Bored of using cucumber only in salads ? How about ” Cucumber Idlis ” ? Interesting ? I know for most of you ,Cucumber Idli may sound like an alien.But if you ask any Manglorean (Southern Karnataka,India) , I’m sure they would say ” Southekayi kadubu / Taushe Idli / Kadamb ” as their all time favorite.Yes,that’s how its known locally. These almost instant aromatic idlis are apt for a Sunday morning breakfast.
In Konkani , Taushe means cucumber and this dish is actually a trademark dish of Konkanis.I learn this dish from my mom who in turn learnt it from her Konkani neighbour.You can make both sweet and savory version of these idlis and both taste awesome.Traditionally these idlis are wrapped in banana leafs or turmeric leaves and later steam cooked. Aahh…When steaming these idlis, the whole house smells so divine especially if using turmeric leaf. But in cities,for day to day cooking,we have compromised and altered many traditional methods.So in this recipe too , for convenience,instead of banana / turmeric leaf ,normal idli molds or cups are used. Of course it cant beat the heady aroma infused from leaves , but there is no compromise in taste.
Cucumber idlis does not require any fermentation. Also no soaking and grinding if you have rice rava in stock. Best part is it is so filling and healthy and apt dish to finish off those not so fresh cucumbers.Do try for sure and let me know what you have to say about them…Here goes the recipe..
Savory Version
Ingredients
Steps
- Wash and grate cucumber. Peeling its skin is optional; i don’t.
- Mix grated cucumber,grated coconut ,rice rava and salt in a mixing bowl .
- Set aside for about 30 mins – 1 hour. Setting aside makes cucumber leave water,which would be absorbed by rice rava.
- In a small kadai or pan , prepare tempering.Add oil.When its hot add mustard seeds.When it splutters, add green chilli and curry leaves.Fry for 1 min. Switch off.Pour this tempering to the cucumber idli mix.Add curd and chopped coriander leaves. Mix well. If the mixture consistency is too dry, add very little water. The batter should be just binding kind of.
- Heat water in a steamer.Grease idli molds with oil .Pour the batter into idli stand.
- Steam for 15 mins on medium flame.Prick a tooth pick,if it comes clean it means its done.
- Allow it to cool a bit and remove from molds using a spoon or knife.
- Thats its spicy cucumber idlis are ready to serve. Serve them hot with a dash of coconut oil and mango pickle / coconut chutney / coriander chutney / chutney powder.
SWEET VERSION
Ingredients
asing idly molds
Steps
- Washand grate cucumber.If you want you can peel its skin, i normally don’t.
- Mix grated cucumber,grated coconut ,rice rava and jaggery in a mixing bowl .
- Set aside for about 30 mins – 1 hour. Setting aside will make cucumber and jaggery leave water,which would be absorbed by rice rava.Add cardamom powder and ghee (optional). Mix well.Don’t add any extra water.
- Heat water in a steamer.Grease idli molds with oil .Pour the batter into idli stand.
- Steam for 20 -30mins on medium flame.Prick a tooth pick,if it comes clean it means its done.
- Allow it to cool a bit and remove from molds using a spoon or knife.
- Thats its sweet cucumber idlis are ready to serve. Serve them hot or warm with a dollop of ghee and or honey .
NOTE :
- If you don’t have rice rava, you can make it at home like this: Soak raw rice for 1hr. Drain water completely. Spread it on a cloth or paper towel for about 10 mins,so that the grains become dry. Grind the rice in a mixer to a coarse consistency.Home made rice rava is ready..
- Instead of rice rava you van do this with normal upma rava too. Procedure is same .
- The batter of idli should not be watery. It will make the idlis soggy. In case cucumber leaves more water, the mixture becomes watery, add little rava to fix it.
- Setting aside of 30 mins – 1 hour is important. Else the texture of idly will be dry n they would be hard.
- Note that sweet version will leave out more water because of jaggery. It will take little more time to cook too.
- Instead of cucumber you can add grated sweet pumpkin / grated carrot . For savory versions, you can also do it with dill leaves. They all taste awesome.
