String hoppers/ Idiappam

Idiappam and veg stew

lemon sevai ( rice string hoppers )

sevai press

pressing sevai with a hand murukku press

Hand pressed sevai

steaming on idli plates ( rice flour sevai )

Plain sevai

Sevai is a traditional South Indian dish made from rice flour, similar to thin noodles or vermicelli. It is typically steamed and served with various accompaniments. Sevai can be enjoyed in both sweet and savory versions. The savory version is often flavored with lemon, coconut, or tamarind, while the sweet version might include jaggery, coconut, or milk. Sevai is light, easy to digest, and is a popular breakfast or evening snack in South Indian households.

Vegetable Stew is a mild, aromatic dish made with a variety of vegetables cooked in a coconut milk-based gravy. It is lightly spiced with ingredients like cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom, giving it a delicate flavor. Often served with appam, idiyappam (string hoppers), or sevai, vegetable stew is a staple in Kerala cuisine, known for its creamy texture and the subtle sweetness of coconut milk. The stew is nutritious and comforting, making it a favorite in many South Indian homes, especially during breakfast or festive occasions.

Few dishes that I cook from scratch , idiappam is one of them . We get very good ready to make idiappam flours but nothing can match the one prepared with soaked rice ground batter method .

The softness stays good all day . Makes excellent lunchbox dish too . Variety of accompaniments will suit idiappam but I love veg stew and Ceylon coconut milk curry sometimes . It is not at all time consuming to prepare idiappam from scratch .

Idiyappam, sevai or string hoppers as it is called is a very popular breakfast dish, very healthy and filling too.

Like Idlis sevai/Idiyappam is also steamed and so healthy for all ages, easily digestible too.

The main ingredients is rice flour particularly prepared ready to use for pressing the string hoppers directly to be steamed. The other method is to soak rice, grind to batter, cook the dough and press out the idiappam, it is the ultimate in taste and texture . Given below both methods .

Ingredients:

1 cup string hoppers rice flour/sevai rice flour( any good brand and fresh flour)

1 1/.2 cup water or as required.

Pinch of salt

1/2 tsp oil

Method:

Boil the water and add slowly to the flour after adding salt and oil.

Pour the boiled water in a small quantity repeatedly to make the dough.

Take a plate or an Idli plate, and spread a wet cloth over it.

Put some dough in a Idiyappam press.

Squeeze the dough on the plate.

Put the plate into a cooker containing water and close the cooker.

Steam for 3 to 5 minutes.

Now it is ready to be served with any side dish, usually plain white Idiyappam is served with sweetened coconut milk.

The other varieties popularly made are Lemon sevai, Coconut sevai, Pulikaachal sevai and manyother varieties as one likes to.

Lemon Sevai. 

1/ 2 tsp mustard seeds.

1/2 tsp chana dal

1 tbsp chopped fine green chillis

sprigs of curry leaves for garnish

Pinch of Turmeric powder

Salt to taste

Juice of 1 medium size lime.

2 tsp oil

1 tbsp fried cashewnuts or peanuts ( optional )

Method

In a pan, heat the oil, add the mustard seeds, let it crackle, add the chana dal ,let it brown a bit, add the green chillis, some curry leaves, turmeric powder.

Switch off the gas and now add the steamed prepared white Idiappam , mix gently , add the lime juice, salt and the fried nuts . Garnish with more curry leaves.

coconut sevai

Coconut Sevai:

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp chana dal

Pinch of asafoetida powder
Salt to taste

1/2 cup grated coconut, fresh or desiccated .

Sprigs of curry leaves

2 red dried chillis

2 tsp oil ( preferably coconut oil )

Method:

In a heated pan add the coconut oil /cooking oil., let the mustard seeds crackle, add the chana dal, then add the fresh or dried desiccated coconut and roast till golden taking care not to blacken the coconut. Keep the flame on a low, roast well , add the curry leaves, salt and asafoetida powder.

Now add the cooled plain white steamed rice sevai and mix well.

Roasted peanuts or cashewnuts may be added though not necessary.

Serve coconut sevai with chutney or some fried wafers or papad.

