Instant Oats Idli Recipe with Rava, Step by Step

Easy oats idli recipe with rava, yogurt, eno salt, and spices. This instant Indian breakfast recipe, much like the popular rava idli recipe, is fast gaining popularity as we try to use oats more in our daily diets. Learn how to make rava oats idli at home - they come out super spongy and delicious.

Indian breakfast recipes with oats (Quaker oats in particular) have been gaining a lot of popularity over the last couple of years. I have been constantly getting requests to post ideas but honestly, I hadn't gotten into the bandwagon during its early days. Until, I tried making this oats idli. Then I just turned around and kicked myself for not trying to do this earlier. Oats is a healthy gluten-free cereal that used to be associated with a gloopy porridge until a few years ago (in my mind anyway). Then it started seeing its way into baked goods like cookies and breads, and now, very aptly into Indian food recipes.

We love rava idli and I make two versions of them very regularly - rava idli with eno and an instant rava idli version without eno. Both turn out really good (I prefer the eno version though) and is always a quick dinner option when I am feeling too tired after a long day at work. With a good bowl of sambar or a tomato chutney, rava idlis are quite a treat.

But these oats idlis are something else. It uses roasted and powdered oats along with rava (semolina) and the other usual suspects of rava idli and boy, do they play well together! I made them for breakfast on a Sunday morning and really wished I'd made a larger batch.

I played around a bit with the proportions (I made 4 batches in total) and finally figured out what worked best for me. Accompanied by spicy green coconut chutney, radish sambar, and cardamom tea, this was quite a meal to start the day.

More breakfast recipes you may enjoy:
Sago dosa recipe
Jowar dosa recipe
Idli with idli rava
Kanchipuram idli recipe
No-grind dosa batter recipe

INSTANT OATS IDLI RECIPE

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Makes 10 idlis

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup of uncooked oats
1/2 cup of rava or semolina
1 cup of thick, plain yogurt
1/2 cup of water (adjust as needed)
1 tsp of oil
1/4 tsp of black mustard seeds
1/2 tsp of chana dal
2 tbsp of fresh coriander leaves, chopped
3/4 tsp of plain eno salt (or baking soda)
2 tbsp of roasted cashew nuts (optional)
Salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

Roast the oats in a dry skillet until the colour begins to change and the ends of the oat flakes begin to curl. Make sure not to burn them, do this on a low flame.

Cool and grind to a fine powder. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds and chana dal. When the dal turns golden brown, add the rava and roast for 2-3 mins or until lightly browned.

Add the powdered oats, cashew nuts, some salt, and chopped coriander leaves to this. Mix well and turn off the heat.

Transfer this mixture to a bowl and cool. Then add the yogurt+water and mix wel. The batter should be fairly thick.

Now add the eno salt. You will see bubbles appearing on the batter. Immediately pour into greased idli moulds and steam for 10-12 minutes.

Don't let the batter sit for too long after adding eno. If you can't steam all in one go, add the eno salt just before steaming.

It's also a good idea to bring the water in the steamer to a boil in advance (maybe when you are setting the roasted mixture to cool before adding yogurt) so that you can immediately start steaming after the eno salt is added.

Serve oats idli warm with accompaniments and chutneys of choice. The idlis can be stored in the refrigerator for a day. Gently re-steam before steaming. I generally don't re-heat idlis in the microwave since they start to dry out if you do. However, if you plan to serve immediately after heating in the microwave, it should be fine.

For oats idli recipe in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, etc, please use the Google translate button in the sidebar.

How to Make Spongy Appam with Yeast - Kerala Appam Recipe

Kerala appam or aappam is a thing of beauty. It's the perfect embodiment of what Kerala breakfast recipes are all about - rice flour, some fermenting, light on the stomach, easily digestible, and also, a bit time-consuming to prepare than pouring cereal into a bowl. I rarely make appam at home and so, the different variations of appam recipes you see in here including this appam recipe without yeast are all from my mom's kitchen. Served with Kerala kadala curry or this Kerala egg roast, appam is quite a breakfast treat!

