Healthy Vegetable Idlis in Pink!

Healthy Vegetable Idlis in Pink!

Don't we all love Pink! Not just kids, but adults too cannot resist this color in any form. If you have a fussy kid at home or picky eater as spouse, then is the best way to pack a healthy meal camouflaged in this bright color. If the package is like this, then no one wants to know what is inside. :)
Nearing the end of the week, I was in no mood to cook the regular. I had some beetroot at home and wanted to experiment with it. Since I had never tried beetroot idlis, I decided to give it  a go. I tried to keep it as healthy as possible, using flax seed powder,oats, no rice, some veggies and very little oil.
I waited impatiently while they were getting steamed. I was excited to see the final outcome. It is really amazing how our veggies come in different colors and taste. Beetroot offers a certain sweetness to the idlis, while the green chillies help to keep the balance. This is the first time I have tempered them and I like the occasional crunch of the urad dal and the distinct taste of each seasoning. Overall, I am pretty excited the way this dish turned out. I couldn't stop myself from finishing them all. Sending a picture of it to my husband, I wrote, "Have a good look at the pic, I think that is all you will get!"



Ingredients
1 cup broken wheat/idli rava
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 cup wheat flour
3 tbsp flax seed powder
1 cup oats
1 cup fat free curd
10-12 baby carrots, grated
1/2 cup spinach, chopped
1/2 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
2-3 Beetroots, boiled with little salt and turmeric powder
 1 tsp Soda-bicarb
Salt

For the Tadka/Tempering
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp urad dal
Pinch of Asafoetida
3-4 green chillies, finely chopped
Curry leaves (Optional)

Method
Soak the rava along with oats for 20 minutes. In a mixer, blend the soaked rava and oats along with the boiled beetroots. Add flax seed powder while grinding. It should form a smooth batter. In  a bowl, pour this batter, add the rice and wheat flour, curd, grated carrots, cilantro and spinach. Add salt as required. Mix the batter well. Let is rest for 20-30 minutes.
In a tempering pan, add 1 tbsp oil. Once the oil is hot, temper the mustard and cumin seeds. Once they crackle, add the urad dal. Fry it till they turn golden brown. Now add the asafoetida and chillies and fry for a minute. Add this to the batter.
Grease the idli mould with very little oil. Add the soda bicarb just before pouring the batter into the moulds. Steam the idlis in the cooker for 10-12 minutes without the whistle if using the regular cooker. Serve these pink idlis with mulagapudi (gun powder) or any chutney. I am sure these will be an instant party hit!

Notes
I didn't blend the spinach along with the beets because I wanted to retain the rich pink color.
You can any other veggies to this batter as well
You can make this a zero oil recipe by avoiding the tadka and the greasing