Usli sevai - Sevai with a twist

All of us are familiar with sevai or idiyappam as it is commonly called as it is quite easy to dish out with readymades available now.  But, I still prefer the traditional method of making the sevai with the 'sevai naazhi' or the 'sevai machine' and especially the taste is too good if it is prepared with boiled rice.  Here, I come with usli sevai which is quite filling and tasty too.

Ingredients for Sevai:

Boiled rice - 3 cups
Salt
Oil

Soak boiled rice for about 5 to 6 hours and grind it fine, add salt.  In a thick bottom pan, pour two tablespoon of oil and pour the ground mixture.  Keep it in low flame and let the rice paste cook and turn color from white to grey.  When the mixture does not stick to your wet fingers you know that  the rice paste is cooked.   While hot, dip hands in cold water and make balls of the same and keep it in idli cooker for about 7 to 8 minutes.  Once it is done, the balls to be inserted into the sevai machine and made into sevai.

Ingredients for Usli

Urad dal - 1 cup
Green chillies -4 to 5 (according to your taste)
Hing/Perungayam
Mustard seeds - 1/2tsp
Salt
Red chillies- 4 to 5
Curry leaves

Soak urad dal for 20 minutes and grind it coarsely with green chillies,hing and salt.  Place the ground mix in an idli plate and steam it for 10 minutes.  Take out these urad dal idlis and allow it to cool completely.  Fragment these idlis and keep aside.  In a kadai, pour two tablespoons of oil, add a teaspoon of urad dal, half a teaspoon of mustard seeds, red chillies, curry leaves and put the usli and keep stirring.  Now, add the sevai to this usli and very gently mix it so that the sevai retains its shape.

A very interesting version of the regular sevai and very filling too.