Rava Palak Green Idli

Rava idli is a popular dish of south India. It is easy to prepare at short notice and most of the children like it. The preparation does not require any soaking, grinding, fermenting and it is almost instant idli. This is prepared with rava/semolina, sour curd, spices, ghee. This can be made colourful and nutritious by adding some vegetables.

Here is Rava Palak Green Idli (unlike the traditional white idli). Even those children who don’t like palak/spinach will find this attractive. I added palak puree to make this idli green and garnished it with fried cashew nuts, grated carrot and tomato slice.

Ingredients

• Rava/semolina – one and half cup
• Sour curd – 1 cup
• Palak puree – 1 cup
• Water – half cup
• Ghee – 2 teaspoon
• Sugar – half teaspoon
• Grated coconut – 1 tablespoon
• Cooking soda – generous pinch
• Oil – 2 teaspoon
• Salt – as per need
• For seasoning
  • Mustard – 1 teaspoon
  • Pepper –  half teaspoon
  • Cumin – half teaspoon
  • Bengal gram – 1 teaspoon
  • Urad dal – 1 teaspoon
  • Asafetida – generous  pinch
  • Green chilli – 2 no
  • Ginger – small piece
  • Turmeric power – pinch
  • Coriander and curry leaves – few
• For garnishing: cashew nut/sliced tomato/grated carrot

Method

• Dry roast rava in a pan, till golden colour; remove and keep.

• Chop ginger, green chilli, coriander leaves, curry leaves finely; beat curd with half cup water and salt.

• Fry cashews with half teaspoon ghee and keep aside.

• Add oil in the same pan and do seasoning with mustard, cumin, pepper, Bengal gram, urad dal, asafetida; now add chopped green chilli, ginger, chopped curry leaves, chopped coriander leaves and turmeric powder; fry well.

• Add this with already diluted curd with salt; also add palak puree, grated coconut and mix well.

• Now add roasted rava, cooking soda, remaining one and half teaspoon ghee, sugar; mix well and keep aside for 10 minutes; the consistency should be like idli batter (as rava gets soaked, it is likely to be thick; add little water and mix well to adjust the consistency).

• Grease idli mould; place one or two fried cashew, sliced tomato, grated carrot as shown in the mould.

• Fill it with batter and steam cook for 8 to 10 minutes.

• Now attractive Rava Palak Green Idli is ready.

• Serve hot with any chutney. Here I served it with coconut chutney and idli milagai podi.

• You can serve it with tomato chutney also.

Tips

• Palak puree: I pressure cook (or microwave oven cook) water sprinkled finely chopped palak leaves (without stem). Then I grind it and keep it for further use.