Rava Idli or Rave Idli is a variation of Idli, made with Rava/ Sooji/semolina instead of the usual rice and Urad Daal.  It is a specialty of the state of Karnataka and is usually served as a breakfast item. It has been said that the popular restaurant chain, Mavalli Tiffin Room (MTR) of Bangalore invented it. Apparently during World War II, when rice (a staple item used in idli) was short in supply, they experimented in making idli using semolina and created the now famous Rava Idli.

 Rava-Idli translates to semolina-idli in the Kannada language. Rava idli is served hot and is usually eaten along with Saagu and Coconut Chutney. A dash of Ghee poured on the top of Rava Idli adds to the overall taste. (Adapted from here). 

Unlike a regular Idli, the batter can be prepared in an instant and does not require any grinding or fermenting. So this is more of an Instant Idli. There are many versions of Rava Idli and Saagu, but this is the one that I follow often.

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The first time I had these Adai/Lentil Dosa was at my friend Upsi’s place. Her mother had prepared it for evening snack along with Peanut Chutney and I remember tasting them and being floored. Of course, I did get the recipe from her, but not before being extolled the virtues of these special Dosas. 

• The batter comprises of multiple lentils and hence nutritious.
• Different types of dried beans can be added while making the batter.
• After the grinding process is done there is no need to ferment the batter.

Gasp, gasp, gasp (the loudest).  Really? How come I have never had these before? Have I been living is some parallel world? These facts might not be surprising for many, but for people like me, accustomed to eating only the regular Urad Dosa (which only has urad daal and which requires 8-10 hours of fermenting), this was indeed amazing; not just the nutrition, protein, but taste as well. 

Anyway coming back to this recipe of Adai, the trick for making good dosas depends a lot on the batter and I learnt this the hard way after multiple trials. I even dragged Upsi once to our house while making the batter and had her show me the right procedure for making these. It was only after that did I get a hang for making these. Thanks dear Upsi and her mom for sharing these wonder Dosas with us, we will cherish this for years to come.

I do not claim these to be traditional Adai’s, but the recipe here is my take on these healthy and nutritious Dosas. These taste good when they are soft and not so crispy.

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OK, I have to admit this, before I go on with the recipe. I do not know the traditional name of this dish; all I know is that it is a dish from Karnataka. The English title that I put more descriptive of the procedure, seems so formal and does not seem to have that connection with the dish. If somebody knows the name please let know.

Many years ago my mom had learnt this from one of our neighbor “Uma Aunty”.  She was an ace cook who could whip delicious dishes in no time. Many a times she would send over some of her dishes to us and we would enjoy tasting it. This is one such dish, but unfortunately I do not remember the name of this. She used to say that, this is usually served to people recovering from an illness. Not only in this healthy, low-fat but also caters to their lost taste and appetite.

During the process of writing this post, it stuck to me that this dish is more like a distant cousin of nucchina-unde. The ingredients are mostly similar; the procedure of steaming is the same, the difference being that in this case the daal mixture is steamed as a whole, instead of steaming each ‘unde’ separately as in nucchina-unde.

I do not prepare this often as most of them in my family are not huge fans of this dish; I am the only exception though. Don’t be worried by the long list of ingredients, most of the items are used for grinding and act as taste enhancer. Daal mixture when steamed tends to taste bland and so most of the ingredients are used to kick it up by a notch J Nevertheless it is easy to prepare, rich in protein and nutritious as well.

If interested you can check out another version of steamed daal that I posted long time ago, here Steamed Toor Daal Dill Cake.

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After some streaks of unsuccessful attempts in baking using Flax Meal (as substitute for egg), I was thrilled when I was successful in making these Egg Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. The taste is close to the original (with eggs) and there is hardly indicator of the presence of flax seeds meal in these cookies. The cookie is crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside, the addition of raisins gives it a special taste and texture. 

I have tried some Eggless recipes before with some easy substitutes, but this was the first time, I tried out a tricky substitute and I am so glad I did. This success opens up a new door and gives me a whole new arena to try and experiment. 

The major source of this recipe is the Joy of Vegan Baking. There are lots of vegan baking recipes in that book and for a beginner like me I found this book very useful. The information about egg substitutes is very detailed and reliable. That reliability and assurance prompted me to try this recipe. I cannot wait to try other recipes from this book! 

According to the book, Joy of Vegan Baking, ground flax seeds have a nutty flavor and works best if used in recipes like pancakes, waffles, muffins, breads and oatmeal cookies. Hence I chose the flax meal substitute for this oatmeal Raisin cookie.

As an added bonus Flax seeds are high in fiber and natural cholesterol controllers and concentrated source of omega-3 fatty acids.There is also some evidence it can help reduce risk of heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes

On an ending note, substitute for Egg: Flaxseed meal. Does it work? Check out this article on NYTimes.com here. If you are using flax meal substitute for the first time, then this article is a good read.

Also Champa has provided an useful information: If you don’t want to use flax seeds, just add 2 TBSP of corn starch to the dry ingredients and add 2 TBSP of water to the wet ingredients (or creamed mixture) and it works like a charm in cookies. Thanks Champa, I will definitely keep this in mind.

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We love all sorts of Kheer at home, but love Semiya/Vermicelli kheer the best. I make simple vermicelli Kheer as is or in combination with Saboodana. A good friend of mine had tried my Mango Oats Kheer and liked the idea. She suggested adding Oats to the regular Vermicelli Kheer and I loved the idea.

I tried the kheer a few days ago and we loved the taste. The taste is no different than a regular Semiyan Kheer. However addition of Oats makes it thick and sticky. Nevertheless it is easy and healthy too.

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Hope you all had a great weekend. We had a hectic and busy weekend with lots of activities, pending chores lined up to take care and finish off. In fact it has been like this for the past two weeks or so and as a result I have not been able to experiment much in the kitchen with new recipes. Well, I did try a baking experiment, but that was not successful to post it here. So I am resorting to the good old drafts and posting whatever I have left out there.

Here are some easy recipes for Dry curries/Sabjis that I make pretty often to go along with Rotis/ Chapathis. The recipe for Beans had been in my drafts for a long time, where as the Potato Curry I made it recently to go along with the Veggie Dosa triangles. Nevertheless these curries are nutritious, versatile and easy to prepare.

Off these go to Mahimaa’s Cooking Basics Event at Indian Vegetarian Cooking.

Aloo Matar Gajar/ Potato Carrot Peas Dry curry
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