RM#2 : Day 7 Idiyappam - String Hoppers

Idiyappam or String hoppers is very common dish in TamilNadu, Kerala & Srilanka. It is made with rice flour. It can be served for both breakfast and dinner with kurma or sothi. It is very soft and easy to digest. Because of its easily digestible character it can be given to small babies (infants) who don't even have teeth. My mother usually puts some hot milk over it, adds some sugar, smashes it nicely and gives it to my children when they were babies. It can also be given to elderly persons and also to people who are ill.

There are many many versions of preparing the rice flour for this idiyappam. Here I am giving a very method which I usually follow and which never ever lets me down. And also comes super soft.

Idiyappam
Ingredients
Raw Rice - 2 cups
Boiled Rice - 11/2 cups
Salt to taste
Hot water

Method

Wash both the rices together and soak them in water for about 2 to 3 hrs. Spread them throughly on a clean cloth under hot sun. Let it dry till the rice are well dried and are sort of crispy. That is when you put them in your mouth you should feel the wetness because of soaking and also you should not feel the hardness of rice in raw stage.
So then you can either use mixer or else take it to the flour machines in India. And get it grinded to a smooth powder. Sieve it finely once and store the flour for future use.

Whenever you want to make Idiyappams. Take this flour in a bowl (better a basin, means which has broad mouth). Add some salt. For about 2 cups of this flour take about 4 cups of water. Heat the water. It should be hot, but not boiling. That is just when bubbles start coming from the bottom of the water. You can take it out pour it in the dough slowly. Keep mixing with a wooden ladle. It should come out to be a smooth dough. Check for the requirement of water, depending on the quality of rice you may require more or less water.

Now you need something called the Sevai Press or simply you can use the press we use for the ohma podi (bhujjia). Clean it and oil the inside of the press. Oil your hands and press the dough in idli plates or in just round steel plates and steam them. Cover the dough with a damp cloth so that it doesn't get dried out.

Repeat the above process for the remaining dough.

Serving Suggestions
Children's Fav
1) Keep the hot idiyappams on a plate, drizzle some drops of ghee over it. Strew about a tb.sp of sugar and freshly grated coconut
2) Pour hot milk with sugar over it.
3) Prepare some coconut milk, dissolve sugar and flavour with cardamom. Pour it over hot idiyappams.

For those who don't much of sweet
1) Serve hot with veg.kurma.
2) We normally serve with sothi. Recipe for this sothi will follow in a couple of days.

These Idiyappams are being served to
1)Saapadu Ready event hosted by Aartee of From the Kitchen
2) WYF : Kitchen Gadget event hosted by Easy Crafts of Simple Indian Food - An Easy Cooking Blog
3) Rice Mela event hosted by Srivalli of Cooking 4 All Seasons
4) Challenge event by veda murthy

and Ofcourse to my co-runners in Recipe Marathon. They are

1) DK

2) Siri

3) Srivalli

4) Ranji

5)PJ

6)Curry Leaf

7)Medha

8)Priya

9)Bhawna

10)Raaji

11)Ruchii

12)Anu

13)Kamala

14)Roopa

15)Divya Kudua

16)Rekha

17)Divya M

18)Lakshmi

19)Raaga
 
20)Sripriya

21)Viji

22)Kamalika

23)Pavani

And now time for Awards

 

Padmajha of Seduce Yours Tastebuds has awarded all the RM#2 Runners with Good Job Award. Thank you so much Padmajha

 

Sripriya of Srikar's Kitchen has also awarded all the RM#2 Runners with the Chocoholic Award and the Hard Working Food Blogger Award.

That was so sweet of you Sripriya. Thanks a lot to both of you.