Rava Idli

I made these soft, fluffy and tasty rava idlis for breakfast yesterday. I came across the recipe for instant idlis on Anita's blog a relatively long time back. I am one of those South Indians who prefers dosas over idlis any day, but the recipe looked too good not to try. I love the fact that there is no soaking or grinding involved here.

For the original recipe, head over to Anita's A Mad Tea Party. I had to make a couple of changes to the original recipe since I had to work with what I had. I really wish I had had curry leaves, green chillies and coriander though. You can add whatever vegetables you want to the batter. I only had a couple of baby carrots and some scallions.

Ingredients: (for 24 small idlis)
1 cup rava (I used fine)
About 3/4- 1 cup of yogurt (I did not really measure this)
2-3 Tbsp buttermilk
6-8 baby carrots, finely chopped
3 scallions/ spring onions, finely chopped
1 tsp baking soda
Salt

For seasoning:
2 Tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 Tbsp tsp urad dal
1 Tbsp chana dal
¾ tsp of red chilli flakes
A pinch of asafoetida


Method:
Heat oil in a big pan. Add the ingredients for the seasoning followed by the carrots and scallions. Cook for a minute or two.

Add the rava to the same pan and roast it for a few minutes till it smells done. Cool. Transfer to big bowl.

Add yogurt, buttermilk, salt and baking soda and mix well. Add enough water to make a batter that is sufficiently thick yet pourable.

Pour the batter in greased idli trays and steam for 12-15 minutes in a pressure cooker (without the weight). Allow the idlis to rest for a few minutes in the tray itself (very important to avoid a sticky mess) before plating them. Serve hot with accompaniment of your choice. We had ours with coconut chutney.

I have to say that the idlis turned out pretty well, considering the fact that this was my first time ever making idlis of any kind, and they were rather delicious, especially with the spicy chutney that we had it with. I did think that the idlis tasted a lot like the upma I make though. :D