AKKI SHAVIGE -KAY HALU

RICE SEMIA(noodles) WITH COCONUT MILK

Freshly prepared rice noodle is a specialty of my native , which is a small town in 'Malenadu' region of karnataka. Malenadu loosely translated means the hilly region.

Rice is the main staple in these regions, but it is typical in south india i guess. But in our native almost all kind of dishes, from starters to deserts, are prepared with the rice.

This dish particularly is a breakfast item and also
can be used as a snack. Traditionally it is eaten with the coconut sauce i have mentioned.

When we were kids we used to enjoy this dish in my grandparents(paternal) place. This was one of the dish on the list we would demand my grandma to make. And tradition or not we used relish it with loads of mango pickle and coconut oil. Hmm... that's a yummy combination.


for shavige
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Rice -- 1 1/2 cups
Coconut Oil(or any other oil) -- 2 tablespoons
Salt to taste


for kayi halu
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Coconut -- 1 cup
Cardamom -- 4-5 (powdered)
Jaggery -- 3-4 tablespoons (or to taste)


Soak rice for 6-8 hours. Wash and grind it to a smooth paste. While grinding add water enough to only immerse the rice. (can be a little less also)Take care to make the batter smooth.

Now add salt to the batter and pour it in thick vessel. Keep it on low flame to cook.

Keep stirring the batter all throughout the cooking process. Cook until the batter forms a ball and starts leaving the bottom of the vessel. Turn off the heat.

Cool the batter and using a little oil make smooth balls of lemon size. Steam these balls until it is cooked. It is cooked when your knife comes out clean.

Grease a sev press lightly and fill it with the steamed rice batter balls While they are still warm. Keep the rice balls covered to prevent forming a hard layer on top.

Press the dough through the sev press. (Be warned! it requires more energy than the regular sev pressing.)

Grind coconut, jaggery and cardamom together with a little water to a smooth paste.
This dish is made slightly sweet.

Serve semia with coconut milk and serve hot.

Entering this into Sujana's