For a well-balanced breakfast, serve these hot and steamy Oats idlis with sambar, coconut chutney or tomato and onion chutney. As much as we don’t want to accept it – winter is here! It’s bitterly cold in the morning and probably the last thing you want to have for breakfast is a cold smoothie or granola with chilled yogurt. As much as smoothie and yogurts are healthy and delicious but surely they are not the most comforting on a cold and gloomy morning! In the spirit of keeping things warm and comforting, breakfasts such as wholemeal toast, buckwheat or oat porridge made with skimmed milk and topped with seasonal fruits, nuts, and seeds appear on our weekly rota. Oat porridge was a daily breakfast (courtesy of my Mum who wanted me to eat healthily) when I was going to school but I was never a fan. I always found porridge slimy and had the taste of cardboard, but nowadays thanks to the internet and foodies, there are now some delicious oat porridge recipes. Fig and Mascarpone Oat Porridge is one of my favourites! My Mum was determined to incorporate oats as much as possible in our diet once she learned of the benefits and so she began exploring many different ways to spruce up oat dishes. One of the dishes she used to make was Quick Oats Idli, a recipe she noted down from an Indian chef’s cookery program. It is no wonder that Indian chefs had to come up with some Indianised Oats recipes as Indians like spicy HOT breakfasts. That was the only way to Oats could find success in India.
Before I tell you all about Quick Oats Idli, let’s see what is Idli/Idly?
Idli is a South Indian delicacy. It is a savoury steamed rice cake that is most often served at breakfast along with sambar (lentil and vegetable stew) and various type of chutneys, mostly with coconut chutney. Traditional Idlis are made with fermented batter, which can take up to 24 hours. The Idli batter is consisting of parboiled rice and lentils (skinless urad daal) and fenugreek seeds. Idli is slightly tangy in taste due to fermented batter and texture-wise it is soft and fluffy. According to health experts, Idli is one of the nutritious breakfast one can have and it is vegan and gluten-free. Since life is getting busy experts have come up with an Instant version of Idlis, which can be prepared under an hour.
QUICK OATS VEGAN IDLI/IDLY
Steamed Oats Idli easily comes together for a quick breakfast or brunch. Quick Oats Idli is prepared with oats, semolina, yogurt, and basic spices and herbs. This quick version is instant and does not require any fermentation. Often, grated vegetables can be added such as carrots, green peas or sweetcorn. This can be a quick snack recipe that goes well with sambar and coconut chutney.
Instant, vegan and straight forward recipe. Suitable for everyone, just omit spices for toddlers. Easy, packed with fiber, protein and vitamins. Great for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner or even as a snack. Prepared with oats, semolina and vegan yogurt.
INGREDIENTS FOR QUICK VEGAN OATS IDLI/IDLY
How is this recipe quick? To prepare traditional Idli recipe you’ll need more than 24 hours, where this can be done under 30-40 minutes. I don’t have fruit salt, what can I use instead? Fruit salt is a combination of Bicarbonate of Soda or Baking Soda and Citric acid, take 60% soda and 40% citric acid. If you want to make 10g fruit salt, take 6g soda and 4g citric acid. Can I add any other vegetables to Quick Vegan Oats Idlis? Yes, you can. Green peas, sweet corn or freshly chopped spinach would work fine. You may like to add the grated courgette/Zucchini or Bottle gourd. Can I make it without Semolina? Yes, you can. Instead of semolina, take the same amount of Oats. Can I use Instant Pot to make Idli? Yes, you can. Add 1.5 cups of water in the Instant pot inner pan. Turn on SAUTE mode and bring the water to boil. Place the Idli stand in the pot and cook the Idlis in a STEAM mode in the venting position for 12 minutes. Keep in mind that on Venting mode, the timer won’t work so you may set your phone or another timer. Why my Idlis are hard and sticky? It could be that the fruit salt you have used in the recipe has not worked. The reason could be that it is out of date, or you may have used in less quantity. Why my Idlis are turned darker in colour? You may have added extra fruit salt in the batter or cooked longer than the suggested time. Is Oats Idli suitable for a diabetics? Definitely, Oats idlis are better than rice Idlis. If eaten with sambar (lentil and vegetable stew) and chutney for the breakfast you get the added extra protein. Also you may use less semolina or totally avoid semolina.
HOW TO MAKE OATS IDLI?
First dry roast the oats in a heavy bottom pan for 4-5 minutes, or until you can smell the nutty aroma of roasting. Remove it, let it cool. In the same pan dry roast the semolina. In a coffee grinder grind the roasted oats to a fine powder. In a large bowl, combine both flours. Add salt, grated carrots, chopped coriander and crushed chili and ginger. Add yogurt and mix well. Add very little water and keep mixing, check the consistency we don’t need pouring consistency. In a small pan, heat the oil, add mustard seeds, chana and urad daal. Once mustard seeds crackle, add cashews, chopped curry leaves. make sure not to burn cashews. Pour the seasoned oil into the Idli mixture. Leave the mixture aside for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat some water in a big pan or steamer. Add fruit salt in the mixture and mix well. If the batter is very thick add very little water. Grease Idli plates with any oil and pour Idli batter in the moulds and steam 10-12 minutes.Remove steamed Idlis from the pot and let it stand for 2-3 minutes and then remove them.
You may want to check out our other Oats and Idli recipes
Oats and Multiseed Savoury Loaf (Handvo) Sundried Tomato, Chickpea Cakes with Cashew and Oats Oats Chevdo.Chivda (spice mix) Oats, Juwar and Methi Thepla Spinach and Rajkot’s Famous Chutney Idli Do you like to read our blog? Then don’t forget to sign up for email updates to get new recipes delivered right to your inbox. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest. Do follow us if you can. We would love to keep in touch with you all:)
