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    Home » Soup Recipes

    Rava Idli Recipe - How to Make Rava Idli

    Jul 22, 2020 Modified: Jul 22, 2020 by Rekha Kakkar This post may contain affiliate links ·

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    Jump to Recipe Jump to Video

    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.

    instant rava idli recipe

    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.

    Jump to:
    • What is Rava ? Is Rava and Sooji Same?
    • How To Make Instant Rava Idli
    • How I Make Instant Rava Idli Mix
    • Step by Step Method 
    • Making Idli on Gas/ Stovetop
    • How to Make Microwave Rava Idli 
    • Soft Rava Idli Recipe Video
    • Tips To make Best and Soft Instant Idli
    • What to Serve with with Rava Idli?
    • Other Types Idli Recipes to Try
    • đź“– Recipe

    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.

    rava idli for breakfast

    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. 

    step by step making Instant Breakfast homemade mix for Rava idli

    • Heat oil in a pan [photo1] add asafoetida/hing,  mustard seeds, Chana dal, urad dal, cumin seeds and stir fry for a minute. [photo2]
    • 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. [photo3]
    • Now add semolina/sooji and saute on low flame for 5-7 minutes. keep stirring it. [photo4]
    • 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.

    step by step pictures of making Batter for soft Idli

    To Make Rava Idli Batter

    • Take one cup of instant Idli mix we prepared. Add curd/yogurt and mix well. [photo1,2]
    • Add water and salt to make a thick batter. Keep this batter for 10-15 minutes. [photo3]
    • 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. [photo4,5]
    • Give it one minute till batter rises. [photo6]

    Best soft and fluffy idli recipe step by step pictures

    To Steam Rava Idli

    • 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. [photo1]
    • Place it in idli cooker and steam cook for 10 minutes. [photo2,3]
    • Allow the steam to escape and then open the idli cooker. [photo4]
    • remove the idles from idli plate. [photo5, 6]
    • 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.
    • To make Rava idli without Eno you can use ÂĽtsp 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

    đź“– Recipe

    instant rava idli recipe

    Rava Idli - How to Make Instant Rava Idli

    Rava idli is Soft, pillowy instant idli recipe made with rava/sooji or semolina.
    5 from 4 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Breakfast, Snack, tiffin
    Cuisine: indian cuisine, south indian
    Keyword: idli, instant breakfast
    Prep Time: 2 minutes
    Cook Time: 25 minutes
    Servings: 4
    Calories: 269kcal
    Author: Rekha Kakkar

    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 ÂĽtsp baking soda to the mix instead of adding Eno.
    • For making variations you can add finely chopped vegetables or vegetable purees instead of water.
     
     

    Nutrition

    Calories: 269kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 320mg | Potassium: 169mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 499IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 3mg

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    Comments

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Desicart

      September 15, 2020 at 11:02 am

      5 stars
      Nice blog to follow while preparing recipes.Thank you so much for sharing with us.

      Reply
    2. H L Parthasarathy

      February 05, 2021 at 10:14 pm

      5 stars
      The preparation of Rave Idli is Very well explained.

      Reply
    3. Mansi Mittal

      April 07, 2021 at 9:57 pm

      5 stars
      Thanku so much for this perfect recipe.. it turned out to be the best rava idlis I have ever had.

      Reply
    4. S deb

      April 27, 2021 at 1:43 pm

      5 stars
      Nice, easy & informative.

      Reply

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    Life is complicated so let’s keep our food simple! No this is not a quote from someone else 🙂 this actually sums up my food philosophy and why I started this food blog.

    I am Rekha, I am the Cook, writer, and photographer behind this food blog. Now a YouTuber 

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