Healthy and delicious Kavuni Arisi Idli recipe with detail step-wise pictures. Black Rice Idli Dosa Batter is versatile and can come in handy for quick breakfast/dinner!
Today’s recipe is a very healthy and nutritious breakfast Kavuni Arisi Idli, made with Black Rice. A few months before the lockdown and covid-19, I had got a pack of Karuppu Kavuni Arisi – Black Rice. I had read and heard a lot about this local lesser known variety of indigenous black colored rice native to Tamilnadu. During one of our last trips to our hometown Chennai, we stopped at a store specializing in organic produce and that’s where I found a good range of indigenous varieties of rice. Each variety of black rice had its Tamil name, nutrients and special medicinal values listed, that I couldn’t resist picking up a pack of Kavuni Arisi/Black Rice. Though called Black Rice, the colors quite vary and could be anywhere between light brown or maroonish brown to deep dark brown/black.
The one I chose had a beautiful reddish brown color and is called Arubadaam Kurunai Arisi. It is naturally richer in nutrients compared to the mill processed white rice and has medicinal values, both to be applied externally and to be consumed internally. It is good for all skin-related issues, especially psoriasis and a paste of black rice cooked in milk applied over the skin will reduce the inflammation, eventually curing of the disease. Cooked Kavuni Arisi/Black rice when consumed reduces muscular dystrophy and other nerve related problems. The pack also listed a couple of recipes, including one specific for dosa. I wanted to try and make a versatile black rice idli dosa batter and got started with the recipe of Kavuni Arisi Idli.
As first recipe, I made a simple Black Rice Idli Dosa Batter which can be used to make both Kavuni Arisi Idli or Kavuni Arisi Dosai. I used equal portion of regular idli rice for black rice since it was my first time trying the recipe and also used a portion of flattened rice to get soft idlis. With the lockdown rules, I couldn’t source whole urad dal and had to use split urad dal, which worked just fine. To ensure that the batter fermented well, I used some fenugreek seeds too. Since I was making a small portion of batter, I made the Black Rice Idli Dosa batter in my mixer-grinder. It got the job done within a few minutes and the batter fermented so nicely.
I made a couple of batches of soft, fluffy idlis and the rest of the batter worked wonderfully well to make crispy black rice dosa. I served the hot idlis with Kadamba Chutney (a variation and new recipe coming up next!) and it was a super hit combination. Check out other Idli recipes and Breakfast recipes too!
How to make Kavuni Arisi Idli | Black Rice Idli Dosa Batter –
📖 Recipe
Kavuni Arisi Idli | Black Rice Idli Dosa Batter
Equipment
- Blender/Mixer Grinder
- Idli Steamer
- Dosa Tawa
MEASUREMENT
1 cup = 250ml, 1 tablespoon = 15ml, 1 teaspoon = 5ml
Ingredients
- 1 cup Kavuni Arisi/Black Rice
- 1 cup Idli Rice/Parboiled Rice
- ½ cup Urad Dal Whole/Split
- ½ cup Flattened Rice/Poha/Aval
- ½ teaspoon Fenugreek Seeds/Methi
- Water as needed
- Salt as needed
Instructions
- Wash both the black rice and idli rice 2-3 times in water until the water runs clear. Soak them in enough water for 12 hours. As black rice is tougher than regular rice, it takes a lot more time to soak.
- Wash Urad Dal and soak them along with fenugreek seeds in enough water for 6-8 hours.
- In the last 1 hour of the soaking time, wash and drain flattened rice/poha and soak them in just enough water until soft.
- First grind the urad dal and fenugreek seeds with cold water in short pulses (to ensure that the batter doesn’t heat up) until it is creamy and smooth. Remove it onto a container.
- Next add the rice and soaked poha. Grind slightly coarse. Repeat this in batches and pour it over to the container.
- Mix both the batters together and add salt as needed.
- Set it aside for 8 hours or overnight until the batter is fermented and doubled up in volume.
- Gently mix the batter and add some water to adjust the consistency of the batter. It should be thick but droppable.
- Pour the batter onto the idli moulds (grease with few drops of oil if needed).
- Steam the idlis for 10-12 mins on medium flame.
- Remove the idli moulds and sprinkle some water on them. Set them aside for 5 mins.
- Gently unmould the idlis using a spoon or sharp knife.
- Serve hot with any chutney of your choice.
- You can make crispy dosai using the samebatter. Spread the batter thin on a hot cast iron dosa tawa, sprinkle a fewdrops of oil all around.
- Once crisp, fold in half and remove fromtawa.
- Serve hot with any chutney/sambar!
Nutrition
Detailed step-wise picture recipe of making Kavuni Arisi Idli | Black Rice Idli Dosa Batter –
Wash both the black rice and idli rice 2-3 times in water until the water runs clear. Soak them in enough water for 12 hours. As black rice is tougher than regular rice, it takes a lot more time to soak.
Wash Urad Dal and soak them along with fenugreek seeds in enough water for 6-8 hours.
In the last 1 hour of the soaking time, wash and drain flattened rice/poha and soak them in just enough water until soft.
First grind the urad dal and fenugreek seeds with cold water in short pulses (to ensure that the batter doesn’t heat up) until it is creamy and smooth. Remove it onto a container.
Next add the rice and soaked poha. Grind slightly coarse. Repeat this in batches and pour it over to the container.
Mix both the batters together and add salt as needed.
Set it aside for 8 hours or overnight until the batter is fermented and doubled up in volume.
Gently mix the batter and add some water to adjust the consistency of the batter. It should be thick but dropp-able.
Pour the batter onto the idli moulds (grease with few drops of oil if needed).
Steam the idlis for 10-12 mins on medium flame. Remove the idli moulds and sprinkle some water on them. Set them aside for 5 mins.
Gently unmould the idlis using a spoon or sharp knife.
Serve hot with any chutney of your choice.
You can make crispy dosai using the same batter. Spread the batter thin on a hot cast iron dosa tawa, sprinkle a few drops of oil all around.
Once crisp, fold in half and remove from tawa.
Serve hot with any chutney/sambar!
Note –
- Always use cold water to grind the batter in mixie, to avoid the batter from heating up.
- For making fluffy idlis, don’t overmix the batter once it is fermented.
- You can use the same batter for making black rice dosa too.
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[…] is made from the indigenous glutinous black rice grown in Southern Tamilnadu. As I mentioned in my Black Rice Idli recipe, I had bought a pack of Kavuni rice a few months back and I recently started making recipes […]