Background:
Making sevai the traditional way is a labor of love, not to be taken by the faint of heart. Ok! I kid. It definitely is a laborious process but the end product is so dadgum good that it makes the pain worthwhile. Amma makes this every time we have guests visiting. Finely made sevai serves as a benchmark of the kind of esteem the host holds you at.
More than just being a food item, Sevai in my eyes represents the epitome of motherhood. The love, the patience, the hard work and at the end of it all no visible traces that it existed at all.
So, inspired by this, here is my tribute to the person who I hold dearest in my heart - Amma.
Stuff you will need:
2 cups parboiled/idli rice - soaked overnight.
Salt to taste
Idli steamer
Seva nazhi or extruder.
How to make it?
Grind the soaked parboiled rice using a traditional grinder to a soft batter. Mix the salt in when almost done grinding. The consistency should be that of dosa maavu. Pour it and it should fall easily.
In the idli plates, smear oil or spray with cooking spray. Ladle out the batter in the cups and steam on high for about 7 - 10 minutes. Lower flame, remove idli plates and scoop out the steamed batter. These should look like small idlis sunken in the middle. Pop four such idlis into the extruder and turn to get silky soft thin rice noodles. Remove and cool. Repeat the process till batter is done.
Using the sevai as base, separate into as many heaps as required and make puli sevai (mix puliogare), lemon sevai (prepare as you would for lemon rice), coconut sevai (as done for coconut rice) or serve just as is with mor kuzhambu and pappadom as a side.
Serves four.
Special notes:
Sevai is just a base like rice. Use your imagination to come up with new varieties like masala sevai, cumin pepper sevai, thayir sevai etc.
May 8th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Nice one..Love this traditional way of making sevai..nowadays there are many instant verities but not too good.
May 8th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
We call this otthashavige in Kannada and it is one of my favourite dishes. I miss the press, because only that yields the best shavige. Nice pics!
May 8th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
yes ..this was a regular thing at my home too…my grandmother still makes it whenever I visit home…i simply adore the varieties of sevai that used to be made….yours looks so delicious…nostalgic !!..
May 9th, 2008 at 1:33 am
This is my fav.. lovely photos..
May 9th, 2008 at 7:13 am
definitely a labor of love! when i discovered instant sevai, there was no looking back! lol! looks like it turned out very well!
May 9th, 2008 at 11:03 am
@Divya: Absolutely with you on that one. Love sevai made the traditional way.
@Namratha: True. I borrowed this from my SIL
@Sowmya: Amazing how things like this can make us feel wistful.
@Sushma: Thank you!
@Arundathi: Yes it did come out well. My mom made it. I just took the pics
May 9th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
Oh, yum. I was just thinking about making this soon. I like it with coconut oil and vadu mango pickle.
May 10th, 2008 at 10:34 am
It looks awesome - at my grandma’s place, it was an item made when we had a big group of all my cousins coming for summer vacation:) I loved to help her ‘pizhiyafy’ and for a long time, only helped make it and never ate it:)… it has come out so well! Awesome pictures, makes me want to go “slurp slurp”
May 11th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
@Maybelles Mom: That sounds like an interesting combination. I will try it soon too.
@JS: Thanks! You should eat it sometime. I love it.
May 14th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Wow Laksh, you are very patient to try it the traditional method. My all time favorite sevai is the sweet sevai, made with sesame and jaggery.
May 15th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
@Madhu: All credits to Amma. She started and K and I helped
I love the sweet sevai too. Never occurred to me to make it though!
August 13th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Dear Laksh,
What a lovely post. We used to make sevai at home too…’used to’ being the operative word, which is such a sad thing because that taste is nowhere to be found in the packeted ones.
Thanks for connecting it to our site.
Cheers.
August 26th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Excellent narration!
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