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 ‘proper’ hot 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 and eggs or oats 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.
What is the difference between Sevai and Idiyappam?
Idiyappam is served similar to appam, pressed and steamed into large mounds. Sevai is broken into pieces and served similar to rice, which is why it lends itself well to flavoured varieties like lemon sevai.
The preparation of Idiyappam is different to Sevai, the latter being more labour-intense.
Idiyappam is prepared by mixing roasted rice flour with water and salt and then pressing this raw dough through a press to make delicate mounds that are then steamed.
Sevai is made by grinding rice into a batter, steaming that into idli-shaped mounds and then pressing these into strands of ‘noodles’ ready to serve.
Admittedly, I have never made sevai from scratch and often just use idiyappam crushed into smaller bits, to make into different varieties of flavoured sevai. This lemon sevai recipe uses this shortcut method with prepared idiyappam.
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. My maternal grand mom used to make the fluffiest and most delicious sevai or 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 recipes.
Lemon Sevai Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups crushed sevai prepared idiyappam
- 2 tsp Indian sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp black mustard seeds
- 2 tbsp chopped cashew nuts
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 1-2 green chillies chopped
- A few curry leaves
- A pinch of hing asafoetida
- 2 tbsp lemon juice adjust to taste
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- 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 1/2 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. You can also add a pinch of sugar
- 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 but Indian lime tastes the best
- A pinch of sugar can be added, this is purely optional
- Some split urad dal can be added along with the cashew nuts and roasted, gives a nice toasty flavour to the lemon sevai
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 1/4 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. Saut̩ until the ginger turns fragrant and the chillies turn softer Рabout 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
Hi Nags,
Very yummy lemon Sevai.
We cook it in the same way but I don’t boil Sevai separately also we make it with cooked mince.
Yours is a different recipe with Cashew nuts Peanuts .
Will surely try ur recipe .
Thanks for sharing .
YK
I 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…….
Yes that’s a fantastic idea to serve sevai too 🙂
Hey 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.
never 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.
I 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)
I 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!
delicious!
A delightful recipe. can we add onions to this dish?
yes, why not!
Intersting version of string hoopers…gud one
wow. Nags ..Lemon idiyappam looks delish.. I have never tried it before…
This 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?