Watermelon Idlis, Vegan Rava Idlis

          After making dosas with watermelon, using the white rind part of the fruit, the next thing that came to my mind was Watermelon Idlis. As usual, when I am trying something new, I am always prepared for anything, the dish can turn out good or bad. I decided to make it in the same way as Rava Idlis ( Sooji/Semolina Idlis ), using the watermelon rind pulp in the place of yogurt/curd. The idlis came out really good, the texture was like that of rava idlis, and I also realized that I had made Vegan Rava Idlis, do try these idlis, the next time you buy watermelon..

Need To Have

• Rava/Semolina/Sooji - 1+1/2 cups
• Watermelon Rind,White Part - enough to make 1+1/2 cup pulp
• Broken Cashews - 1 tablespoon
• Chana Dal/Bengal Gram - 1 tablespoon
• Urad Dal/Husked Black Gram - 1/2 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Ginger - 1" piece, grated
• Green Chilly - 1 chopped
• Curry Leaves - 15, roughly chopped
• Eno/Fruit Salt - 1/2 teaspoon
• Chopped Coriander Leaves - 2 tablespoons
• Salt - 1 teaspoon
• Oil - 5 teaspoons

Method

          Grind the white part of the watermelon rind and measure out 1 and 1/2 cups of the pulpy juice and keep.

          Heat the oil, add the cashews, chana dal, urad dal and mustard seeds, when it starts sputtering and the cashews turn golden, add the ginger, green chilly, curry leaves and saute for a minute. Then add the rava/semolina.

          Roast the rava for about 5 minutes and remove it in a bowl. Add the watermelon pulp, salt, coriander and 1 + 1/2 cup of water and mix. Leave it for 5 minutes.

          In the meantime, heat the water in the idli steamer, grease the idli moulds, now add the eno/fruit salt to the rava batter, mix it well, immediately spoon it into the idli moulds and steam it for about 15 to 17 minutes till the idlis are done. Remove, the idli moulds from the steamer, give it 3 to 5 minutes to cool down, then running a wet spoon around the edges, remove the idlis from the moulds.

Note
The batter should be thick and not very watery.
These idlis go very well with coconut or peanut chutney.