Preparing appam at home is not the easiest thing but the steps to make them are quite straight-forward. If you follow them systematically and also ensure optimum fermenting environment (this can be a challenge in colder places), then you will be rewarded with spongy, soft, lacy appams. I have resorted to instant appam powders for my appam needs many times and while it's not exactly the real deal, it saves me from the occasional appam craving satisfactorily. There's also a quick way to make appam from rice flour but that's a recipe for another day.

You need coconut milk to make appam and it's best if you make coconut milk at home, fresh. However, store-bought ones work as a decent substitute. Please don't use the coconut milk powder though. The flavour of those things is way off, in my opinion.

You may also like to check out how to make dosa batter, how to make appam without yeast, easy idli batter recipe, and how to make poori.

KERALA APPAM WITH YEAST

Preparation time: 4 hours
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Makes ~15 appam
Recipe source: my mom

INGREDIENTS
2 cups raw rice
3 cups grated coconut (or 4 cups coconut milk)
1/2 tsp instant yeast (or 1 tsp active dry)
2 tbsp sugar
Salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Soak 2 cups of raw rice for 1-1.5 hours.

2. In the meantime, prepare your coconut milk if you are making it fresh. Start with 3 cups of grated coconut and add enough water to extract 4 cups coconut milk from this. There's no need to separate out into first milk, second milk, etc. Check the coconut milk recipe post if you are unsure what I am talking about.

3. Reserve 1 cup coconut milk aside. Add the remaining to the soaked raw rice and grind to a smooth paste. You can use a wet grinder or a blender/food processor. If you feel the quantity of coconut milk is not enough to grind the rice, add required amount of water.

4. Once the rice mixture is smooth, take 2 tablespoon of it and add to the reserved coconut milk + 1 more cup of water. Bring this mixture to boil and let it thicken into a paste (sorry, I don't have a picture of this!). Let it cool down completely.

5. Once that mixture is completely cooled, turn your blender/grinder back on and add it to the ground rice flour mixture along with 1/2 tsp instant yeast (1 tsp if using active dry or any other kind) and grind for another couple minutes.

6. Transfer batter to a vessel and keep covered at room temperature (between 26C to 32C) for about 4 hours and then refrigerate until you need it.

7. Before cooking the appam, add salt to taste and 2 tbsp sugar as soon as it�s out of the fridge. If the batter is too thick, add water to bring it to the right consistency and let it come to room temperature before use.

Appam batter should be quite light so that when you use the swirling technique, the edges are light and crisp. If your batter is thicker, you get appam of more uniform thickness and sponginess. We like it somewhere in between.

Check this video if you are unfamiliar with how to make appam in an appam pan or kadai with the swirling technique.

Remember to cook covered until the appam is cooked through and spongy. There's no need to flip them. Keep flame medium-low at all times.

It's best to use up all the batter once you have added salt and sugar. If you want to reserve some for later, add salt and sugar only to the amount of batter you require to use up immediately and refrigerate the rest. Serve with Kerala kadala curry for appam which is a spicy version with coriander and chillies, a nd sweetened coconut milk,. Delicious Kerala breakfast ready!

Rava Idli Recipe with Eno - Instant Rava Idli Recipe with Curd

Making your own idlis at home is a beautiful thing. In fact, I dream of always having homemade idli dosa batter in the refrigerator all the time but that's sadly not the case. I do buy and stock MTR rava idli mixes but it's not something I default to often. While I love rava dosa and the ease of making instant rava dosa at home, there's something to be said about being able to pour ladles of batter into a mould and just letting it steam away while you settle down with a book or just unwind from the day. Oh, I should probably mention that I almost always make these instant rava idlis for dinner rather than breakfast.

I have actually shared a recipe for rava idli before but this is a new and improved version that works so well that I actually make them about about once a month now for a weeknight dinner. If you make a large batch, you can even refrigerate the cooked idlis and lightly steam them the next day for breakfast (the batter can be stored before adding eno too, but I haven't tried this myself). Total win!

