Rava idli recipe to make soft spongy instant sooji idli. You can make the Idli mix in advance and whip up best idlis in 30 minutes or less. Serve this easy semolina idli with coconut chutney and sambar enjoy this popular and delicious South Indian breakfast or tiffin.
For those who have never tried idli, Rava idli is basically steamed semolina cakes from South Indian Cuisine. As name suggests it is made with semolina/sooji/suji or rava. It is a popular breakfast that is served with sambhar and coconut chutney or as a evening snack known as tiffin.
These steamed cakes can be made instantly. if you have my homemade instant breakfast mix ready and stored. Bonus point you can make few more breakfast recipes with this mix.
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What is Rava ? Is Rava and Sooji Same?
Yes! Rava and sooji are same product. This a flour that is made with wheat and also sometimes known as cream of wheat. In English both are known as Semolina only. So all of these terms refer to one and same thing.
North India and Pakistan it is called sooji or suji, Farina in Italian and semolina in english. In south India this same flour is known as Rava.
So this Instant idli is made of sooji as compared to traditional idli recipe which is made with rice. To make this suji recipe you need fine semolina, also known as cream of wheat or barik sooji.
How To Make Instant Rava Idli
Traditional Idli recipe is made with soaked lentils and rice which are ground to a paste. That paste is then fermented and steamed to make idli.
But, for making rava idli, You do not need to ferment the batter, no grinding is required so it is super convenient and easy to make.
How I Make Instant Rava Idli Mix
To make the process of making idli faster I always prepare the Homemade Instant Idli mix to make in advance. That way I can make idli in 5 minutes. I have shared the process in the recipe card below.
Not only Instant Idli you can prepare Instant Medu vada or Vegetable Upma with same Instant mix, so make sure to make a big batch if you love south Indian breakfast.
Step by Step Method
First make Instant rava Idli mix at home. As I mentioned above you can make this Instant idli mix and store it for 2-3 weeks in air tight container. Or,6-8 weeks in the fridge.
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Heat oil in a pan [photo1] add asafoetida/hing, mustard seeds, Chana dal, urad dal, cumin seeds and stir fry for a minute. [photo2]
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Now add chopped ginger, green chili mix and stir for few seconds.
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Add curry leaves and fresh coriander leaves. Cook these till these are fully dry and dehydrated. [photo3]
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Now add semolina/sooji and saute on low flame for 5-7 minutes. keep stirring it. [photo4]
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Switch off the flame and add salt. Instant breakfast mix is ready [photo5,6]
Making Idli on Gas/ Stovetop
With this same Instant Breakfast mix you can make Semolina pancakes/ Sooji paneer ka cheela or these Rava Vada.
To Make Rava Idli Batter
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Take one cup of instant Idli mix we prepared. Add curd/yogurt and mix well. [photo1,2]
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Add water and salt to make a thick batter. Keep this batter for 10-15 minutes. [photo3]
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Add some more water if it batter becomes thicker because rava absorbs a lot of water
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Finally add 1 teaspoon of ENO fruit salt and mix well. [photo4,5]
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Give it one minute till batter rises. [photo6]
To Steam Rava Idli
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Grease the idli moulds and pour one -two tablespoon of batter in each bowl of idli moulds.
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Or like me grease the idli plate place a curry leaf and a cashew half each and pour idli batter over it for that beautiful looking soft idli that you see in the image. [photo1]
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Place it in idli cooker and steam cook for 10 minutes. [photo2,3]
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Allow the steam to escape and then open the idli cooker. [photo4]
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remove the idles from idli plate. [photo5, 6]
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Serve these instant soft rava idlies hot with idli podi, coconut chutney and sambhar.
How to Make Microwave Rava Idli
You can make rava idli in microwave in 5 minutes. To make this easy sooji idli in microwave. Make the rava idli batter same way and then use a microwave idli steamer attachment.
Grease the microwave idli plates with a bit of oil and then drop spoonful of idli batter in the idli molds.
Add a little bit of water in the lower plate of microwave idli stand. Cover it with the lead and microwave for 6 minutes on medium power.
I use my LG microwave that comes with pre-set menu for making idli. If you also have preset to make microwave rava idli you can use that setting.
Also I have another healthy and delicious Microwave Brown rice Idli recipe that is healthy and super delicious you can try that as well.
Soft Rava Idli Recipe Video
Tips To make Best and Soft Instant Idli
- If you are storing mix for longer time make sure that all fresh herbs dry out completely.
