The name coconut idli might be little misleading, but I did not know how to name this dish. Just because this is steamed like a idli, I came up with this name.
Those who are regular at Aayi’sRecipes know that I blog mostly about dishes with coconut. It is one of the most important ingredients for Konkanis. Most of the people at my native cook a lot of coconut dishes. Every house has coconut trees in its yards. At my home, we have some 20+ coconut trees. So there is no wonder in coconut being used in most of the dishes.
I read this old Kannada saying in one book – “Tengu mattu ingu iddare manganu aduge maduttade” means with coconut and asafoetida, even the monkey can cook :).
I am hearing a lot of people talking about coconut as a kind of “evil” for health. I don’t say it is very good for health, but if you have a habit of eating it, you need not say it is bad and leave it. My grandfather was 93 years old when he passed away and I have not seen him suffering from any disease any time. He was one of the strongest and healthiest man I have ever seen. He didn’t like any food without coconut. He was very very active and didn’t sit at a place for more than 5mins. He always did physical hard work. May be that was the reason behind his good health.
We asked this same thing to one of the best cardiologists in India. He said, since coastal people have this habit of eating coconut from generations, it does not have any bad effects, only thing is you have to ensure doing so much of exercise to burn the calories.
All I am saying is, please don’t see coconut as a unhealthy ingredient. Eat it within limits and do regular exercises and be healthy. Read more about the coconut at coconut research center.
This is my entry to JFI coconut hosted by Ashwini. Soyi Sandan/sannan is one of the most popular breakfasts among Konkanis at my place. For whatever reason, this was not cooked very frequently at my home. There are many recipes for this dish. This is my Aayi’s version with sweet and spicy taste.
Ingredients:
1 cup coconut
1 cup rice rava/sooji or idli rava
1 small piece of tamarind or 1/4 tea spn tamarind extract
A pinch asafoetida
3-4 red chilies
1 tbl spn jaggery
Salt
Method:
Grind coconut with tamarind, red chilies, asafoetida and jaggery to a coarse paste without adding a lot of water. Add rava, salt and mix well. Grease a cooker vessel with oil and transfer the coconut mixture to it.
Steam in a cooker for around 12-15mins like idlis(without weight). Serve with coconut oil (I served it with chutney).
Serves: 2-3
Preparation time : 20mins
PS: You can also soak rice and grind it to coarse powder and use it. I use the rice rava to make this fast.