Lemon sevai recipe: lemon sevai or lemon idiyappam is a beautiful thing. It tastes light and delicious and also looks gorgeous with a deep yellow colour and dotted with the greens from curry leaves and green chillies. If you have some sevai (or idiyappam) lying around, definitely cook up some lemon sevai for breakfast and enjoy!
I love Indian breakfasts and the variety we have. I grew up eating three meals a day and breakfast was a rotation between dosa, idli, puttu, idiyappam, poori, and occasionally chapati. We had toast about once a month when my mom felt like it and it was always the soft bakery fresh bread toasted with home-made butter and had with either peanut butter or Kissan fruit jam. I miss those mornings.
Now, breakfast is either toast or cereal and while I am not particularly proud of it, it works. I am in no mood to cook in the mornings and so we make do. However, weekends are different. When we are not out getting brunch, I make all sorts of dishes that my mom and grand mom made for me as a kid.
Lemon sevai is one of them. We usually serve sevai or idiyappam as is with stew. Any “variety dish” with sevai is a treat and is alternated with the popular lemon sevai or puli sevai (recipe coming soon). My maternal grand mom used to make the fluffiest and most delicious idiyappam and it seemed blasphemous to turn it into anything else rather than slather on some homemade ghee and eat it as is but a good lemon sevai was dearly welcomed too. My idiyappam skills are alright, definitely grown much better over the years.
More easy breakfast recipes to inspire you. Click on the pictures below for recipe.
- 4 cups crushed idiyappam (sevai)
- 2 tsp oil (I use Indian sesame oil)
- ½ tsp black mustard seeds
- 2 tbsp chopped cashew nuts
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 2 green chillies, chopped
- A few curry leaves
- A pinch of hing (asafoetida)
- 2 tbsp lemon juice (adjust to taste)
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- Salt to taste
- Prepare the idiyappam and let it cool completely. You can also use pre-made or store-bought idiyappam. Crush with your fingertips into smaller broken 'noodles'. Measure out 4 cups and set aside.
- Heat 2 tsp oil and add ½ tsp mustard seeds. When they pop, add the broken cashew nuts. Roast until golden brown.
- Then add the grated ginger, green chillies, and curry leaves. Saute until the ginger turns fragrant and the chillies turn softer - about 1 minute
- Now add turmeric powder, lemon juice, and salt. Mix well.
- Add the sevai or idiyappam
- Mix well and make sure the flavours are balanced well. Adjust salt or lemon juice as required.
- Serve warm with coconut chutney
Step by Step Lemon Sevai Recipe
Prepare idiyappam and let it cool completely. You can also use pre-made or store-bought idiyappam. Crush with your fingertips into smaller broken ‘noodles’. Measure out 4 cups and set aside.
Heat 2 tsp oil and add 1/2 tsp mustard seeds. When they pop, add 2 tbsp chopped cashew nuts. Roast until golden brown.
Then add 1 tsp grated ginger, 2-3 green chillies, and a few curry leaves. Sauté until the ginger turns fragrant and the chillies turn softer – about 1 minute
Now add 1/4 tsp turmeric powder, a pinch of hing, and salt to taste. Mix well.
Add 4 cups of crushed sevai or idiyappam
Mix well and squeeze 2 tbsp lemon juice over it.
Mix again and make sure the flavours are balanced well by taste-testing. Adjust salt or lemon juice as required.
Serve warm with coconut chutney
Notes:
– You can use peanuts instead of cashew nuts
– Garnish with coriander leaves if you have some handy
– The green chillies can be replaced with dry red chillies torn into pieces
– You can use lime or lemon for tangy-ness
– A pinch of sugar can be added, this is purely optional
– Some split urad dal can be added along with the cashew nuts, gives a nice toasty flavour to the dish
– For lemon sevai recipe in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Urdu, Hindi, etc please use the Google translate button in the sidebar
Mystica says
January 21, 2017 at 11:14 pmI make indiappam or as we call it string hoppers daily but this lemon version is completely new to me. Would it be acidic I wonder? We do a version of breaking it up when there are extra and tempering with the onions chillies and then adding a beaten egg at the end so that it is sort of a scrambled version…….
Anusha Praveen says
May 25, 2016 at 8:17 amHey nags lovely bowl of idiappam here. By the way sevai and idiappam are totally different in the way of making. While idiappam uses dry rice flour that s cooked in hot water, sevai is made by soaking the rice fresh, grinding it like idli batter which is cooked into idlies and pressed through a sevai nazhi to make the string hoppers. You must try that too! It’s such a revelation for idiappam lovers.
nags says
May 25, 2016 at 9:34 amnever knew this! i think we use the terms interchangeably in Kerala or something. I don’t think we’ve ever made sevai as you describe it but sounds nice (and like a lot of work, heh). what we’ve been making is just idiyappam.
Jayashree says
May 27, 2016 at 1:03 amI couldn’t help but jump in. My grandma and amma would make sevai the traditional way Anusha mentioned – making the batter, steaming it in idli plates and oh lord – squeezing it through that sevai nazhi. Very laborious but the end result – that melt in your mouth sevai! Nothing like it. Me – I just use store bought idiyappam or instant sevai (sad face)
Anusha Praveen says
July 10, 2016 at 1:06 amI make sevai like once a year. Just to make sure I remember the process. But nothing ever matches up to it. Tedious but worth every bit. My Amma makes sevai this way only always. By the way have you guys tried the paruppu usili sevai? A total winner!
geetha ramaiah says
May 23, 2016 at 9:29 pmdelicious!
anjoo says
May 23, 2016 at 9:26 pmA delightful recipe. can we add onions to this dish?
Biny Anoop says
May 23, 2016 at 3:10 amIntersting version of string hoopers…gud one
suhaina says
May 23, 2016 at 1:52 amwow. Nags ..Lemon idiyappam looks delish.. I have never tried it before…
Anu Joshi says
May 16, 2016 at 10:13 amThis looks so yummy, but I have a question, how do I prepare the sevai, sorry it is probably obvious to everyone but I have never made it. Also I should get sevai in Mustafa, right?