- Allow the roasted Instant idli mix mixture to cool completely before adding rest of the ingredients.
- Slightly sour curd works great to make perfect soft idlies.
- For making soft sooji idli, after adding fruit salt (neutral flavoured), mix and immediately make idlies.
- Otherwise, add fruit salt only when you are done greasing idli plate/moulds and are ready to steam idlies.
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To make Rava idli without Eno you can use ¼tsp baking soda to the mix instead of adding Eno.
- For making variations you can add finely chopped vegetables or vegetable purees instead of water.
- Semolina or sooji absorbs water so after mixing the ingredients allow the idli mixture to stand for 5 minutes so that it absorbs required amount of moisture and idlies turn out soft and melt in mouth.
What to Serve with with Rava Idli?
You can serve this this suji idli with Hotel Sambar, coconut chutney, tomato chutney, Idli podi and ghee.
Other Types Idli Recipes to Try
If you like to try my other idli recipes that are pretty amazing too you can check these 5 Idli recipe variations that you must try.
Soft Rice Idli
Healthy Chana Dal Idli
Podi Idli for Appetiser
Traditional Kanchipuram Idli
Healthy Ragi Idli
Brown Rice and Moong Idli in Microwave
This Post was first Published on 27 December 2019, updated on 22nd July 2020
📖 Recipe
Rava Idli - How to Make Instant Rava Idli
Equipment
- Idli cooker
Ingredients
- 1 cup Semolina rava/sooji
- 2 Green Chillies chopped
- 1 tablespoon Ginger chopped
- 1 Curry Leaves sprigs
- 2 tbsp Fresh Coriander cilantro
- ½ tsp Salt namak
- 1 tbsp Cooking Oil
- ½ tsp Mustard Seeds
- ½ tsp Cumin Seeds
- 1 tsp Bengal gram /chana daal
- 1 tsp Urad dal White Lentils
- ¼ tsp Asafoetida / Hing powder
- ½ cup yogurt sour curd
Instructions
To Make Instant Mix
- Heat oil in a pan, add asafoetida/hing, mustard seeds, Chana dal, urad dal, cumin seeds and stir fry for a minute.
- Now add chopped ginger, green chili mix and stir for few seconds.
- Add curry leaves and fresh coriander leaves. Cook these till these are fully dry and dehydrated.
- Now add semolina/sooji and saute on low flame for 5-7 minutes. keep stirring it.
- Switch off the flame and add salt.
- Allow this mixture to cool down.
To Make Rava Idli Batter
- Take one cup of instant Idli mix we prepared. Add curd/yogurt and mix well.
- Add water and salt to make a thick batter. Keep this for 10-15 minutes.
- Add some more water if it batter becomes thicker because rava absorbs a lot of water
- Finally add 1 teaspoon of ENO fruit salt and mix well
To Steam Rava Idli on Stovetop
- Grease the idli moulds and pour one -two tablespoon of batter in each bowl of idli moulds.
- Or like me grease the idli plate place a curry leaf and a cashew half each and pour idli batter over it for that beautiful looking soft idli that you see in the image.
- Place it in idli cooker and steam cook for 10 minutes.
- Allow the steam to escape and then remove the idles from idli plate.
- Serve these instant soft rava idlies hot with idli podi, coconut chutney and sambhar.
To Make Microwave Instant Rava Idli
- To make Idli in microwave, you can make idli batter as given above. Next step, take microwave idli molds and grease the idli plates.
- Add spoonful of batter in greased idli plates.
- In the base plate of microwave idli stand add few tablespoons of water and place idli stand with batter in this base plate.
- Cover with lid and steam on medium power for 6-7 minutes. Serve these soft pillowy microwave idlies hot with sambar and chutney.
Video
Notes
- If you are storing mix for longer time make sure that all fresh herbs dry out completely.
- For making soft idli, after adding fruit salt, mix and immediately make idlies.
- Otherwise, add fruit salt only when you are done greasing idli plate/moulds and are ready to steam idlies.
- To make Rava idli without Eno you can use ¼tsp baking soda to the mix instead of adding Eno.
- For making variations you can add finely chopped vegetables or vegetable purees instead of water.
Desicart
Nice blog to follow while preparing recipes.Thank you so much for sharing with us.
H L Parthasarathy
The preparation of Rave Idli is Very well explained.
Mansi Mittal
Thanku so much for this perfect recipe.. it turned out to be the best rava idlis I have ever had.
S deb
Nice, easy & informative.