Rava idli Recipe in microwave is one of the simplest and nutritious breakfast you can have as a family. In my current blog, I would like to share how to make Rava idli tasting its best when served with yummy chutney.
Being born and raised in Tamil Nadu, I have always enjoyed making this super quick and easy Rava idli for my family. Rava idli is the best travel food i have always had right from my childhood days.
My son loves to have this as his breakfast and also evening snack. I am sure your family will enjoy the same when your try my Rava idli recipe.
Soft & Spongy Rava Idli Recipe in Microwave
Anytime i would always call this as the best breakfast for all. Especially for babies in South India , this is given as the early solid foods as they are steamed. This is one of the simplest and quick breakfast anyone can make. Let us get started with this easy Rava Idli recipe.
Pre-Preparation Requirements of Microwave Rava Idli
It is very important that we use the right utensils and ingredients for any cooking. Below are the list of utensils and ingredients that helped me cook rava idli easy and quick.
| UTENSILS NEEDED
Idli Maker (Microwave Safe or Other) Grater to grate carrot 2 Bowls Small Pan for preparing the tempering or tadka Spoons or Spatula for mixing the ingredients |
| TOTAL PREPARATION TIME
20 Minutes |
| BATTER RESTING TIME
15-20 Minutes |
| COOKING TIME
5 minutes in a microwave |
Tempering Ingredients used in Rava Idli Recipe
Before you get into main ingredients for making the ravi idli batter, let us have all the tempering ingredients ready. This way it will be easy to handle ingredients for the batter separately. These are the important ingredients to help us make thick and soft batter for fluffy Rava idli.
| EXACT QUANTITY OF INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED
Roasted Rava (Semolina) – 1 Cup Curd – ½ Cup Water – 1 Cup Salt – According to taste 1 Pinch of Turmeric 1 Pinch of Asafoetida (Hing) ½ cup grated Carrot 5-6 Curry Leaves Vegetable Oil – 2 Tablespoon 1 Sachet Eno Fruit Salt – Lemon Flavour or Plain Mustard Seeds – ½ teaspoon |
Complete Procedure of Spongy Rava Idli Microwave Recipe
Now you have all the ingredients ready to make the beautiful soft rava idli batter. It takes no time to make super delicious rava idli. Please follow these simple steps for the super quick recipe to get soft and spondy rava idlis
First of all, transfer Rava or Semolina into a bowl
Take a big bowl and transfer one cup of the roasted rava into the big bowl.
In case you don’t have roasted rava, use normal rava and dry roast it over medium flame till it is slightly golden. Cool the rava and then transfer it into a bowl.
Make a batter with curd, water, and Rava (semolina or sooji)
Into the bowl of rava, add half a cup of curd. Mix them together using a spoon.
Once it is mixed properly, add about half a cup of water to the bowl and make it into a thick paste. Make sure that your batter is completely lump-free.
Set this aside and prepare tempering or tadka for the batter.
Add a little water to the existing batter
Add a little water to the existing rava idli batter. You don’t have to mush it up. Just a little quantity will do. Once water is added, whisk it a little with a spoon or a whisker.
Heat Some Oil in a Pan for tempering or Tadka
In a small pan heat about one tablespoon of oil. Keep the flame on medium.
I used Light Oilve Oil. However, Coconut oil and groundnut oil are also some good options. In case you have none of these, use some refined oil or ghee (clarified butter).
Keeping the flame on medium heat, add mustard seeds once the oil is hot enough. Let the mustard seeds crackle.
Add rest of tempering ingredients to the pan
Once the seeds have crackled, quickly add 5-6 curry leaves and a pinch of asafoetida into the oil. Remember, the flame is still on medium heat.
Increasing the flame can cause the tempering or tadka to burn.
After the above step, add half a cup of grated carrot into the pan. Also, add some salt.
Cook the mixture in the pan for about half a minute while constantly stirring it.
Switch off the flame and let the mixture cool down for a minute or two.
Add the Tempering in the pan to the Rava idli batter
Add the tempering you have prepared in the steps above to the batter you had kept in the bowl. Mix the ingredients properly using a spoon.
Add water to the batter to adjust consistency
If the batter is too thick, add water to make the consistency right. The batter should neither be too thick nor too thin.
Start by adding 1-2 tablespoons at a time.
Add a pinch of turmeric powder to the batter
Add half a pinch of turmeric powder to the rava idli batter. Adding turmeric powder to the batter gives your idlis a very beautiful light yellow colour.
Mix all the ingredients properly with the batter.
Let the Rava idli batter rest for some time
After mixing all the ingredients, cover the bowl with a lid. Let the batter rest for 15-20 minutes.
The rava tends to absorb water and therefore, resting is very important. It also helps the batter to ferment naturally.
After the batter is rested, check its consistency. The rava tends to absorb a lot of water and the batter tends to become thicker.
