When I posted the basic idli recipe, a few commented saying how they use idli rava instead of rice in their idli batters. I had heard of idli rava before but never really gave it much thought but when I saw all the comments, I decided to give it a shot.
Idli rava (also knows as rice rava, idli sooji, or cream of rice) has a similar texture to sooji rava. You need to soak it just like you do rice for idli-dosa batter but grinding is not necessary making you get to your idlis faster than if you make them using the traditional mix and methods.
Idli Recipe Using Idli Rava
Preparation time: 2 hours
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Makes ~ 20 idlis
Ingredients:
1 cup of whole skinned urad dal
3 cups of idli rava or cream of rice
1.5 tsp of salt
How to make Idli using Idli Rava:
1. Soak the dal and idli rava separately in water for about 1.5 hours.
2. Grind the dal first using liberal amounts of water until you get a smooth, flowing batter of urad dal. Refer my previous idli recipe post for more tips.
3. The soaked idli rava doesn’t need to be ground. You can add it directly to the urad dal mixture to get the idli batter that then needs to ferment. So mix the two together and add the salt.
4. Set aside closed for 6-8 hours until the batter gets fermented.
5. Mix the batter gently and pour into greased idli moulds. Steam for about 12-15 mins and you get piping hot idli rava idlis!
I felt like my idlis did’t rise too much because I added a tad too much water. The cooked idlis were a bit stickier than usual. I am not sure if this is characteristic of idlis made with idli rava but I doubt it. The soaked idli rava holds a lot of water so make sure you drain the soaked idli rava quite a bit before adding to the urad dal mixture.
I have added a lot of tips and ideas to make soft idlis here so please take a look in case you have questions.
The texture of idlis made with idli rava is more like rava idli but much much softer, just like plain idlis. Since they don’t involve grinding of the rice, I would prefer to do this when I need a large batch of idlis for guests or for freezing.
Tip: I made dosas with the batter the next day and they tasted fine too. The dosa won’t be spongy but has a nice texture from the idli rava. Try it!
Another tip: If you want to make restaurant-style Idlis at home, check out this Murugan Idli Kadai Idli recipe that uses cooked rice in the idli batter.
Yet another tip: You can also grind the idli rava halfway (not smooth) if you want a smoother, softer texture for the idli. This is purely optional. When you grind the idli rava, take care to drain water completely since it tends to soak up a lot of water and release it into the batter, making it very watery.
Love the idea, I am going to give it a try.
Useful recipe Nags. I make idlies with soaked rava and urad dhal using a mixer. I love it because it saves a lot of my cleaning time. I make the regular idly rice/ urad dhal idly in a wet grinder and for some reason the same batter when made in a mixer doesn't give me soft idly. This rava-urad dhal one is the best when we have little time to grind and clean. My son loves this.
very nice and fluffy idlis….
got tempted to comment by going through all 3 idli recipes. plz bear with my long comment.
i make idlis with both rava and rice with the same proportion for rice to urad dhal as 4:1. both come out well.
i think every south indian family has a unique recipe for idli.
my mother uses boiled rice whereas i used idli rice or salem rice as we call it.And i use my mixer grinder to grind the batter.
while using rava i make it point to remove all the water from rava by squeezing it and grinding in the mixie. i add water to it if it turns too thick. but grinding rava just for a minute or so gives the idli a better texture.this would also result in non sticky idlis.
I know some people even mix the rava directly to the urad batter by adding more water and let it ferment.
with idli rice i grind the it to a smooth flowy batter. as u pointed out there should be enough water for a better fermentation.
i beleive smoothly ground batter gives the pillowy soft idlis whereas coarsely ground ones gives a bit heavier but equal good idlis. it is just a matter of prefrence.
Madura, thank you for your thoughts. I do agree that grinding the idli rava is an option too (and I have updated the post with that tip). I have done that a couple of times with not that different results which is why nowadays I just opt to add the idli rava directly to the urad dal to get the idli batter.
soft and yum Idli…. looks awesome dear
Very nice n soft Idli Nags… loved the way u use of the cream of rice…
Rose flavored Kaju Milk Roll
VIRUNTHU UNNA VAANGA
I swear by your Murugan idli recipe and no one (not even you) can make me switch loyalties!!!! Seriously after lots of experimentation, that is the only recipe that works for me everytime. Good old cooked rice (staler the better) and the batter ferments every time and idlis are soft too. My question though is – I see that you have filled the moulds all the way. When I do that, the bottom idlis stick to the the top tier. Are there specific idli stands that have more space between the tiers? I have an aluminium one which makes 7 idlis but they stick every time. Tried filling less batter but flat idlis are so unappealing. Any suggestions?
– Ashwini
Ashwini, I am glad the murugan idli kadai idli recipe works for you. It's a keeper recipe for me too 🙂
As for your question, that's a great point. My idli cooker has only two tiers of 4 each and I rarely use the bottom one because the boiling water always gets into the idli batter and makes it yuck. I guess it's a badly designed idli cooker. So I cook 4 idlis at a time. It's painful but works. I do have a stack of 4 that I can use in the pressure cooker but I only use that when I need to make a large batch of idlis. Even then, I haven't had the issue of idlis sticking to the mould on top. Maybe yours are set too close together?
Super soft…
Wow,delicious rava idlis, Nags!! Thanx for sharing the recipe!!
Never tried using idli rava. looks soft and tempting with idly podi