Rava Idli A Healthy Start to the Day

The summers are on in full swing in Kolkata. Hot and humid days really affect us all. The palate craves for soft, bland food. Deep fried and spicy food is a big no-no.

Little S has her swimming classes on Saturday morning. So, I need to give her a nutritious and hearty breakfast in the mornings. Plus, Saturday is also our vegetarian day so that puts up a further challenge.

This Rava Idli recipe is one such breakfast. I often make it on Saturday mornings. It is healthy and quite filling. Also, you do not need to buy any ready mixes for this. All the ingredients are found at home. I generally serve it with coconut chutney.

Here is how I make it

Recipe

Ingredients

Rava / Sooji / Cream of wheat: 1 and a 1/4 th cup

Curd/Yoghurt: 1/4 th cup

Rice flour: 2 tablespoon
Eno (fruit salt) / Baking soda: 1 teaspoon

Black mustard seeds: a pinch

Curry leaves: 8 to 10

Toor dal or Bengal gram: a pinch

White oil: 1 teaspoon

Red chilli: 1

Salt to taste

Process

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add 1 red chilli, toor dal, mustard seeds, and curry leaves. Add the dry rava in the pan. Dry roast the rava. Make sure that the rava does not turn brown. Take off the pan and spread it in a plate to cool.

2. Once the rava mixture is cool enough to touch, add curd, salt, baking soda, and rice flour, Add just enough water to make a thick batter.

3. Grease the idli molds. Add the idli batter a spoonful in each mold. Steam on simmer flame for 12 minutes. Turn off the gas but don't open the steamer. Wait for 5 minutes and then de-mold the idlis.

For the coconut chutney

Ingredients

Scraped coconut: 1 cup

Garlic: 2-3 cloves

Ginger: a small piece

Curry leaves: 2-3

Green chilli: 1

Curd 1 tablespoon

For the tempering/tadka: 

A teaspoon of white oil

Black mustard seeds: a pinch

Curry leaves: 2-3

Green chilli: 1

Process

1. In a mixer, grind coconut, garlic, ginger, and curry leaves and green chilli together with a tablespoon of curd. Add water if required to make a thick paste.

2. In a pan, heat oil and add all the ingredients for the tempering. 

3. When the mustard seeds start to crackle, pour this tadka over the chutney and mix well. Add salt to taste.

Serve the hot fluffy idlis with coconut chutney.

I am sending this recipe to the ongoing event at Kolkata Food Bloggers, "Summer" for all summer related recipes.