Shevayi/sevai in Konkani or Shavige in Kannada or rice noodles in English or idiyappam in Malyalam is my all time favorite breakfast. Some Konkanis make it even for lunch, but it was always served as a breakfast at my home. Aayi’s shevayi were one of the best rice noodles I ever had.
We had the traditional shevayi press (called as ‘shevayi dante’) at home. It looks like following.
My mom would make me or my brother help her in making this. Usually first few rounds of shevayi are easiest ones to make. So we would retire after 4-5 rounds. As the shevayi dough cools, it is very hard to press them, so my dad would help her with remaining. She usually served it with chutney as we didn’t prefer the sweet taste of ‘rosu’ (sweet coconut milk). But usually the combination of shevayi and rosu is very famous among Konkanis.
The traditional Konkani shevayi recipe (with coconut in it) has a long procedure and then it requires a lot of expertise to get the perfect shevayi. Mom preferred making it without coconut since the chances of breaking shevayi in small pieces is less in this method and comparatively the procedure is very simple in this way. I haven’t tried the traditional recipe any time, tried aayi’s recipe for the first time last week and it came out superb. Since I was not having the traditional press, I used the normal chakli press.
It’s a bit hard to press these shevayi in chakli press, so use somebody’s help (as in, husband :D).
Idiyappam naazhi(press) can be bought from here.
Aayi’s recipe for shevayi
Ingredients:
Boiled rice (use the white one to get white shevayi) 1 cup
Salt
Method:
Soak the rice in water for around 8 hours. (Soak in the morning so that it can be ground in the evening and shevayi can be prepared the next day).
Grind it to smooth dough. The dough consistency should be in between idli and dosa dough. (Not too watery like dosa dough and not too thick like idli dough). The dough should be very very smooth (Use cold water while grinding to avoid too much heating of mixer/grinder. Touch with hand and the small rice particles should not be felt). Add salt and keep it aside for overnight at a warm place for fermentation (since there is no daal, it will not ferment much like dosa/idli batter, but it will ferment a bit).
If there is too much water standing on top of the batter, discard it. Grease idli stand and pour the dough in it. Steam the idlis for around 10mins.
Grease the press with oil(preferrably use coconut oil) and take 2-3 idlis at a time in the press and turn the handle of press to get shevayi. (Keep the remaining idlis closed, if they become cold, it is almost impossible to press them. After each round, grease the press with oil. Usually coconut oil is used to grease the idli stand as well as the press. This increases the taste).
Serve it with chutney or rosu.
Note (added on Aug 19): Use one tea spoon of coconut oil/butter while grinding the batter, this makes the shevayi more tasty. (I got this tip while googling and it worked out for me).
Serves: 2
Preparation time: 40mins
Rosu (sweet coconut milk)
Ingredients:
Coconut milk (thick) 1 cup
Jaggery 1 tbl spn
Cardamom powder ½ tea spn
Method:
Mix all the ingredients till the jaggery dissolves in coconut milk. Add water if necessary to bring it to desired consistency.
If coconut milk is not available, grind frozen/fresh coconut with water. Strain through a tea strainer. Repeat the procedure 2-3 times with the coconut to take out as much milk as possible. Discard the remains of coconut (I prepared coconut burfi with this).
How to eat them?
Dip the shevayi in rosu and eat.
Traditional Konkani method of shevayi : Here boiled rice is not used, instead any normal rice and coconut is used.
Ingredients:
Rice 1 cup
Coconut 1 cup
Salt
Method:
Soak rice for 2-3 hours. Grind it with coconut to a smooth paste.
Heat a large pan, pour the dough and keep mixing it. Cook till the mixture becomes thick and finally turns into a ball like chapathi dough (it takes around 10mins). When it is still hot, make big balls of this dough and steam them in cooker (like idlis) for around 10-15mins.
Take the balls in the greased press and make shevayi.
