Tomato sevai or thakkali sevai is a delicious tangy dish prepared for breakfast with rice flour and tomato as main ingredients.
Make this south Indian cuisine special item for breakfast or dinner as well as a light tiffin.
Check out my thengai sevai recipe and lemon sevai recipe in my website.
Idiyappam Vs sevai
I think there is a difference between idiyappam and sevai.
Idiyappam - Made with rice flour, homemade rice flour or store bought idiyappam flour.
Make dough with hot water and rice flour and press through the mold. Steam it and use in recipes.
Sevai - Use parboiled rice (one we cook for lunch not the idli rice), make a batter out of it. Double cook it to ensure softness.
Squeeze through the sevai naazhi (machine) and prepare recipe with it.
Now a days ready made sevai is available in stores but a dried version. It is less flavorful than homemade ones obviously.
But time saving. I prepared this with Concord rice sevai which I just love. I have also tried Anil rice vermicelli.
Though I am not sure how authentic it is to use this for the above recipes, sure its a great help for us to make things easy.
Process
My mom used to make the sevai version, she has that special press for making it, but we used to help her. 'we' means we all!
Yes - me, my brother and my dad too. My mom makes the rice idli and passes it to us, and my dad will press it(turn/screw) to squeeze the sevai.
Me and my brother will hold the three legs of the machine (sevai naazhi) with our tiny hands/ legs to hold the press in the place 😉.
My grand ma will help in mixing the sevai varieties. So we share the work. So now you know the 'we' means real 'we'!
Since its a big family, it was always like that to share the works. Especially these kind of things were there is a need of lots of hands to help.
And she makes a whole lot of varieties like one with jaggery and coconut syrup, lemon sevai or tamarind sevai, paruppu sevai (check out the recipes of tamarind idiyappam and paruppu idiyappam).
To make these for dinner for the whole family of 6, sure she needs help right? 🙂.
My MIL makes idiyappam version and her idiyappam varieties are so different and easy.
She uses just white sugar and coconut for sweet version, lemon idiyappam rarely, this tomato idiyappam and milagu idiyappam.
She makes for breakfast and so keeps it simple, easy.
When I got married, I used to miss my moms sevai varieties a lot. But now I am used to these idiyappam varieties my MIL makes too.
And after so many years, I am making this tomato sevai and found that I am loving this too these days.
Instant sevai
I tried my hands on instant sevai for the first time in my life. I have never tried any instant versions so far as I am very much comfortable in making my own idiyappam in a jiffy with store bought flour.
But tempted to try this sevai after tasting a delicious coconut sevai in Vidhya's house at her Golu. So got a pack (concord) to try it. You can also try the same with idiyappam too.
Top tip
How to make the readymade sevai as good as the fresh sevai, soft and moist?
Usually the sevai pack asks us to keep it covered in hot water.
I take an extra effort to steam the soaked sevai and tadaaa! Your store bought sevai is as soft and moist as the homemade ones.
No one will find out it is ready made sevai thought the length is short. Of course there will be flavor difference, but definitely worth the effort.
Do try this and let me know how you liked in comments.
Recipe card
Tomato sevai recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cup Cooked sevai / Idiyappam - 2 cups
- 1 Onion big
- 2 Tomato
- 1 teaspoon Red chilli powder or sambar powder
- 2 Green chillies optional
- ⅛ teaspoon Turmeric
- 3 tablespoon Carrot finely chopped
- Salt
- Chopped coriander leaves - 2 tblsp
To temper
- 1 tablespoon Oil/ ghee
- ½ teaspoon Mustard
- 1 teaspoon Urad dal
- 2 teaspoon Chana dal optional
- 1.5 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- 1 Curry leaves sprig
Instructions
Sevai steps
- I just follow the instructions, cooking time mentioned in the back of the sevai pack.
- Soak in hot water for 15-20 mins. After that, it will be soft and dry absorbing all the water.
- Now you can use this in the recipe as such or steam it one more time for more moist and softer results.
- Chop onion, tomato finely, carrots very finely and slit green chillies.
- Temper with the items given under 'To temper' table in order.
- Fry onion till transparent, add the carrots, fry for a minute.
- Add chopped tomatoes, sambar powder/ red chilli powder, turmeric and salt.
- Mix well and cook until mushy. Add the chopped coriander leaves. Switch off the flame.
- Add cooked sevai and mix well. Check for salt, add ghee or sesame oil to top it. Give 2 minutes standing time before serving.