Add 1-2 tablespoons of water at a time to get to the right consistency. The consistency of the batter should be similar to a cake batter. It should neither be too flowy nor too chunky.
Grease Idli Moulds
While the batter is resting, prepare your idli moulds to stand. I have used a microwave-safe idli maker. You can use the metal idli stands as well.
Take some oil in your fingers and grease the insides of the idli moulds. The oil will prevent the batter from sticking to the mould.
While I used olive oil to grease the moulds, you can also use ghee to grease them.
To the batter add Eno Fruit Salt & Whisk gently
Add a sachet of Eno fruit Salt to the rava idly batter. Quickly mix the Eno fruit salt with batter. You will notice bubbles in the batter.
Do not over mix the batter. If you do so, the air bubbles will escape and the idlis will turn out to be hard.
I am using the Lemon Flavoured Eno fruit salt. You can also use plain Eno Fruit salt as well.
Allow the batter to fluff up
Allow the batter to fluff up for about ten seconds. Mix it gently and see bubbles forming. This is when you know that you don’t have to mix anymore.
Pour the batter into the moulds
Once you have added the Eno fruit salt, you need to work quickly.
Take the batter and pour them into the idli moulds. While filling the moulds, make sure you keep a little space for the idlis to rise.
Fill water into idli maker or cooker or pan
Fill the cooker or container with some water. The water in the pan/ container/ cooker is to be filled in a way that the water does not touch the moulds directly.
Place the idli stands in the cooker or container or pan
Carefully place the batter filled idli stands into the cooker/ container. If you are cooking it on the flame, you can use either use a cooker or a big pan to place the idli stands.
Add the Idli Maker to the Microwave
Cover the container containing the filled idli stand with a lid. Covering the container is important as it helps prevent the steam from escaping.
Set the timing at 5 minutes
For microwave cooking, set the timer at 5:00 for every batch.
Remove the container from Microwave
Once the time is up, remove the idli maker from the microwave. In case you are cooking on the flame, switch off the gas.
Let the container cool for a minute or two before opening the lid.
Remove the idlis into a bowl
Remove the idli stand from the container carefully and let the idlis cool down a little.
Now, carefully using your fingers, slide the idlis out of the moulds and transfer them into a bowl.
Plate and Serve the Rava Idlis
Remove the idlis onto a plate and serve these delicious idlis with hot sambar or chutney or both. You can add is as a snack or for breakfast. By the way, you can go one step further and transform your rava idlis into Podi idlis as well.
Tips to make flawless soft Rava idli in Microwave
Idlis are known for its softness and spongy texture. I would like to share some of the tips to make soft idlis. You make sure follow them each time you make rava idli. I am sure this will be very helpful for you too.
1. Keep all the ingredients ready
Before you start cooking, keep all the ingredients in one place. This makes cooking more efficient and you won’t forget.
2.Substitute for Eno Fruit Salt
In case you do not have ENO fruit salt, don’t worry. You can get good results by letting the batter ferment for about three to four hours. You can also use half a teaspoon of baking soda in place of Eno fruit salt.
3. Use thick curd
Curd can be thick or watery. If you have watery curd, use less water for the batter. If you have thick curd, use more water for the batter.
4. Remove all lumps from batter
If your batter has turned out to be lumpy, make sure you remove all the lumps using a whisk. If you do not have a whisk, use a spoon or fork to remove the lumps.
5. Keep idli moulds greased before adding Eno to batter
Always grease up idli moulds before adding Eno to the batter.
6. Work Quickly after adding Eno Fruit Salt
To get softer and fluffier idlis, make sure that after adding Eno Fruit Salt, you quickly transfer the batter into the moulds. If you let the batter sit idle for too long, the idlis will not turn out to be soft.
7. Do not overfill the idli moulds
Make sure that you do not fill the idli mould to the brim. After steaming, the idlis will rise, so, make sure you leave a little space for them to rise. Ideally, you should fill a little over three fourth of the idli mould.
8. Be watchful of the timer
When using a microwave for making Rava idlis, be very mindful of the timer. Do not overcook the idlis or they will get hard.
9. Remove the idlis carefully
Once the rava idli is cooked, don’t remove it from the mould instantly. If you try that, the rava idlis may break. Leave it for a minute or two before removing them from the moulds. If you have difficulty removing the idlis, use a sharp object to loosen it from the edges of the idli mould.
10. Be Gentle while mixing the Podi
While mixing the Pudi masala with idlis, be very gentle. Before you add your podi masala, let the idlis cool a little.
11. Prepare tempering on medium flame
Always prepare the tempering for the rava idli on a medium flame. If you keep it at a high flame, the tempering will burn and give your idlis a bitter taste.
These soft and spongy rava idli tastes the best when tossed in yummy podi masala. I hope you enjoyed learning the easiest breakfast recipe thats loved by everyone from kids to elders. Please feel free to ask questions and add your comments in the section below.