29 Comments
Mitha Hegde
March 27, 2014 at 12:00 pmI can get the aroma here Smitha.. Love thoushe idlis, both sweet and savory versions.. Beautiful clicks.. 🙂
Sony P
March 27, 2014 at 1:22 pmLove the both version …… They looks delicious!
Nalini Somayaji
March 27, 2014 at 2:29 pmlovely idlis ..both spicy and sweet ..I am loving it …
MonuTeena RecipesPassion
March 27, 2014 at 2:48 pmthanks for sharing both versions dear … loving the presentation 🙂 n mom recipes are always the best
Sathya Priya
March 27, 2014 at 3:19 pmAfter seeing your post i felt like wht cucumber idlis ?.Instant idlies are always very helpful when i forget to ferment idly/dosa batter.Looks so good smitha .
Eliza Lincy
March 27, 2014 at 3:28 pmTasty idli healthy too. So creative idlis. Perfect summer recipe.
Gloria
March 27, 2014 at 4:23 pmvery interesting recipe dear…looks super yummy..so well presented
Beulah Arun
March 27, 2014 at 6:55 pmNever heard of this! Lovely!
Priya Suresh
March 27, 2014 at 11:21 pmWow u have done both sweet and spicy one, thats fantastic..I always want to make this idlies, now i know where to refer.
Soumya
March 28, 2014 at 7:02 amLook nice & different from the usual…Definitely going to try both these soon… This is an interesting blog and I’ll drop in to check some other recipes… regards & best wishes…
Soumya
March 28, 2014 at 7:03 amLook delicious… am definitely going to try.. and come back for other recipes on this blog… regards & best wishes 🙂
nandoos Kitchen
March 28, 2014 at 12:57 pmsoft and delicious idly
Linsy Patel
March 28, 2014 at 1:25 pmnice touch with cucumber, looks awesome.
Gayathri Sathyanarayanan
March 28, 2014 at 3:45 pmlooks so yummy. cute presentation. sure will try.
chikkus Kitchen
March 28, 2014 at 6:36 pmHealthy breakfast …looks yummy too 🙂
Meena Kumar
March 29, 2014 at 4:23 amWow what an idea I am sure cucumber would be really happy to get this upgrade:)
techie ZM
April 1, 2014 at 11:01 amWow, very nice idea and very healthy idlis..
Swathi Iyer
April 1, 2014 at 7:33 pmcucumber idly looks delicious and healthy.
Ruxana Gafoor
April 2, 2014 at 1:29 pmcucumber idly is something new to me …both the version looks yummy
sangeetha pn
April 2, 2014 at 2:56 pmthis seems to be delicious! I tried the savory version but never the sweet one! both look perfect! 🙂
Sushma Mallya
April 2, 2014 at 8:35 pmlooks delicious…even i do the same at times…
remya sean
June 7, 2014 at 10:56 ami used to make dosa with the same but never tried idlyidly looks yummy
Vibha Sp
June 12, 2014 at 5:13 ami tried it today, savory version , came well . next time i vl try sweet version . nice click n recipe smitha
Anitha Nayak Kamath
August 26, 2016 at 4:58 amg8 recipe and display. i tried it yesterday the sweet version as a evening snack for krishnastami. it turned out g8. thank you
Vaishnavi
August 8, 2017 at 10:40 amHi Smitha
Can v steam this on banana leaf?
Smitha Kalluraya
August 10, 2017 at 6:18 amyes u can
Geeta
October 6, 2017 at 1:19 pmThank u very much Smitha dear fr this recipe especially the Notes which were very useful. My kadabu used to, be dry as I wud always be in a hurry , The tip that its imp.to keep them aside was useful n kadubu,has become soft.Thanks once again,
Vithob
November 25, 2018 at 4:53 amNever used to do in home. I have tasted them when young. I will try today as I like both type. Hope everything goes fine while making it. Thanks for sharing recipe
Radhika
April 20, 2019 at 6:51 amHi, loved the savory version. Making it again today. Thanks for sharing