A Tribute to Cooking: Sevai: Coconut Sevai and Lemon Sevai

Indian rice noodles are called sevai (or idiyappam). In terms of major South-Indian food types, sevai/idiyappam is a prominent category. These rice noodles are thin, delicate strands that are fluffy, airy, and very versatile, because they take on the flavors that you add to them. So there are so many different flavors that can be infused into the noodles, and they all taste good.

If the long strands of coiled noodles are served as such, it is called Idiyappam. When the long strands are broken to short strands and flavored with some seasoning, it is called sevai. Sevai is commonly had during certain religious days when people take a break from regular meals. Idiyappam is an extremely common breakfast food in most parts of South-India, especially in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

It's amazing that almost every culture has its own version of starchy noodles. The interesting fact about noodles is that it's a great way to economize on raw ingredients. In this case, rice. I find it incredible that home-cooks and women who'd been in kitchens all their lives had the ingenuity to come up with a series of labor-intensive processes to effectively convert rice into noodles. So, this is yet another dish that was on my to-blog list for a really long time. And every time, I put it off because I am hesistant of the manual labor required of this dish.

Until ten years or so, most people used an archaic looking mechanical device to make these noodles. Called seva nazhi, it is a scary looking iron contraption that resembles a medieval torture equipment. And squeezing the noodles out of this was a process that required two to three people, with one holding the device, one turning the device, and one feeding the dough. Apparently, my grand aunt used to do it all by herself, and that was a true achievement!

Anyway, although things have slightly changed now, for the most part this is still a labor-intensive dish if you want to make from scratch. Now, I am a big proponent of doing things at home and from scratch, but making these noodles is where I draw the line :). And I am the crazy one that even makes her own homemade formulations of detergents and cleaners! But with these noodles, I seriously don't see the point of making them from scratch, especially when you have to make a big batch. This is not like home-made pasta wherein you distinctly taste the difference in quality between store bought and freshly home-made ones.

Don't get me wrong, I have the utmost respect for those who still do this from scratch, but with really good quality, preservative-free dried noodles that you get at stores (that literally take 2 minutes to cook and tastes just as good as home-made, and sometimes even better!), if I were to chart a cost-benefit matrix for this, the cost (labor) of making this is far greater than the benefits. Plus, since rice is the only ingredient (if you exclude salt and water), there is not much that you do to control the ingredients, the quantity or quality.

But that said, this is surely a fun and engaging project if you have a couple extra helping hands.You get to bond over the food and have the satisfaction of doing something from first principles! And that satisfaction is surely hard to beat.

So, after all this schpeel (and deterrents), why am I sharing this recipe? Because this is part of my personal project! :). Since my mom is in town, I thought this was a good time to make this a family effort ;). We made four savory versions and one sweet version using sevai. I am sharing two of those savory versions - coconut and lemon, today.

Please refer to the Glossary for more details on the Indian ingredients listed here.

Ingredients (serves 4-5):

3 cups of white rice / idli rice or parboiled rice, uncooked (tip: use white rice for easier handling. Idli rice/parboiled rice tends to be very sticky)
3 teaspoons salt, or as needed (add salt even for the sweet version)
A few tablespoons of sesame oil

There are three to four slightly different ways of making these noodles. I am sharing one of these methods today.

Preparation:

1. Wash and soak the rice overnight. In the morning, drain the rice and grind it in an idli/dosa grinder (if possible) to make a soft, smooth batter. Add a total of 2 1/4 cups of water (you may need slightly less or more, depending on the quality of your rice) in regular intervals to grind the rice. Add salt while grinding, to ensure even mixing. The consistency of the batter will be like that of idli batter. When you drop the batter, it will fall in ribbons (see picture below)

2. In a big, heavy-bottomed pot, bring to boil 4.5 cups of water (with 1 tablespoon of sesame oil). Slowly add the rice batter to the water and continuously whisk and stir to avoid forming lumps. This is the most difficult part of the process, especially for me, who has the arm-strength of a six year old! Keep stirring on low-medium heat, until it becomes thick and leaves the sides and bottom of the pot and comes together as a sticky mass (see picture below). Since I can't stir continuously, I reduce the heat to low (level 2 on a scale of 0-10) and cover the pot, and let the rice cook. I check in every few minutes to stir and check. If the mass is sticking too much, add some sesame oil, but worry not if it sticks.

3. When the mixture is ready, transfer the gooey rice mass onto a tray, and using a wet cloth or paper napkin shape and form the mass to a manageable size (picture above). Don't worry if it appears sticky, it will get to the consistency of a dough when it cools slightly. Keep the mass covered with the wet cloth, and check every couple of minutes until it reaches the consistency of a very soft dough. When warm enough to handle, grease your hands with sesame oil or water and knead the dough gently and pull it together. Then form oblong shapes of the dough.

4. Grease the insides of the noodle press with some sesame oil. Add the dough to the noodle press, and using the "sevai" template shown below (same as the one you would use for sev or oma podi) squeeze out the noodles onto greased idli plates or a steamer. Steam on high heat for 10-12 minutes until the noodles are cooked (do not over steam the noodles, they will turn soggy and clump up, like one of my batches did). When cool, gently fluff the noodles with your hands to break up the coils. (Tip: try to press the noodles when the rice dough is warm and not completely cool. This makes the pressing/squeezing process easier. Also, make sure to keep the dough always covered with a wet cloth or napkin so that it doesn't dry).

Repeat squeezing and steaming the noodles with the rest of the dough.

The noodles are ready! Seems like a simple, straight-forward process, right? Except for the stirring and repeated pressing, yes, it is! :)

Now, onto the flavoring and seasonings.

Lemon Sevai:

Lemon juice, green chillies, grams, curry leaves, hing, etc. are tempered together and seasoned. This is exactly like making lemon rice; same ingredients and quantities of everything. Just substitute rice with the prepared sevai. So, follow this simple process of tempering a few ingredients to make lemon flavored sevai! While mixing the sevai, toss gently and cut it gently, preferably using your hands, because you can be gentle enough to not mush the delicate noodles. Let the lemon sevai rest for at least 30 minutes before serving, so that the flavors meld.

Note: depending on how much noodles you use, adjust the quantities of the ingredients to season accordingly.

Coconut Sevai:

This is also exactly the same as preparing coconut rice. Grated coconut is spiced with red chillies, hing, grams, etc. and added to the sevai and gently mixed. Follow this simple procedure to make the coconut seasoning. Substitute rice with noodles and mix the seasonings gently.