Ravae Iddly/ Cream of Wheat Iddly

Ravae Iddly

Ingredients:

Roasted Ravae

• 1 cup of ravae (cream of wheat)
• 1/4 cup of chopped cilantro
• 1/8" chopped ginger
• 3 or 4 green chopped chilies
• 1 tbs of urad dahl
• 1 tbs of channa dhal
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp of mustard seeds
• pinch of hingh(optional)
• pinch of turmeric(optional)
• 3 tbs of oil
• 2 cups of buttermilk
• 1/2 tsp Eno salt
• 1/2 cup grated carrot or cooked peas (optional)

Method:

Heat oil in a pan on medium heat. Splatter the mustard seeds and roast urad dhal, channa dhal, hingh and turmeric (dahls brown quickly). Then add ginger, green chilies to the pan followed by the ravae. Continue roasting/mixing on medium heat for maybe 5 to 10 minutes (the raw smell disappears). Turn off the heat and combine the grated carrots or the cooked peas and set aside to cool.

When cool, mix in 1 cup of buttermilk and salt.  Let sit for 5 minutes and this should make a pretty dense dough. Now add the remaining butter milk and mix the contents making sure there are no lumps and it is a pretty homogeneous mixture. Within a couple of minutes or so this should be a thick, pour-able consistency batter(pankcake batter consistency).

Simultaneously, bring about a cup of water to boil in a large steamer pot with a heavy lid, or use a iddly maker pot to bring water to boil and steam. When the water is boiling in the steamer, add Eno salt to the dough and thoroughly mix it in. Immediately, spoon the batter into the iddly maker plates. Assemble the plates on to the stand and place the stand in the steamer. Cover with lid and steam for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove lid and test the ravae-iddlies with a fork. If the fork comes out clean without wet dough sticking to it, then the iddlies are ready. If not continue to steam till the iddlies are cooked.

Using a cotton towel or tongs, remove the iddly stand carefully from the steamer and place on a cutting board or a plate. Let cool for a few minutes. Or run each iddly plate back and front, quickly through cold running water to cool. Then scoop out each cooked iddly carefully into a serving dish with a butter knife or a small flat spoon.

Cooking tips:

Add Eno salt just before steaming. The Eno salt when combined with buttermilk foams profusely, making the iddly soft and porous.When making several batches, add Eno salt separately for each batch. Instead of Eno can use 1/2 tsp of baking soda. Eno salt or baking soda should be airtight containers or else they loose potency/strength and the iddlies may urn out flat and not spongy.

Serving tips:

Serve ravae iddlies hot with a dollop of ghee, coconut chetni and potato sagu.