CUCUMBER IDLI / TAUSHE IDLI / SOUTHEKAYI KADUBU

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

NOTE :

1. 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..
2. Instead of rice rava you van do this with normal upma rava too. Procedure is same .
3. 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.
4. Setting aside of 30 mins – 1 hour is important. Else the texture of idly will be dry n they would be hard.
5. Note that sweet version will leave out more water because of jaggery. It will take little more time to cook too.
6. 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.