Sevai recipe also known as rice sevai or santhagai served with more kuzhambu & vathal. Traditional string hoppers dish made using rice using traditional method called as sevai naali. Best combination for sevai is more kuzhambu, but you can enjoy it with chicken curry or mutton curry. Learn how to make sevai with stepwise pictures and video.
Sevai(Santhagai)
When i was pregnant, I craved for lots of things, Couple of them are my all time favorite chambara kozhukattai and sevai. Both recipe are time consuming and needs some hard work involved for making. And both recipe are a very traditional recipe. When I told mom about my cravings, without any delay she made immediately. The best combo for sevai is mor kuzhambu and vathal.
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Fun fact - The sevai kattil which she used is a very old one, like more than 50 years. It is my grandma's and it is still in use.
About Sevai Recipe (Santhagai)
Sevai is nothing but string hoppers slightly different from idiyappam made using rice. It is made with idli rice which is soaked and ground to form a batter. The batter is then poured into idli steaming plates and steamed. This hot steamed idli is added into sevai naali which is a three legged traditional equipment and pressed to extract the hoppers. Sounds fancy right? but actually it is very easy.
There are few important points you have to remember before making sevai. Make sure to use idli rice and not raw rice. Soak rice for at least 6 to 8 hours. Grind the rice till it is super smooth so it gets pressed easily. Also when pressing sevai, make sure to add hot idlies into the naali so it is easy to press. If idlies cools it may be slightly tough to press string hoppers.
Best combination for sevai is more kuzhambu, but you can enjoy it with chicken curry or mutton curry.
Similar Sevai Recipes
Watch Sevai Recipe Video
Sevai (Santhagai) Ingredients
Idli Rice - for making sevai it is recommended to use idli rice. You shouldn't use raw rice because the texture will be different. Soak the rice for 6 to 8 hours, grind to smooth batter and steam them in idli plates before pressing in sevai naali.
For Mor Kuzhambu - We usually serve sevai with mor kuzhambu which is made with coconut, green chilli, shallots, cumin seeds. A tempering is given for flavour.
Vadam (Fryums) - for crunchy part, we enjoy it with fried fryums.
How to Make Sevai (Stepwise Pictures)
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| Soak rice overnight in water |
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| add them in grinder |
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| grind them till they are smooth |
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| the consistency should be thick |
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| Pour this in idli steaming moulds |
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| place it in steamer |
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| and steam it |
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| now they are well steamed |
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| remove it in a plate |
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| take your sevai kattil |
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| place a bowl underneath |
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| this is sevai kattil is more than 50 years old |
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| place the hot steamed idlies into the kattil |
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| and press it |
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| look how thin the noodles is coming from it |
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| keep pressing |
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| Noodles done |
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| Now for kuzhmabu..take coconut in a mixer |
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| add in cumin seeds |
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| green chillies |
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| some salt |
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| some water |
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| puree till it is smooth |
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| heat oil in a kadai |
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| add in mustard seeds |
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| curry leaves and onion vadam |
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| add the kuzhambu mix |
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| bring it to boil |
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| transfer it to a bowl |
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| add curd |
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| mix well |
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| now lets fry some vathal |
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| add vathal in hot oil..You can see the bangles which i was wearing after my seematham.. |
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| fry it |
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| drain it |
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| serve |
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| i totally love this meal |
Expert Tips
- You have to grind the rice till it is smooth, so it can be pressed easily through the kattil.
- Steaming the rice is very important. So steam it well, this will cook the rice well and sevai will come non sticky.
- This method should be pressed only using the traditional sevai kattil. You need a lot of muscle and strength to press this using the hand sevai maker.
- There is another method in which you can use hand sevai maker, will post that soon.
- You can serve this with chutney or any spicy chicken curry. But the above mor kuzhambu and vathal is the perfect and traditional way of eating it.
- Don't let the idlies cool, because then it will be hard to press it out of the sevai maker. Always press the sevai when the idlies are hot.
More Idiyappam (String Hoppers) Recipes to Try
📖 Recipe Card
Sevai Recipe | Santhagai Recipe
Equipment
- Sevai naali
- Idli Steamer
- Grinder or Blender
Ingredients
For Rice Sevai (Santhagai)
- 2 cups Idli Rice
- Water as needed
- Salt to taste
Mor Kuzhambu Ingredients
- 1 cup Fresh Coconut grated
- 4 no Green Chillies
- 1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds
- Salt to taste
- Water as needed
- ½ cup Yogurt / Curd
For Tempering
- 2 teaspoon Coconut Oil
- 1 teaspoon Mustard Seeds
- 1 teaspoon Split Urad dal
- 1 sprig Curry leaves
- 5 piece Onion Vadam (Thalippu Vadam) or use 5 shallots
For Fryums
- Koozh Vathal or Rice Vadam
- Oil for Deep frying
Instructions
- Soak rice overnight. Next day grind it in a wet grinder or mixie till it is smooth and soft. The batter has to be thick. Mix salt in this thick batter, and steam it in idli steamer for 10 to 15 mins.
- Once it is steamed, remove it from the idli steamer and take the sevai kattil, and put the steamed idlies in that and press to get fine rice noodles. Dont let the idlies cool, it should be pressed when it is hot. Thats it sevai done.
- Now lets make the more kuzhambu. Take all the ingredients given for kuzhambu except curd and make it into a smooth puree. Set aside till use.
- Now heat oil in a kadai. Add all the tempering ingredients in it. Saute it for a min.
- Pour the ground coconut mix and some water, this kuzhambu has to be watery. Now mix this well and bring it to boil. Once it reaches boil, take it off the stove and pour it into a bowl. Add in curd and mix well. Mor kuzhambu done.
- Now to make vathal, heat oil for deep frying, add in koozh vathal and fry till it is well fried. strain and set aside. Serve.
Video
Notes
- You have to grind the rice till it is smooth, so it can be pressed easily through the kattil.
- Steaming the rice is very important. So steam it well, this will cook the rice well and sevai will come non sticky.
- This method should be pressed only using the traditional sevai kattil. You need a lot of muscle and strength to press this using the hand sevai maker. There is another method in which you can use hand sevai maker, will post that soon.
- You can serve this with chutney or any spicy chicken curry. But the above mor kuzhambu and vathal is the perfect and traditional way of eating it.
- Don't let the idlies cool, because then it will be hard to press it out of the sevai maker. Always press the sevai when the idlies are hot.
Nutrition
If you have any questions not covered in this post and if you need help, leave me a comment or mail me @aarthi198689@gmail.com and I'll help as soon as I can.
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Anonymous
where do we get that nazhi from online
pavi
Lovely sevai.. One quick question, where did u get ur kattil from?? The holes are tiny and the sevai is very thin and nice..
Aarthi
@AnonymousI am not sure..this is the one which my grandma gave me
Aarthi
@paviThis is my grandmas, it is more than 50 years old.
Savita Sawant
My one of the favorite thing....at our place we eat this sevai's with sweet coconut milk...owww my mouth is watering now
Lekshmia Raja
One of my favourite dishes... yummy yummy 😛😛
Anonymous
Is there any alternative for this mould?
Anonymous
Hi Aarthy
Can I use a wooden Idiyappam maker.?
Aarthi
NO i dont think it will work, since this is really hard to press you need that press to make it.