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instant oats rava idli

Instant Oats-Rava Idli

Fluffy, savory and spongy steamed Indian cakes using tempered and spiced oats and semolina yogurt batter. It is the perfect healthy treat to begin your day for a sumptuous breakfast or as a brunch, lunch or dinner option too!

Course Breakfast, Brunch, Dinner
Cuisine Indian, South Indian
Keyword Healthy, idli, oats, rava, semolina, spices, steamed, yogurt
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Author Vanitha

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup semolina/suji/rava
  • 1 ½ cups oats ground to an almost fine powder
  • 3 tbsp coconut oil or any other cooking oil
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp urad dal/split black gram lentils
  • 1 tbsp chana dal/split Bengal gram lentil
  • Few chopped curry leaves
  • ¼ tsp hing/asafetida powder optional
  • 1 tbsp chopped green chilies/jalapenos/Serrano peppers
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ cup plain curds/yogurt fresh or sour
  • 1 cup water or as needed
  • More oil for basting or greasing the idli pans

Instructions

  1. In a blender jar, make an almost fine powder of1 ½ cups of rolled oats and set aside.
  2. Keep ¾ cup semolina/suji ready.

TO PREPARE THE TEMPERING FOR IDLIS:

  1. Heat 3 tbsp oil and add 1 tsp mustard, 1 tsp urad, 1tbsp chana dal, few chopped curry leaves, ¼ tsp hing, 1 tbsp grated ginger and 1 tbsp chopped green chilies.
  2. Sauté few seconds and add semolina and oats powder.
  3. Roast until hot and slightly roasted on medium heat, stirring often. This will take about 4 to 6 minutes. The mixture should feel hot to the touch but do not let it burn!
  4. Remove from heat, add 1 tsp salt to taste. Mix well and set aside to cool.
  5. Once cooled add 1 tsp baking soda and stir to incorporate the baking soda evenly.
  6. At this stage, you can bottle it up and use to make idlis for later.

TO MAKE THE OATS-RAVA IDLI:

  1. In a mixing bowl, add ½ cup yogurt and ½ cup water. Mix well using a whisk.
  2. Stir in the cooled oats-rava mixture and stir to make a smooth batter. Add more water if needed to form a flowy but slightly thick batter. Set aside until the steamer is ready.

  3. Pour water into an idli steamer (or inner pot if using Instant Pot or a stove top pressure cooker without weight) and let it come to a boil.

  4. Grease idli pans with oil.
  5. Meanwhile, again adjust the consistency of the batter to make for a flowing but thick batter as it would have thickened slightly by now; add more water if needed. Too much water and the idlis will be mushy; too little it will be hard and dense.
  6. When the water starts steaming in the steamer, pour small ladlefuls of batter in each idli stand, do not overfill, they tend to expand on steaming.
  7. Place the idli stand in the simmering steamer and steam cook for 12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the idli comes out clean.
  8. Remove the stand from the pan and let cool slightly.
  9. Demould delicious Oats and Rava idlis and serve hot with coconut chutney.
  10. We enjoyed ours with some Walnut- coconut chutney and homemade, homemade Spicy Tomato Thokku/Relish/Chutney. All recipes are on blog but leaving link in post too.
  11. Enjoy these fluffy, soft, healthy and delicious Oat and Rava Idli folks for breakfast, lunch or dinner!

Recipe Notes

  • The amount of spices and green chilies is according to your preference.
  • Make sure to roast both semolina and oats powder well to avoid a sticky idli.
  • You can make these idlis using only semolina too.
  • Try and use up all the batter for steaming or mix yogurt to batches of roasted oats rava mixture. Leftover batter does not make for fluffy idlis