Just for the cuteness factor, I used the mini idli mould stand that my mom in law gifted me and made a batch of mini rava idlis. Dunked in a bowl of sambar, they make the easiest and cutest breakfast (or dinner) ever. If you don't own a mini idli mould, I'd urge you to remedy that as soon as possible. My mom used to pack these for my tiffin when in school and making this small batch myself brought back so many memories from years ago.

While sambar and coconut chutney are great combinations for idli and rava idli alike, I love mine with onion tomato chutney. Try it!

Check here if you are looking for how to make soft idlis. I've even included loads of tips and tricks.

RAVA IDLI (WITH ENO & CURD) RECIPE

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Makes ~ 12 idlis

INGREDIENTS:
1.5 cups of rava (semolina)
1 cup of curds (plain yogurt)
1/2 tsp of black mustard seeds
1 tsp of chana dal (soaked in water for 10 mins)
1/2 tsp of urad dal (optional)
A few curry leaves
1 tbsp of oil
1.5 tsp of eno salt (plain, unflavoured)
1/2 tsp of salt or as needed
2 tsp of roasted cashew nuts (optional)
1/4 cup of peas (fresh or frozen, optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Heat oil and add the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the chana dal, urad dal, and curry leaves. Fry until dals turn golden.

2. Add the rava to this along with the peas, if using. Add salt and mix well.

3. Now turn off the flame and add the curds and 1 cup water.

Mix well to form a thick batter.

Get your idli moulds ready and lightly rub or spray with oil. Keep some water ready for steaming in whatever container you are using (pressure cooker, idli cooker, etc) and make sure it's hot before proceeding with the batter.

4. When you are ready to steam, add the eno salt to the rava idli batter.

5. The eno salt will bubble and fizz a bit when added to the batter. This is good. This is what will aerate your rava idlis and make them soft and spongy.

6. Mix lightly and immediately pour in the idli moulds. If you are steaming the idlis in batches, add eno only to the batch you are going to steam and then add the rest before the next batch goes on for steaming.

Steaming time will vary depending on your idli mould and size. I usually require about 10 mins. If you want, you can add a roasted cashew nut to the bottom of each idli mould dent before pouring the batter.

Serve hot with  Kerala sambar, green coconut chutney, and tomato onion chutney.

Note: you can replace eno salt with baking soda for similar results.

Dosa Batter With Urad Flour & Rice Flour (No-Grind Dosa Batter Recipe)

Learn how to make a quick almost-instant batter with urad dal flour and rice flour. This readymade batter does need fermenting but you can avoid the soaking and grinding of urad dal and rice following this easy dosa batter recipe.

I was telling Amma the other day about how it's been challenging to get my dosa batter to ferment in Sydney, even in the summer. I follow the usual trick of leaving it in the oven with the light on and there are some signs of fermentation to be seen the next day but not as much as I am used to in Singapore and India.

Somehow this conversation turned to using urad dal flour to make dosa batter. This recipe doesn't really get around the step of fermentation but you can save a lot of time since there's no soaking and grinding involved like in regular dosa batter preparation method. I was intrigued enough to try it so that's exactly what I did. I only needed to buy a packet of unroasted urad dal flour which is easily available in Indian stores here. If you can't find it in stores, just finely grind whole, skinned (white) urad dal and you are good to go.

Verdict: the batter barely fermented although there was a fair bit of bubbles in it after leaving it overnight in a warm place. The dosas turned out beautiful and golden brown and tasted adequately nice. Nothing can compare to a proper homemade dosa made the right way but considering how easy it was to put this batter together, I will not complain. So if you want to avoid grinding dosa batter but want something better than readymade dosa batter powder, then this is it. You just need 3 ingredients and very little work is involved.

Check out how to make idli batter and dosa batter recipe in case you want to do it the 'proper' way. If you are more of an instant dosa person, then you may like this instant rava dosa recipe or instant wheat dosa recipe.

