Instant Cucumber Idly

In the hustle and bustle of life and routines, it's the planned stuff like making pre-preparations for meals that get skipped. That's when super easy "instant" recipes are so handy. 

Idly is one of those traditional South Indian dishes that typically needs soaking, grinding and fermentation, all of which needs a few days before actually making the Idlies! So when I tried this amazing instant recipe that results in soft, fluffy Idlies I'm tempted to use it in place of the traditional recipe all the time!

Here it is, my version of the Instant Cucumber Idly:

Ingredients for about 16 Idlies: 1 cup Idly rice rava, 1/2 cup grated Cucumber (with skin), 1/4 cup descicated coconut, 1/4 cup yogurt, 1 tsp grated ginger, chillies if desired, salt to taste, water.

Make: 

1. Mix 1 cup Idly rice rava, 1/2 cup grated Cucumber, 1/4 cup yogurt, 1 tsp grated ginger, chilli if desired, salt, water. Make a smooth batter.

2. Scoop into greased Idly plates and steam for 15 mins. Rest for 5 mins and serve with chutney. Enjoy!

Ragi-Rava Idly

Healthy and tasty - that's the combination we all want! The popular South Indian breakfast dish "Idly" is so versatile that the traditional rice recipe can be replaced with much healthier grains and/or millets.

Ragi (Finger Millet) and Rava (Semolina) make a great pairing for healthy Idlies that taste amazing. Here it is, my version of RAGI-RAVA IDLY:

Ingredients: 1/2 cup Ragi flour, 1/2 fine Rava, 1 tsp eno/fruit salt, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 cup natural yogurt/curds, water. For spice tempering, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds, few chopped curry leaves, bit of oil. 

Make:

1. In a bowl mix together Ragi, Rava and salt. Add in the yogurt and water as needed to make a smooth Idly batter. 

2. In a pan, saute the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and curry leaves in a little oil. Now add this to the batter. Add in eno/fruit salt and rest for 5 minutes.

3. Pour the batter into greased Idly moulds and steam for about 15 minutes. Rest for 5 minutes before removing from moulds and serve hot with chutney. 

Jowar-Rava Idly

A healthy breakfast is always a great start to the day, especially on weekends when there's a bit of extra time to enjoy with the family. 

Being South Indian, Idly, Dosa, Upma etc are often popular but trying these same dishes with healthier ingredients makes for some fun! 

Jowar flour (Sorghum flour) is typically used to make Jowar Roti and is highly nutritious, being rich in protein, fibre and gluten free. I tried using Jowar flour with Rava (semolina) for Idly - it came out delicious! 

Here it is, my version of JOWAR-RAVA IDLY:

Ingredients: 

1 cup Jowar flour, 1 cup Rava, 1/2 cup natural yogurt/curd, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp eno or fruit salt, water. 

For spice tempering, a bit of oil, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp channa daal, handful curry leaves, pinch of hing.

Make:

1. In a bowl, mix the jowar flour, rava and yogurt. Add salt and water to make a thick Idly batter. 

2. In a small pan, use a bit of oil and temper mustards seeds, channa daal, curry leaves and hing. Add this to the batter. Mix in well, add the eno/fruit salt and mix. 

3. Pour the batter into lightly greased Idly moulds and steam for about 20 minutes. Rest for 5 minutes after turning off heat. 

Serve hot with your favourite chutney or sides.