“What is the recipe of Podi Rava Idli” – Has this question crossed your mind recently ? If yes, let me help you with it. If you like normal rice idlis, you will most certainly prefer Podi Rava Idlis as well.
I live in the food hub of South India – Chennai and would love to share my Podi Rava Idli recipe with you. I prepare them for breakfast and snacks for my family.
In my current blog, I will introduce the most easy recipe of Podi Rava Idli. And that involves using a microwave. This delicious dish will make an impression on you.
What is the Recipe of Podi Rava Idli in a Microwave ?
Podi Rava Idlis are one of my favourite breakfast snacks. They are easy to make. They require very few ingredients and can be made even by beginners.
Pre-Preparation Requirements of Rava Podi Idlis
Let me introduce the recipe by first sharing the pre-preparation requirements below.
| 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 |
Ingredients Required for Preparing Podi Rava Idli
Before getting into the actual cooking, I would suggest that you keep all the ingredients on your kitchen counter. This makes cooking much easier and you don’t have to keep switching between tasks to find the right ingredient.
| 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 Podi Masala – 2 Table Spoons Red Chilli Powder – ½ Tablespoon Ghee or Clarified Butter – 2 Tablespoons |
Complete Recipe of Podi Rava Idli in a Microwave
Making podi rava idly is very easy. With only a few ingredients, you can make a completely new and delicious breakfast or snack item, in no time.
Follow these simple steps to get the perfect soft and delicious podi rava idlis at home
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.
Add Ghee to Idlis
Take about 1 tablespoon of ghee and sprinkle it on the rava idlis in the bowl. Mix them gently so that the idlis don’t break.
The ghee adds to the flavour and allows the podi masala to stick properly to the idlis.
Add Podi Masala to the idlis
Now sprinkle Podi Masala to the idlis and mix them well. This too has to be done very gently.
You can either go for readymade Podi Masala or prepare your own at home.
People who want their podi rava idlis to be spicy can add half a tablespoon of red chilli powder along with the podi masala. This is completely optional.
Plate and Serve the Podi 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.
Calorie Count per Podi Rava Idli
| CALORIE COUNT
40-50 calories per idli. Podi rava idlis are healthier than normal rice idlis. |
11 Essential Tips for Making Delicious Podi Rava Idlis
Now that I have discussed the detailed recipe of podi rava Idli, here are a few tips that will help you get the softest and yummiest idis
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.
I hope you liked my blog on What is the recipe of podi rava idli. If you have any doubts or questions, feel free to ask them in the comment section below. I will be more than happy to help.