DOSA WITH URAD FLOUR AND RICE FLOUR

Preparation time: 8 hours
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Makes ~ 15 dosas

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup of unroasted urad dal flour
3 cups of rice flour
1.5 tsp of salt (adjust to taste)
3-4 tsp of sesame oil (gingelly oil)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Mix the urad dal flour, rice flour and salt in a bowl.

2. Add enough water in small additions to make a thick batter. Keep mixing as you add water.

3. You should have a lump free thick batter. Cover with a plate and set aside in a warm place for 8 hours or overnight for fermenting.

4. My batter didn't rise much but was quite bubbly and airy the next day morning.

5. Before making the dosas, add more water to get the right consistency. The batter should be easily pourable yet on the thicker side (apologize for the difference in colour, it's due to the change in lighting - my kitchen has very little natural light).

6. Shape your dosas and cook as normal, drizzling some sesame oil as you go.

7. Cook both sides until golden brown.

Serve hot. The dosas turn a bit rubbery if you keep them for long after cooking so they are best eaten hot. I served mine with drumstick sambar and dosa milagai podi.

You can keep the batter refrigerated for up to 4 days.

Corn Poori Recipe - Puri with Corn Flour - Easy Indian Breakfast Recipes

Learn how to make corn poori, a delicious Indian breakfast with corn flour (makai ka ata, cholam mavu) and wheat flour. Poori is a wonderfully flaky, deep fried flat bread that's so Indian that any variations to the traditional poori is always welcome to me. The corn flour used in this poori recipe is the flour made from corn, not the corn starch or cornflour used as a thickening agent in Indo-Chinese cuisine.

For a while now, corn puttu has been quite the rage in Kerala I hear. Many brands sell corn puttu podi (powder) which is to be used the same way as normal puttu podi - you moisten and steam it. Amma decided to use that corn flour to make pooris instead, because you know, why not? The resulting corn pooris were a lovely yellow, had a tinge of sweetness, and tasted great with a bowl of Kerala-style chana masala.

I have said this many times in the past but I am going to say it again since it's the new year and all. My mom, she's quite something, especially in the kitchen. Any time we go on holidays to Kottayam, she would have "invented" a few new recipes which she's so eager to share with us. My sister has spoken about this too and it's so true!

We are a family quite big on breakfast, or food in general, and she would start preparing for it from around 7 in the morning, which means we have to report in the kitchen, cameras ready, around that time.

It's a delight shooting pictures in Kottayam although I don't have many 'props' there. There's always fresh banana leaves and lots of rustic steel plates. There's always great light especially in the kitchen and the patio. And there's always my mom cooking up a storm and bossing us around to 'take some pics now!' or 'come and eat before everything goes cold'. These are some things I wish will never change.

Ok, before I make myself too homesick, let me just share the recipe for poori with corn flour. Incidentally, the recipe for poori was also shot in Kottayam, in my mom's kitchen :)

CORN FLOUR POORI RECIPE

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Makes ~ 15 pooris
Recipe source: Amma

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup of whole wheat flour (atta)
1 cup of corn flour (maki ka atta)
3/4 tsp of salt
~ 3/4 cup of warm water
4-5 cups of oil, for deep frying
1/2 tsp of cooking soda (soda bi carb)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Mix together the corn flour and wheat flour in a large wide bowl.

2. Add the salt and soda to this and mix again.

3. Add the warm water in small increments until you get a thick dough.

4. If there are cracks on the dough, moisten your fingers and knead again but the dough should not be sticky at all. Too much moisture will make the pooris very oil.

5. Shape the dough into small balls and roll out into 1/4" thick circles. Don't roll them out too thin, otherwise they won't puff up in the oil.

6. Heat oil in a pan until it almost starts to smoke. Gently drop in one rolled poori at a time.

7. Using a slotted spoon, gently press down the poori so that it gets the heat the oil as evenly as possible. Once puffed up, turn and cook the other side for 5-8 seconds. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels. Continue until all the pooris are cooked.

You can serve corn poori with kadala curry, Chettinad vegetable korma, Malabar egg curry, or aloo masala for poori.

For corn poori recipe in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Gujarati, Urdu, Kannada, Bengali etc, please use the Google translate button in the sidebar.