Raagi Idiyappam & tomato masala curry

Idiyappam/Rice noodles is a favorite of both me and my hubby. As a child, I had always looked forward to the idiyappams prepared by my neighbor, V aunty. She used to send me few. At my home, it was always Sevai, which is also rice noodles but cooked in a different way. I shall shortly post Sevai too.

Post marriage, I found DH also very fond of this. So I learnt to make those. Got myself the idiyappam press and steaming plates & stand specifically for idiyappam. Here I am giving the recipe for Raagi Idiyappam, which is equally tasty like the rice variation.

Some nutrition facts on Raagi

Raagi contains about 6.7 % protein. Raagi protein is reported to be a good quality. Ragi is rich in methionine, which is an amino acid lacking in most of the other cereals. Raagi is also found to have liberal amount of calcium. Raagi has been traditionally used in infant feeding.

Sprouting of Food Grains increases their digestibility and nutritive value. The vitamins content in food grains, like riboflavin, nicotinic acid and pyridoxine and phosphorus increase appreciably during sprouting.

(Source: bawarchi)

Raagi flour - 2 cup

Rice flour - 1/4 cup

salt

hot water - 2 cups

I used store bought sprouted raagi flour. Steam cook the raagi flour by tying it in a cheese cloth for 10 minutes.

Mix rice flour and salt to the steamed raagi flour. Keep mixing the flour while adding the hot water. You may require little more than 2 cups of water. Adjust the water to get a soft dough.

Pinch a golf ball size dough and with the help of a idiyappam press, press on to idli/idiyappam moulds. Steam cook for 10 minutes.

Serve with chutney/kurma/stew. Any coconut based gravy will suit idiyappam.

I served with tomato masala. The recipe is adapted from Mallika badrinath's Tomato masala kootu. I tweaked it to suit the ingredients in my pantry.
Onions - 2 nos

tomatoes - 4 big

turmeric powder

salt to taste

Seasoning

oil - 2 tblspn

mustard seeds

urad dhal - 1 tsp

red chilli powder - 1 tsp

curry leaves - few

Grind together

grated fresh coconut -1/2 cup

poppy seeds- 1 1/2 tblspns soaked in hot water for 10 minutes

green chilly - 4

cumin powder - 1/2 tsp

mustard powder - 1/4 tspn
Chop onions finely and tomatoes into 1 inch cubes. Heat oil and add mustard urad dhal, curry leaves. When it splutters, add chopped onions and fry till crisp. Add chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt and ground paste. Cook till you can smell the aroma of the cooked gravy. Finally add tomato pieces and enough water. Cook till gravy thickens.

I am sending the idiyappam to Mansi for her Healthy Cooking event.

As per the rules, these are the facts I think the 'healthy' tag suits my recipe.

1. I have replaced rice with raagi , where rice is being used commonly

2. Sprouted raagi flour is used.

3. The dish is steam cooked.

4. Oil free.