When MTR does such a great job of producing a great instant rava idli mix, you may ask why I even bother with a from-scratch rava idli recipe.
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp channa dal
1 tbsp chopped cashews
1/4 tsp hing
2 tbsp oil
2.5 cups curd / plain yogurt
1 tsp Eno fruit salt (secret ingredient for spongy rava idlis)
A handful finely chopped coriander leaves
Salt to taste
How I Made It:
1. Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds and chana dal.
2. Once the mustard seeds pop and the chana dal starts turning golden brown, add the hing and cashews. Fry until the cashews start turning golden brown.
3. Now add the rava and fry till it turns golden brown (a lot of golden-brown-turning needs to happen in this recipe), approximately 5-7 mins. Add salt (regular, not eno), mix well, and let it cool.
4. Then add 1 cup of curds to the dry mixture and mix well. Let it rest covered for 10 mins. Add the rest of the curds and mix well ( it should be little thicker than idli batter). Add the Eno fruit salt and mix well. Ladle the batter into idli moulds. Steam in an idli maker or pressure cooker for 10-12 mins (without weight). Allow it to cool and unmould.
PS: Excuse the picture quality. This was dinner on Saturday and I didn’t have the patience to set up the light box.
How much would 2 cups of Dahi be in grams? Any idea?
i am not sure in grams but my one cup is 240 ml
I tried it today for bf… came out really perfect… instead of eno i used soda salt. and one more thing, can i add little veggies like carrot, peas, onion to this idly batter??? please reply me
yes of course 🙂
Hi, Do I need to use fine semolina particularly? As the one I have in my kitchen doesn't say anything (like fine or coarse) and it's not that fine either.
can't tell for sure without knowing what exactly you are talking about, unfortunately
Inspired, going to try this as soon as i can. Thank you!
wat is eno salt ? wat if i add normal salt??
eno salt is actually an antacid but it's ingredients help in this process of making rava idli. no, you cannot substitute with regular salt.
looks amazing……both the idlis n the plate, where can I buy these? My hubby loves to eat in banana leaves n this is the closest I have a seen to a real leaf. Thanks for the awesome blog n pics. I love your Hyderabadi baingan n have made it several times.
Bhags
I live in Singapore and I got these banana leaves plate from Mustafa Centre
Hi Nags,
Beautiful presentation n equally tempting idlis….. I absolutely love the plates, any idea from where I can get these…please please, my hubby loves to eat in banana leaves n this is the closest. Thanks n love your blog.
Hi Nags,
Beautiful presentation n equally tempting idlis….. I absolutely love the plates, any idea from where I can get these…please please, my hubby loves to eat in banana leaves n this is the closest. Thanks n love your blog.
hi nags,
a gr8 yummy recipe, had been looking for this recipe for a long time, and i tried it immediately this morning !
lovely, and the presentation with plaintain leaf looks awesome !
The day you posted this, I prepared this. But I also took pictures for a post of my own. Just published it. Your pictures were a total inspiration to me and made me move my lazy bum and prepare this pronto. Thank you girlie for inspiring me..especially when I was very hungry!
i was reconsidering posting this rava idli recipe because i felt the pictures had come out very average. glad so many people tried it and liked it 🙂
Hey tried the idli this weekend… They were a super hit…made tomato chutney to go with it…the combination was mind blowing!!!
Loved it…Thanks 🙂
That's awesome. So glad you liked the rava idli recipe 🙂
Priya: When to add coriander leaf in your above recipe. The photo is perfect, looks so real, just take out from the screen and have it. Yummy!!!
Just add it to the rava idli batter before pouring into idli moulds 🙂
you know i love the plate more than the idlis…i fall for that banana leaf effect…lovely adn the idlis look very soft and fluffy…YUM!
Shobha
The idlis look great…nice clicks too 🙂
Hi Im Priya from Bangalore. I'm a total amateur in cooking and was googling for recipes since ill be getting wedded soon. I just too the Navarathan Kurma recipe from ur blog and prepared my first dish for my fiance. He was extremely HAPPY with the food. ALl thanks to you. And now i'm ur ardent fan and will be taking more receipes from ur blog with ur permission. This picture of rava idili looks marvellous and now i have my pen and paper ready to write down the receipe. Appreciate ur work and keeping going with COOKINGANDME!!
love ur plate and the idlis too.
Being in the land of MTR I've never used their ready mix. Homemade always works out cheap and best.
I always buy 1-2kgs of rava, temper and roast it, cool and store it the fridge. works as instant upma or rava idli mix for me.
I add salt and other things while making idli or upma.
so glad my recipes are helping 🙂
my fav… looks so soft and perfect…
wow! i can eat up that entire plate…lovely!
what an inviting platter dear, love it 🙂
Home made is always healthy and yummy… This looks soft and perfect.
MTR rava idli mix is really good ladies, but of course, i definitely agree that nothing beats making rava idli at home from scratch! 🙂
I am not sure which one I love more–the idli or the dish in which you have pictured it … where did you get this serving piece? I want to get a few 🙂
Wat a soft idlis,luks Perfect…
i have never tried MTR idlis. Eno salt makes a perfect magic in making rava idlis and even i have tried dhoklas too with that.
Perfect spongy idlis
Looks fab and yum….
Hey Nags the click alone is enough to make me go hungry. So cool. going to try this out with Eno as I too have a couple of sachets.
Hii Nags…I am on a mission of getting my 1yr old toddler to eat solid food now…he is a fussy eater and all my efforts of cooking up something for him goes to waste when he refuses to eat them…this one looks nice…quicker than the normal ones and I don't need to take out my mixy (phew…)so all the more tempting…will surely try this out…
Thank
Never tried this at home….love to give this a try…..looks fluffy and yum….thank u for the tip…
My cutie pie really loves this a lot. Whenever we go out she demands for this when she is hungry. Loved your version Nags.
These really look like one of those Sarvana Bhawans dishes 🙂 Lovely color and beautiful texture of the Idlies, Nags
So soft and spongy idlies looks fabulous..
Once I made rava idli at home and served to my DH..his reaction…it tastes like steamed upma 🙁 so from then on I had been stuck to MTR…Your version sounds simple to make and looks good too..would try this out.
Perfect texture n tempting rava idlis…
Freshly home made idlis can not b beaten by ready mixes..I will never buy the ready mix ones as I always love home made ones..urs look yumm
Hubby dear loves idlis for breakfast…so often we are off to South Indian restaurants in the morning…Your recipe is giving me some confidence to try it at home, for the first time…:)Thanks for motivating me with your recipe and pictures.
They look just like the MTR idlis–I mean in a good way!
I hear you have rava idli recipe on your blog Raks? Going to check that out now!
haha yes, i take that as a compliment 🙂 i usually use the MTR mix but had run out a few weeks back and never managed to get to the Indian store to stock up. The eno salt really pushed me in the right direction to try this 🙂