Notes
- You can add Garam masala powder if you like that smell. We don't like in this particular recipe, so I don't add.
- Also chopped garlic can be added along with onions.
Stepwise photos
- I just follow the instructions, cooking time mentioned in the back of the sevai pack.
- Soak in hot water for 15-20 mins. After that, it will be soft and dry absorbing all the water.
- Now you can use this in the recipe as such or steam it one more time for more moist and softer results.
Prepare tomato sevai
1. Chop onion, tomato finely, carrots very finely and slit green chillies. Temper with the items given under 'To temper' table in order. Fry onion till transparent, add the carrots, fry for a minute.
2. Add chopped tomatoes, sambar powder/ red chilli powder, turmeric and salt. Mix well and cook until mushy. Add the chopped coriander leaves. Switch off the flame.
3. Add cooked sevai and mix well. Check for salt, add ghee or sesame oil to top it. Give 2 minutes standing time before serving.
Enjoy this tangy spicy sevai for breakfast to make your meal special.
AparnaRajeshkumar says
I do the same .. but never added carrot ... looking gorgeous as ever
Shweet Spicess says
Looks nice
Hari Chandana P says
adding carrot is new to me.. looks tempting 🙂
anusha praveen says
I add a beaten egg to this Raji- gives a new dimension to the whole dish. That gorgeous red is making me all hungry now despite a heavy lunch
Nisha Jabbar says
Thank you this soo simple n a very delicious meal. I added tiny boneless chicken pieces n added garlic ginger paste too. Its yummy.
Nisha Jabbar says
Thank you this soo simple n a very delicious meal. I added tiny boneless chicken pieces n added garlic ginger paste too. Its yummy.
jeyashri suresh says
Concord turns out best. Lovely tomato sevai. Nice memories too and even we used to help out amma to make sevai using nazhi. Beautiful clicks
Hema says
looks too good, the clicks make it more tempting..
ignas says
Hey,
Have been exploring your blog for a few days now. I think its an amazing blog n ur dishes look awesome. Meaning to try some of them!!
Regarding the above recipe. ... try grating the carrot. Works really well, saves time too...
Veena Theagarajan says
very nice clicks.. So tempting.. I am big fan of different variety of sevais..
prathibha Garre says
Love this tangy tomato sevai...looks delicious n perfectly done..I too do almost similar except the addition of carrots
kalpana paridas says
With carrot looks wise and taste too;)
kalpana paridas says
With carrot looks wise and taste too;)
divya says
looks so gorgeous and tempting..
Sowmya Dinavahi says
Looks delicious.. I love tomato sevai.. thanks for the recipe raks 🙂
Chitra Amma's Kitchen says
Colourful and delicious Sevai.
Chitra Ganapathy says
I have tried it very recently the same way but used garlic too 🙂 Lovely pics !
Aruna Manikandan says
tomato sevai looks delicious raji 🙂
Shobana Vijay says
Wow raks.. Interesting recipe dear..Never heard of this before..Lovely clicks and addition of carrots.
Shobas Delight
Anonymous says
Lovely raks,
I make a similar version of a simple tomato rice with the same recipe...Yes I do add carrots but then i grate them as my kids dont see it then!!! They love the red colour and love thakkali sadam. I use a variet of rice sticks from the Chinese store and when I cook them I add a drop of virgin unrefined coconut oil and that really does the trick. Smells like home made sevai in one go!
Shobha
Raks anand says
Will try that tip next time sounds good
SHARMILEE J says
Looks colorful and bright...tempting sevai!
Chitra C says
What isthe difference between sevai and idiyappam......
Raks anand says
Sevai is made with cooked dough (double times cooked) tastes different and more delicious
Divya Harish says
Is concord sevai available in s'pore?
Vidya Nayak Shenoy says
Thanks for the wonderful version of sevai.. I've tried it for many times now.. every time it was a success and my family loved it...
Ayurvedavillage says
Add some chilli tomato sauce once the tomatoes are cooked. It gives an awesome taste n color to the sevai
gayathri says
My son is an absolute fan of this.made with vermicelli as well.thank you raks!!!!
Ramya says
Hi,
I prepared this dish today without carrots. It came out great. I made a modification, and, thought of sharing it. I used another spice called Madras Curry powder a teaspoon along with the suggested sambar powder. It was aromatic and delicious. Thank you.
Raks Anand says
Thank you for your feedback 🙂 That's so kind of you to share the outcome of yours. Sure sounds great, will definitely try if I get my hands on it.