Savor the Sevai

Dear Foodies,

I hope all of you have had a chance to enjoy these delicious sevai. If not, its high time you did ! Sevai are rice noodles and can be made fresh or bought in a dried form at the store. They have a very delicate flavor and are smooth and soft when cooked, unlike pasta, that has a bite when eaten. Made the right way they are light and fluffy as the clouds. Dress them up with a flavor you love and you will love it even more ! They can be thought of as rice and can be made into lime sevai, Sweet Til (nuvvulu) sevai, Coconut sevai, Tamarind sevai. For a spicy touch it can also be served with vegetable kurma, chole or any gravy.

You can serve it as a nice refreshing breakfast or make it a light tiffin (or dinner) in minutes. My mother made some fresh sevai for last year's Ganesh Chavithi, you can find the recipe at the end of this post.

Cooking store bought sevai:
The one I used here is the dried rice noodles you get in the store. It is sold as Idiyappam (Rice noodles) in the Indian grocery store. They look like spiral noodles and to cook them you just need soak them in some boiling water for a few minutes (6-8). Check them frequently and look for the color to change to a nice opaque white and the noodles feel soft on touch. Any longer and you might end up with a white mush. Once cooked drain them well in a strainer.

Nuvvula/Til Sevai:

Deliciously sweet & comforting

Step 2 of the Procedure in this post also has the recipe for it. I roasted the sesame seeds and placed them on a tissue. Instead of using the blender I used the chapati rolling pin to coarsely crush them. I used a vegetable peeler to shave bits of jaggery. Mix them together and add some fresh ghee for a 'out of the world' experience. This sweet & crunchy mix is my favorite way of eating sevai. It simply warms your heart adding a festive touch to your mood. Please do not skip the ghee, even a teeny tiny drop will create magic. This is a nice way to pamper your sweet tooth too :)

Lime Sevai: (For 2 spirals)

Lime n lemony'

Heat 1/2 Tbsp of oil and splutter 1 tsp mustard seeds. Add 1 tsp of chana dal & 1 tsp of Urad dal and brown them. Chop a few Curry leaves, 2 green chillies and add it to the oil. As they turn crisp turn off the heat and add 1 tsp of turmeric powder and hing (asafoetida). Toss this over the sevai and season with salt to taste. Handle the noodles delicately and you will be awarded with a beautiful dish to plate (The taste is anyways awesome :D) There are very few ingredients here and so you need to have all of them to get the best flavor combo. You add some roasted cashews or peanuts for the added pizazz.

For the coconut sevai, use the same tadka ingredients as for the lime version, but replace the green chillies with red, skip the turmeric and add 1 Tbsp of grated, fresh coconut for about 1 cup of cooked rice noodles.

Pair the sevai with chutneys like - coconut, tomato or ginger chutney. Make them fresh or buy the ready-made ones, no matter which you choose I can promise you will love them.

Happy Cooking !

P.S: Bee, you were to get one of these for Click-noodles event, but I was too lazy to post :( I am going nuts :D