Rava Idly with coconut and coriander chutney

Rava Idly is a famous breakfast in the southern part of Karnataka. Do you know that Rava idlies were first invented at MTR? During World War II, rice was in short supply. MTR experimented with wheat and thus was born the enormously popular "Rava Idli."Source:MTR Foods

I have been making Rava idlies with MTR instant mix for a long time... they come out very well.

But I wanted to try it without the mix and then followed this method.. it turned out even more softer than the instant mix . So needless to saythat from then on I am making rava idlies without the instant mix. You can find the recipe of Rava idly in most of the blogs .... here is my way of doing it. This is my entry to the "Regional Cuisines of India" aka RCI event is started by LakshmiK from "Veggie cuisine" and hosted by dear Asha of Foodies hope.

Ingredients

Rava- 2 cups

curd- 2 cups

cooking soda- 1/4 tsp

oil- 3 tbsp

ghee- 2 tsp

salt to taste

seasoning

mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp

urad dal - 1/2 tsp

chana dal- 1 tsp

cashews broken-2 tsp

ginger- a small piece chopped finely

green chillies- 3 chopped finely

curry leaves- a few

coriander leaves- a few chopped finely

Method

Heat oil + ghee in a pan and add the seasonings one by one. Then add the Rawa to it and fry for sometime till u get a nice aroma in a medium heat. (Be careful and dont burn it)

Transfer the rava to a bowl and let it cool . Beat the curd well and then add it to the rava.

Set aside for 2 to 3 hrs.

Add the cooking soda to the rava mixture and mix well. Add little water or milk if it is too thick.

Grease the idly plates and pour the batter in them. cook them on medium heat for 10 - 12 minutes.

serve hot with chutney or sambar or saagu.

Note:

U can add carrots and peas to make vegetable rava idlies. Check out Supriya's rava idli here

Coconut and coriander chutney

Ingredients

coconut grated-3/4 cup

coriander leaves- a handful(3 tbsp roughly) finely chopped

ginger- a small piece

roasted gram dal- 2 tsp

green chillies- 4 or acc to taste

salt to taste

mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp

urad dal - 1/4 tsp

curry leaves- a few

red chilli -1

oil -2 tsp

Method

Grind coconut, coriander leaves, ginger,roasted gram,green chillies and salt to a fine paste adding water. Transfer the ground paste to a bowl.

Heat oil in a kadai and add the seasoning ingredients one by one.pour over the ground chutney and mix well.

Serve with hot idlies.

I Thank Kribha of 'veetu samayal' for giving me the inspirational blogger award, Sandeepa of Bongmom's cookbook for giving me the Thoughtful blogger award,

and Richa of 'As dear as salt' for giving me the schmooze award. Got these awards almost a month back and wanted to thank them from then on, but somehow kept missing them ...and now finally ,have done it. Thanks guys.. feel proud and happy on getting these awards.

Kothu Chappathi

Just happenned to see this in vijay tv last week... tried it and and it came out very well. So I thought I could share it with u all too... This is my entry to WBB #15 'leftovers' hosted by Nanditha of Saffron trail.

Ingredients

left over or fresh Chappathis- 4 cut into squares

onion-1 chopped lengthwise

tomatoes -1 medium sized chopped finely

tomato sauce- 1 tsp

capsicum - 1 small chopped into squares or lengthwise

green chillies- 1 slited

ginger- 1 " piece- crushed

garlic- 3 flakes - crushed

saunf- 1/4 tsp

mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp

curry leaves- a few

turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp

chilli powder- 1/2 tsp or acc to taste

oil- 2 tbsp

salt to taste

coriander leaves- a few chopped finely

Method

Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard and saunf seeds.When they sizzle add the chopped onions , curry leaves and green chilli. Saute for some time and when the onions turn transparent add the crushed ginger,garlic and chopped tomatoes. Fry till the tomatoes are mushy and then add the chopped capsicum pieces and tomato sauce.Then add turmericpowder,chilli powder and salt. Keep in a slow flame for a few minutes or till the oil comes on top and then finally add the chopped chappathi pieces. mix well and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Serve hot just like that or with raitha.

U can try this with parottas too to make kothu parotta.

Thattai and Appam- Krishnajayanthi treats

Today is 'Krishna Jayanthi', the birth day of lord Krishna.Happy Janmashtami/Krishna jayanthi to all of u.Read more abt krishna jayanthi here.

When I saw thattais and appam in shyamala's and Latha narasimhan's blog I decided to try it out for Krishna Jayanthi.Both turned out very well. Thanks shyamala and Latha.

This is my entry to the festival food event - Janmashtami/Srijayanthi hosted by Latha Narasimhan of 'Yum' blog and to the WYF -Snacks event hosted by Hima of snackorama.

Thattai

Ingredients

Rice flour- 4 cups

roasted dal powder or gram flour- 1/2 cup

butter- 4 tbsp

sesame seeds- 2 tsp

cumin seeds - 1 tsp

chilli powder- 2 1/2 tsp or acc to taste

salt - 1 1/2 tsp or to taste

channa dal- 1/2 cup soaked in water for 30 mins

curry leaves- a few chopped

Asafoetida- less than 1/4 tsp

oil for deep frying

Method

Powder the roasted gram and sieve it finely. Drain the channa dal well and add to the dal powder. Mix all the ingredients except oil together and add water to form a thick dough.

Make small balls out of it , place it in a greased plastic sheet and flatten it with ur fingers .

I I kept the balls in a greased plastic sheet , placed another small sheet on top of it and then placed a flat bottomed steel bowl on top of it and pressed it firmly. Then slightly flattened it out with fingers and it turned out perfect. You can cut open the ziploc bag and sandwich in between those too. However u make it, make thin discs.

Peel the prepared thattais carefully from the plastic sheet, drop it gently in hot oil and deep fry until golden brown on both sides. Keep the oil in an uniform medium flame and deep fry all the prepared thattais the same way .Store in an airtight container.

Appam

Ingredients

Raw rice- 1 cup

Jaggery- 3/4 cup

dry coconut(copra)- a few pieces

ghee- 2 tbsp

cardomom powder- 1/2 tsp

Method

Soak raw rice in water for 2 to 4 hrs. Drain it well and grind it in a mixie adding very little water.

When it becomes a fine paste add the jaggery to it and grind .

chop the dry coconut into small bits and fry it in ghee till golden brown.

Add the coconut bits and cardomom powder to rice and jaggery batter. The consistency of the batter should be like the dosa batter.

Heat the kuzhi paniyaram pan and add little ghee to all the potions of the pan. Add the batter to each portion of the pan . Turn over and cook till the appams are golden brown on both sides.