Jowar sevai finished in thin coconut milk with shallots and green chilli, so the strands come out silky and faintly sweet rather than dry-tossed.
Ingredients
From the TrooFoodz pantry
- Sprouted Jowar Vermicelli 1 pack (180 g)
Fresh
- Thin coconut milk (second extract) 1 cup
- Thick coconut milk (first extract) 1/4 cup
- Small onions (shallots), sliced 8
- Green chillies, slit 2
- Cold-pressed coconut oil 2 tbsp
- Mustard seeds 1 tsp
- Curry leaves 1 sprig
- Fresh coconut, grated 2 tbsp
- Salt to taste
Method
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Two extracts
Blend fresh coconut with a little warm water and squeeze for a thick first extract, then blend the same pulp again with more water for the thin second extract.
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Undercook the sevai
Boil the vermicelli for only ninety seconds and drain. It will finish cooking in the coconut milk, so pull it early.
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Sweat the shallots
Crackle mustard in coconut oil, add curry leaves, green chilli and shallots, and cook slowly until the shallots go soft and sweet.
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Simmer in thin milk
Pour in the thin coconut milk with salt and bring it to a bare simmer. Never let coconut milk boil hard or it splits.
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Absorb and thicken
Add the drained sevai and turn it gently until the liquid has almost gone and the strands look glossy, about four minutes.
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Finish off the flame
Stir in the thick coconut milk off the heat, scatter the grated coconut, and serve straight away while it is still creamy.
Why this works
This is the wet counterpart to a dry coconut sevai: the strands are undercooked in water and finished in thin coconut milk, so they absorb fat and flavour rather than just being coated. Adding the thick first extract off the heat protects its emulsion, which would break under a hard boil. Shallots cooked slowly bring a sweetness that suits the mild jowar strand.
Make it your own
- Sprouted Jowar Vermicelli → Sprouted Ragi Vermicelli Malty and much darker; the coconut milk turns a soft mocha colour.
- Fresh coconut milk → Tinned coconut milk, diluted Convenient and works well; thin one part milk with two parts water for the first stage.
- Small onions → Leek, finely sliced Milder and more herbaceous; it softens in about half the time.
