live up to the taste and texture of the modak. The mixture is cooked until it the water almost evaporates. Cooking it beyond that will cause the jaggery to crystallize and the filling will become one big hard lump.

These days there are moulds available to shape the modaks after filling them. Unfortunately, as you can see in the pictures, I wasn't aware of it until I'd finished making them, hence very amateurish looking modaks in my house this year. But who is worried about the looks when they tasted SO delicious.

If you are making this for Naivedyam for Lord Ganesha, please do not taste anything and follow the recipe and your instincts and it will turn out great.

If you liked this, you may also like:

• Khova Peda - Simple peda made from milk solids and sugar.
• Kaju Katli - Fudge or Barfi made from cashewnuts and sugar. A favorite in every household.
• Coconut Laddoo - A simple laddoo made from coconut powder and condensed milk in under 1 hour.
• Kadle Bele Payasa - Kheer made with rice, chana dal and coconut

Steamed Modaks | Kadabu | Sweet Dumplings

Modaks are traditional steamed Indian dumpling made from rice flour, coconut and jaggery. Served as an offering to Lord Ganesha in West and South India. 

Recipe Type:  Dessert
Cuisine:          Indian
Prep Time:     30 minutes
Cook time:     60 minutes
Yield:              9

Ingredients:

0.75 cup Coconut
0.5 cup Jaggery
1 tsp Cardamom
0.75 cup Rice flour
1.5 cups Water
1 tsp Ghee or Oil
0.25 tsp Salt

Method:

In a kadhai, mix the coconut and jaggery and cook on low flame. Keep stirring the mixture to avoid burning. Cook until the mixture is almost dry. Do not overcook as then the jaggery will harden. Add the cardamom powder and keep aside to cool.
In another pan, bring 1 cup of water to a  rolling boil. Add the salt and the ghee and remove it from the heat.
Add rice flour by the spoonful and keep stirring to avoid forming lumps.
Add more water if needed. The dough should be slightly stiff yet malleable.
Keep the pan back on the stove and keep the flame low.
Keep stirring until the whole dough becomes one mass. It will start sticking to the spoon/ spatula. It took me around 5 mins. Take a small marble sized piece of dough and press it using  your thumb and index finger, it should not break into pieces. Nor should it stick to your hand. If the consistency or the texture is not correct, the modaks may split while cooking. If it is your first time, do not fret over a few split ones.
Allow this to cool for some time.
While it is still warm, take a small ball of flour and flatten it. Place a small ball of the filling inside it and use your hands and stretch the flour to cover the filling.
Shape the modaks accordingly.
Steam the modaks in a steamer for around 8-10 mins. I used an idli steamer, you can use a cooker without the whistle.

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Instant Khaman dhokla

Khaman dhokla is probably the most famous Gujrati snack across India. Easily available in some states and difficult to find in others. Somehow, I love this healthy steamed snack with tea in the evenings, but Bangalore disappoints me by not having it so readily available. I actually have to go in search of it and most times it is just so sweet that it turns me off. Since it is so easy to make, I often end up making it at home myself.

Ingredients:

Besan  - 1 cup

Fine rava - 1/4 cup

Eno salt - 2 sachets

Green chillies - 4-5

Ginger - 1 small piece

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Coriander leaves - a handful

Fresh grated coconut - 2 tbsp

Salt

Water - 1/2 cup

Oil - 4-5 tsp

Method:

Mix the besan and rava. Using rava is optional, dhokla can be made with only besan also.

Crush the ginger and make a paste of the 2 green chillies and add to besan.

Add salt and water

Fill a steamer with water and keep on stove.

Grease a small vessel/ bowl. I used an idli steamer so I used the idli plates itself to steam the dhoklas.

Once the steamer is ready, mix the Eno salt into the besan and immediately transfer to the greased vessel and place in the steamer.

Allow it to steam for 7-10 minutes.

Remove from steamer and cut into 2" pieces.

Heat 3 tsp oil, add mustard seeds.

Once the mustard seeds splutter, slit the remaining chillies and add to te oil.

Pour the oil on the dhokla

Garnish with finely chopped coriander and freshly grated coconut

Enjoy with curd or chutney

Generally, when we buy dhokla outside, a very thin solution of water, sugar, lime juice is also poured on the dhokla to give it a sweet and sour taste. I am not a fan of the sweet dhokla, hence I skipped this step.

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Idli

Sunday morning always made me happy as a kid... My mom would cook some of the yummiest things on sundays... Breakfast would generally be idli or dosa. Personally I have always liked idlis more. Though idlis and dosas are so commonly available in south India, it wasn't the case where I grew up. So sundays were a treat. Below is the traditional way of making idlis..

Ingredients:

2 cups Idli Rava or Rice Rava
1 cup Urad Dal
Salt to taste
Oil to grease
Water as required

Method:

Soak the urad dal for 3-4 hours. If it is a cold day, then soak in lukewarm water.
Just before you start grinding the urad dal, soak the idli rava in warm water. Make sure the water is not very hot, else, you will end up cooking the idli rava. 
Grind urad dal with water till smooth. 
Drain out the idli rava and mix with the urad dal.
Cover it and allow to ferment overnight or for 8-10 hours in a warm place. If it is a cold day, you may need to let it rest for longer. You can also keep it an oven that is at no greater than 40 degree celsius.
Add salt in the morning. Adding salt at night may prevent the batter from fermenting.
Add a little water to achieve a pouring consistency. Batter must be thicker than what is used for dosa.
Grease the idli plates/bowls with oil and spoon in the batter.
Steam in an idli cooker for around 10-15 mins.
When you put a knife through the idli, it should come out clean.
Serve with chutney or sambhar.

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