Thursday, January 28, 2010

Instant Ragi Oat Idli

Since the first time I made this  Instant Oats Idli (steamed cakes)  I have been making it regularly at home, so much so, that  the word instant idli  almost became synonymous with oats idli in my home.Almost but not quite:-)

Anyway for a while now I have been wanting to try making idli with cracked wheat and ragi. I wanted to make it as low carb and healthy as possible, not only for our sake but also because a few of my friends have been requesting something that is very low carb and diabetic friendly.

Ragi or Finger millet is said to be very healthy, you can read about its health properties here and here. In the past I have used it to make this dosai/ crepe  and some other varieties of dosai I have yet to post. For the first time I tried it in idli and loved this soft, simple and quick to make idli very much. I know that  this is going to provide serious competition to the oats idli I mentioned earlier, in my home :-)


Ragi Oat idli 2


Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and Method to make Ragi Oat Idli
3/4 cup cracked wheat powdered to rava consistency or wheat rava (broken wheat / dalia / fada)
3/4 cup quick oats powdered coarsely
1/2 cup ragi flour (finger millet flour/ nachani/ keppai)
1 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
1 tsp baking soda

seasoning
2 tsp oil
1 tsp split chick pea lentil (Chana dhal/ Kadalai parappu)
1 tsp split black gram lentil (Udad dhal/ ulatham parappu)
1 tsp mustard seeds (rai/ sarson/ kadagu)
4 Indian or Thai variety green chillies cut fine (or to taste) (hara mirch/ pachai molagai)
4 tsp broken cashew nuts
1 tsp dried curry leaves (or 1 stalk fresh curry leaves cut fine) (optional) (kadi patta/ karapillai)

Just before steaming add
In 1: 1 ratio plain yogurt (curd/ dahi) (Total 2 cups for this quantity)
for this entire quantity about 5 tbsp of freshly grated coconut ( or to taste) (see notes)
handful cilantro cut fine

Powder cracked wheat to semolina (rava ) consistency and keep aside.

Similarly powder quick oats coarsely and keep aside.

In a large container or bowl, mix together powdered cracked wheat, powdered oats and fingermillet (Ragi) flour. Add salt and baking soda to this and mix well.

In a small pan, heat oil, add chana dhal, stir for a few seconds then add usad dhal and stir for a few seconds. When the udad dhal is begining to turn reddish add mustard seeds. When mustard seeds splutter add green chillies, when green chillies start to turn color add cashews and stir till cashews begin to redden. Then quickly add curry leaves stir a couple of times and pour the entire oil + lentils+ cashew mixture on the dry powder and mix well.

The copyright of this content belongs to Veginspirations.com

At this point the mixture can be stored in an airtight container for a week or so if required and only what is needed can be removed and used.This yields 2 cups of dry mixture

If you are planning to use entire mixture at once then, just before steaming add yogurt to the dry mixture and mix well.

Then add coconut and cilantro and immediately pour the batter on pre-greased idli plates ( I do not grease my idli plates and it still works fine for me), place idli plates in pressure cooker  and steam without the weight for about 7 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat, let cool for a minute or so and then remove idli from mould and serve hot with chutney or sambar of choice

Total yield approximately 16 (Yield will depend on the size of the idli moulds, mine are medium size so larger moulds will yield less and smaller moulds more )

Notes
The grated coconut adds a very nice flavor to this idli so skipping that may change the taste of the idli quite a bit.

This idli along with my Ragi dosai is off to the JFI- Ragi event being hosted by Madhuram

53 comments :

Pari Vasisht said...

hi. This is awesome. I must make this soon.Thanks Usha.

SE said...

wow...these are great, quick ones !!!

Nandinis food said...

Wow! It's kewl and healthy! Nice combo! I'd love to try it!

Unknown said...

good one..i make ragi idli or oats idli, but the combination seems to be good..

FH said...

Looks so good, I can see the texture of those Idlis. Great photo, wonderful Oat and Ragi Idlis. Bookmarked.

Ramya Vijaykumar said...

Usha the idlis look very soft and nice!!! When my inlaws were here I only gotta make all healthy food cutting down on oil and fried things so happened to experiment on many thing poor thing they were the scape goats ;)even I tried making oats and Ragi idlis they came out well!!! would love to steal a coupla idlis for BF ;)

kitchen queen said...

delicious and healthy idli.Thanks for sharing.

Finla said...

I never make idlies, i do love them but hubb and duaghter don't like them. These look so soft and delicous.

Indranee Batabyal said...

Hi Usha, how r u doing? Love the idlis!

Mangala Bhat said...

wow! healthy Thanks for for sharing!

Preeti Kashyap said...

This is an awesome recipe! I love it as it is super healthy!

Priya Suresh said...

Such a beautiful idli Usha, thanks for sharing..anything instant goes directly to my priority to try out..

Susan said...

I had no idea you could make idli lower carbed. Very inventive. Would love to dip them in some sambar.

Rachana said...

A very innovative recipe Usha...idli's look so healthy and tempting, would love to have some with sambar:)

lubnakarim06 said...

Wow..that's an super healthy and yummy recipe....Idli's look soft and fluffy....