Tomato Sevai

3-4 small ripe tomatoes chopped finely
3 green chillies
Pinch of turmeric powder
1 tsp any sambar powder
salt to taste
A pinch of asafoetida powder.
1/2 tsp coriander powder.
2 tsp oil

To temper

1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp chana dal
1 tsp roasted peanuts ( optional)
some coriander leaves for garnishing.
Method
In a pan add trhe oil splutter the meustard seeds, add the dal to roast to brown, add the peanuts, let it turn golden ,add the chillies and te choppe dtomatoes.
Add the powders, salt and let it cook till thickened to almost paste consistency.
Remove garnish with coriander leaves.
when cooled well add the sevai to this mixture, stir gently and serve with raita or papad.

Pulikaachal Sevai / Puli Sevai ( Tamrind flavored Sevai )

Usually I add the tamrind paste readily available in the bottles of a good brand.

It can be easily prepared at home too.

1/2 cup Tamarind extract ( 1 small gooseberry size tamrind )

Pinch of asafoetida powder

Salt to taste

3 dry red chillis

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp fenugreek seeds

Roasted peanuts or fried cashew nuts

Pinch of turmeric powder

1 tsp chili flakes and 1 tsp roasted sesame powder.

2 tbsp sesame oil

Curry leaves to garnish

Method:

• In a deep pan first add the sesame oil, crackle mustard seeds, add the chana dal, fenugreek seeds, curry leaves and add the tamrind extract and add the pinch of turmeric powder, salt.

• Let it boil till it thickens, add the roasted nuts , when the tamrind sauce is thickened well, add the prepared steamed white sevai and mix well.Garnish with curry leaves and then add the sesame powder and the chili flakes, stir well.

• Serve with chutney , sambar or with roasted , fried papad or wafers.

Sevai varieties

Tamrind sevai and tomato sevai

Delicious healthy sevai /idiyappam made from scratch .

Sometimes we need to taste this with home made basic dough prepared by soaking parboiled rice for 6-8 hours, grind to a smooth silky paste .

• This batter is cooked like we do for kozhakkatai, and then pressed into individual idiayppam or sevai to make a variety of sevai varieties .

• To prepare sevai / Idiyappam , a typical traditional sevai machine with stand will be handy, but not many have this or use it as they feel it is cumbersome and needs more help in the kitchen therefore making sevai becomes a family affair , where two or more will be involved in pressing out the dough .

• While it can be fun and good to involve the family in this ritual, not many have the time for this activity , so a handy sevai press or idyappam press is easily avaiable in stores, here iam using a omapodi maker to press out the dough , i also have a handy idiyappam press to prepare the individual rounds of Idiyappam which i steam cook in the idli steamer .

• Here are few methods of making the sevai / idiyappam , one is to use store boughtflour, make a dough and steam cook the idiyappam after squeezing dough trhough the press, another is to soak rice and make dough .

• Cooking dough also has two methods, one is to add dough in idli plate and steam cook , this idl;i is then pressed through the sevai machine .

• Here i have shown a much easier way to cook the dough balls and keep them hot throughout by dropping the semi cooked dough balls in hot boiling water, till they are nice, smooth ans non sticky, this ball is pressed though the sevai machine .

• Only point to note is that the dough must be very hot when you press out otherwise it becomes very diffciult to press the dough out of the machine .

Ingredients for sevai /idiyappam

2 cups parboiled rice washed and soaked for 6 hours .

Grind this to a smooth silky paste .

Add sufficient water to dilute ,

Add pinch of salt if using for savoury varieties of sevai,

Add 1 tsp coconut oil or sesame oil , and cook the batter in a pan likke we do for kozhakkatai as shown .

Allow the semi cooked dough to cool a bit, then pinch off small balls of dough and drop in hot water to continue cooking fully .

Keep the pan of boiling water hot throughout the preparation, and take out two or three balls, as many as will fit in the sevai machine , press out soft idiyappam or sevai .

Veg stew

veg stew

Ingredients

2 thinly sliced onions some curry leaves a mix of vegetables like chopped carrots, cubed potatoes, cauliflower, green peas, beans . ( i have used only carrots and beans with onions for video purpose ,

Do use other vegetables like potatoes which gives a wonderful consistency to the stew .)

2-3 slit green chilies 2 tbsp coconut oil

1 tsp rice flour for thickening a bit

salt

2 cups coconut milk Method as shown in video .

idiappam and veg stew

veg stew preparation

veg stew preparation

check my youtube channel video for the making of idiappam and veg stew