Friday, May 25, 2012

SEVAI




‘Sevai’, also known as ‘idiappam’, is a South Indian rice preparation – a sort of non-sticky noodles!
I still remember this was my favorite delicacy – yes, a delicacy it was for me – because I never got to eat ‘sevai’ at home after I got married and set up my own home in Pune! My parents had given a ‘sevai-naazhi’ too as part of my ‘dowry’ but I wasn’t strong enough to use it! At my parents’ place, my dad would volunteer any day to press the sevai (he was very fond of it himself, you see). My husband never offered help! So ‘sevai’ never appeared in my kitchen till the late 80s!

That was when instant sevai made its appearance in the market and I lost no time trying it out – a couple of failures later, I discovered the importance of the minutes involved. And hey presto! My sevai turned great! When my parents visited me, I offered to make sevai –and they were surprised! When they saw the instant sevai packs, my mom became curious but my prejudiced Dad pooh poohed it. I had to prove myself – so I prepared it and offered it eagerly to them. Of course I had to agree with them that it was not a patch on our good old home-made sevai. But something is definitely better than nothing! Guess what? When my parents got into their 70s, they switched to my sevai type! Believe me, it tastes good and it is easy-to-make. Do give it a try!

Ingredients
Instant sevai pack(200gms) – 1 ( ‘Dragon’ / ‘Concord’)
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Urad dal – 1 tsp
Chutney dal – 2 tbsp
Whole red chilli – 2-3 pieces
Curry leaves – 8
Cashew nuts – 6 (halved) (optional)
Grated coconut – 3 tbsp
Oil – 2-3 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method
Transfer the contents of the packet into a large vessel.
Boil 6-7 cups of water and add it to the sevai and note the time. Add 1 tsp of salt, stir and cover the vessel with a lid.
Let it stand for 3 ½ -4 minutes (not more, not less) and transfer it to a colander.
Leave it uncovered for 10 minutes.
Heat oil in a kadhai. Add mustard seeds, urad dal and chutney dal, red chilli pieces and curry leaves.
Lower the heat, add required salt and mix well.
Add the sevai from the colander and gently mix well.
Garnish with roasted cashews and grated coconut.
Serve hot with coconutchutney, ‘morkoottaan’ / ‘rasam’.


LEMON SEVAI

Boil and drain the sevai as above. Add ½ sp of turmeric powder to the oil before adding mustard seeds etc. After preparing the sevai, add the juice of 1 lemon and gently mix well.
Serve hot with coconut chutney.

 © Copyright 2011. Brinda Balasubramonian.

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