With this method, there are chances of breaking shevayi in small pieces. If the consistency of coconut becomes more or less or the dough is not cooked properly, the shevayi does not come out in long strands. So I prefer the first method, where chances of screwing up the shevayi is less :D.
Serves : 3
Preparation time : 90 mins
During our summer vacation my aunt would organize a competition between cousins to see who would press fastest or most just to get us to do some work 🙂
I loooove shevaya with cold coconut milk….its just bliss.
You already have an entry for the next JFI Shilpa
I dont know Shilpa, why i was guessing that your todays post would be sevayi and rossu. Maybe because of the weekend. I am scared to try it here in US, because of the chakli press i have. I am very comfortable with making in the sevai dante, as we used to help mom. But all is possible way back in home. If any sevai is left over then my mom would serve it with cold milk with sugar, cardamom and kesar added. Thanks for posting such a wonderful traditional recipe.
You are awesome!! Thanks for making my mouth water at the thought of having sevai/rossu. My hubby is gonna have a tough time over the weekend, as I plan to make these with your recipe.
When mom made these back home, my brother had to help with the dante. He’s not fond of sevai and would scold me for having weird tastes that put him to work.
I was waiting for this recipe!!! Thanks you so much!!!
Shilpa, this is for Keralites the favourite idiappam…tis a tough game with the traditional press…my heart used to pop out !!…With the modern idiyappam maker things are far better, bt I always wished somebody could make this for me!!We have it with sugar as well as with Ishtu or Stew(A spicy malabar preparation with coconut milk)…My mom makes it so fine that it just vanishes inside u’r mouth! It is indeed a wonderful dish….
shilpa, this is a most unusual and interesting method of making idiappam. my grandmother makes it the traditional way, fixing the machine on a wooden table and rotating the press, changing the plate/muram below, but i just make it with rice flour and water..have to try ur method.
Hey Shilpa,
Love it, I remember men in our family used to make the sevige using those huge presses. Like ur recipe with coconut milk. Thanks for sharing.
Very interesting.
You made Sevai from the scratch ? Wow Shilpa ! Sevai press is on my to-buy list. I have never eaten sevai with milk or coconut milk. I can imagine the taste. Thanks for this recipe
Dipping in that yummy coconut milk ,my God so delicious!
Ashwini, Your aunt is very intelligent. Kids would love the competition and she will get her work done :).
Aruna, try making them here. I am sure you will get nice shevayi.
Preeti, Sonam, Shaheen let me know if you try this recipe.
Shynee, I updated the post and added the name ‘iddiyappam’. Thanks for the name. Post your recipe also. I would love to try this with different combinations.
Thanks Madhu pushpa, sumitha.
Krithika, I had kept the sevai press purchase on hold for a long time. But when two of my readers requested for the recipe, the craving for shevayi started :D. so I immediately went and purchased it.
Wow, my all time favorite idiappom !!! Thank you for blogging this recipe Shilpa. I have never tried eating it with Rosu, but will defanitely try it next time !!! Thanks a bunch.
Hi,
I was really surprised to see your way of preparing idiyappam.Thanks for sharing this recipe.
If you have a store nearby selling Kerala products look for ‘idiyappam/appam podi’. (Podi means powder in Malayalam).Just add salt, few drops of oil and boiling water to it and mix it thoroughly with a spoon while the water is still hot. Later when it cools down knead into a smooth dough. Later you can press this to idli-stand using the chakli press. Add grated coconut if needed. This is very easy to make and I even manage to make it during weekdays for breakfast 🙂
hi shilpa
we r living in uk.we r frm andhra.but i m very interested in idiappam.so i bought an idiyappam mix.this is the first time i ever tried.i made the mix in to dough.and pressed on the idly plate with muruku maker.i cook it for 10 min.Its not at all fine.its not smooth.can u help me?
We r living in Qatar.I was waiting for this recipe!!! Thanks you s I am scared to try it here in Qatar, because of the chakli press i have. I am very comfortable with making in the sevai dante, as we used to help momo much………
thaxs alot…….