Cham said...

Oats and ragi - the best is instant!

Unknown said...

Idlies has great texture..like the combo.

Deepa G Joshi said...

wow, nice quickies and yet healthy, a very rare combination when you have something instant its hardly healthy. but this defeats the myth.

Renuka Bedre - Rao said...

this is so healthy n so quick! gr8 recipe!

lata raja said...

I love the way they have turned out so porous. Goes to my next to try list.

Dershana said...

i make oats/cracked wheat idli and i make ragi idli never put these together! nice attempt!

Anupama said...

I must try all these variations. The dishes turn out healthy and tasty

Gita Jaishankar said...

Wow Usha never thought of adding oats, ragi and wheat together in idlis...I have bookmarked this recipe...thanks for sharing :)

chef and her kitchen said...

That is a very healthy recipe dear..

Archana said...

Great one Usha..Must try this...Its awesome how you use oats - most innovative ways...

gtyuk said...

this is a wonderful recipe; sounds delicious and healthy at the same time and richly seasoned!!! must be great with a chutney!!!

Chitra said...

Never thought of trying this way..Looks very nice..absolutely healthy !!

Padma said...

Looks so soft and delicious.

Parita said...

Healthy idlis and these look perfect!

Devasena Hariharan said...

Quite a healthy combination: wheat rava, oats and ragi.

Really good one. I'm going to try this out.

Unknown said...

Looks absolutely delicious! AND healthy as well.

Unknown said...

Wow what a healthy recipe usha very interesting recipe will try this soon.. and thanks for the recipe.

Hayley said...

very cool....i must try this one..thanks for sharing..

Red Chillies said...

Very healthy and nutritious. I am yet to try your oats idli as well.

Madhuram said...

Your oats idli is a hit in our house Usha. I too make it quite often. Now I can't wait to try this variation of your. Thanks for sending it to the event.

Unknown said...

Usha I tried this idli they came out so very well and tasted delicious thank u so much for the healthy recipe...

cooker said...

Hi Usha. In your earlier oats idli you dry roasted the oats before powdering. Dont we need to do the same here? Or can we just use the oats & broken wheat raw ?

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

love the color of idli. very healthy.

Mythreyi Dilip said...

Very healthy version of idlys da, they look so fluffy and soft. Book marked:)

Meena said...

Usha, Hi!

Grrrreat recipe!!!

Would you suggest powdering the cracked wheat even if it is the fine texture variety?

Usha said...

Thanks all, for visiting and for you encouraging comments !

Usha said...

Indranee I am doing fine, thanks for asking ! Been a while since I "saw" you here :-)

Rekha, I am so glad you tried and liked these idlis ! Thanks for letting me know...

Cooker I did not dry roast the oats, ragi or cracked wheat for this recipe! It turns out well without the roasting, so you can make it that way.

Usha said...

Meena, I powder the cracked wheat to a rava like consistency to get a more even, softer texture in the idli!

I haven't tried it without powdering it,so I am not sure how that would impact the texture. Do let me know if you try it that way :-)

Niveditha said...

Hi Usha,

Very interesting recipe. I would like to try it. I love recipes that are "instant" ! :)
Does "Wheat rava" mean the rava that is used for Upma ?

Usha said...

Hi Niveditha, I love recipes that are instant too :-)
I powdered cracked wheat that is sold in the Indian groceries here, to rava consistency.
You can use regular rava in its place too if you want.

Unknown said...

Hi Usha, first time on your blog - good stuff! Would like to invite you to participate in an event i am hosting and have just announced -please visit for more details
http://priyasnowserving.blogspot.com

Munch said...

Hi. Real tasty and healthy recipe. Tried it today for breakfast. My two year old liked it, and happy smile on hubby's face. Quick and healthy dish. Thank you, looking forward to more of your recipes.

Munch said...

Hi. Its a quick tasty and very healthy recipe. Did it for breakfast, my kid liked it and happy smile on hubby's face. Thank you for this awesome dish. Looking forward to more such recipes.

Anusha said...

This turned out amazing! despite my initial trepidation using Ragi, in temperamental idli, I tried it out - it was easy, quick and healthy. thank you so much for posting nutritious and tasty recipes, I've been consulting your blog a lot these days and am grateful for your dedicated posts!

Naina said...

Hi Usha,
I stumbled upon your site via Pinterest and instantly fell in love. Do you know alternate names for Ragi? I can't find it in Indian stores here in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. I am hoping to extend my search to other ethnic or health food stores
If anyone else who reads this comment and advise where to buy, please help
Naina

Usha said...

Thanks so much Naina !! Alternate names for ragi, Finger millet flour or nachani flour or keppai(the last one is tamil).Will update my post with these names too :) Hope you have success in finding this, here in the US I usually find it in my local Indian grocery.

SG said...

Hi Usha
I tried this recipe and it came out pretty soft and tasty :) Thank you for sharing this recipe

Painting Of Words said...

Hey - I think people have praised this recipe enough but I LOVED this so much, I could not help but comment!
This is one of the best combinations of Ragi I have had - filled with nutrition and so quick to make - works perfect for working women!! Thank you very much for sharing!

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