One can use rice vermicelli which is available in Indian or
chinese stores. It tastes very good. If you need the recipe please email me.
Shilpa
You wont believe it, but i just made this yesterday… my inlaws re heer and i learned this from my mother-in-law yesterday… We made shevai rosu and thikse soyi with this….
i tried sevai in the sevai cooker to make sevai very easy please try this http://www.sevaimagik.com try this.
Thanks for posting this recipe. Brings back good old memories of grandmas house in Goa and some family occasions in Mumbai. I hated this dish as a child and would have preferred the conventional shevyachi kheer. But lately my taste buds have been craving for this dish again after a gap of amost 18 years. Maybe I will try a short cut. Buy the frozen Iddiappam from Indian grocery store here in NJ and prepare the coconut milk at home. Voila.. my version naralachya rosatlya shevya.
hey i feel it is not required to ferment the douugh.
Shilpa: It is required to ferment the dough. Otherwise you won’t be able to press it.
Remember, this is not the traditional version and for this version with coconut, fermentation is very important. For the traditional version mentioned at the end of the post, fermentation is not part of the recipe.
shilpa,
It brings back the fond memories of pressing the sevai nazhi. we make coconut and lemon sevai typically like lemon or coconut rice, But my SIL makes idiyappam flour in a easy way. You have to use the fine powder of idli rice(Normally powdered in a mill) . mix11/2 times of warm water and press thro the hand press. They come out lovely
HI…
thanks a lot for posting such an traditional recipe… i was searching this from past 2 – 3 weeks.. and i could not get the right one.. now i got hear…
Once my aunt had done.. this and i liked it a lot.. that it was 2year back.. now my aunt has also forgotten this recipe and was searching for the same, she had done it in 2nd method. but now i will try in the first method that too for the first time..
thnx.. once again.
Both the versions, we do it in our home and it comes very good. Recently, I came into a website where they sell electric string hopper(can be used for sevai or chakli) and electric coconut scrapper. That makes the pressing very easy.
I have ready rice noodles from india.Can i boil in water & have with coconut milk?
I think it should taste good
hi,
very nice recipe. but it is too hard to do. another simple way is home made or packed rice flour, mix with very hot water. i use dosa ladle’s back side. bz its look like thuduppu. check the condition as becomes a ball. then use press to make sevai directly to idli plate and steam it. now sevai ready.
if sevai becomes hard, next time just steam the rice flour and then mix with hot water.
my mom asked me to eat this with shredded coconut and sugar. not with rosu. it will be dry, but gives different taste. try and comment,
I tried the chemba idiyappam pre ground flours, but the dough comes out very dry.
I think those flours are old and they are not soaking the rice prior to grinding it. The rice has to soaked to convert phytic acid in the rice, which blocks iron absorption. Only after soaking the iron becomes more available. When you work from fresh rice you can tell if its good rice or old rice, sometimes in flour making sticks, stones, debris and insects can get ground up.
I think aayis method is correct. It takes time but you get more long term nutritional value. The shortcut methods are not giving nutritional value. In the long term we incur more nutritional issues so time saved in the short run is actually ten times the amount of time lost in long term.
In method 2 you don’t say how to use the coconut. How did you use the 1 cup of coconut?
Please tell how to make ragi or red rice idiyappam.
Updated the post. Thanks. The method one is the red rice (boiled rice/matta rice) idiyappam
Was unpolished pure red matta used or the polished white with red brown flecks used? Or both?
Which is the best red rice to use? I have seen Sri Lankans and malayalees make this pure red but I don’t know what rice they use.
We use unpolished red matta rice
Was unpolished red matta used as daily meal rice?
How long was it soaked prior to cooking and was the water thrown out or was the water saved and used to boil the rice?
I’m scared if I soak it wrong it will spoil.
Need receipe i have not eaten but my daughter loved with seviyan
Are seviyan fried or cooked in milk and then layed
Please need receipe