RCI Karnataka – Some Recipes & Some Memories

For a long time now, I’ve been wanting to make “Saastralu”. I am not sure if anyone is familiar with this term. This is the Telugu term for what in Karnataka is called “Shaavige”. We at home always called it Saastraalu. I am assuming that this is what it is called in Hindupur and Ananthpur districts of Andhra Pradesh (where my grandparents hail from). Have any of you heard of this term? “Shaastraalu” or “Saastraalu”… I did a search on the Internet and did not come up with anything. So I’m just assuming that this dish is borrowed from vibrant Karnataka with which Hindupur and Ananthpur share close proximity with.
Well anyway, coming to the story :-) Back home in India, we were a joint family. A family system that is actually dying in modern India, giving way to more nuclear and independent families. My family, my uncle’s family and my grandparents – all lived in the same home! I have wonderful memories of those times. A home full of ladies, gossip and chatter all the time, and the hub- the good old kitchen! We kids would love to come back from school and college, huddle in the kitchen on wooden boards (called “peeta”) placed strategically in the kitchen. And amongst gossip and jokes participate in the cooking of the evening meal!
And making Shaavige or Saastraalu was always an event. Laborious job that it was, grandma would always grind the rice batter ahead. Then came the part where the batter was poured into idli stands, and the idlis were steamed until soft and cooked.

Rice batter ready to be cooked into soft idlies

Then came the part where we kids played an important role! The soft and hot idlies were stuffed into the shaavige maker (Saatraalu Roll as we called it) – a steel manual press, and with one person holding the stand, the other would twist the handle until soft and stringy rice noodles came out of the machine from down below. Almost like a pasta maker, this was the traditional way that people made Shaavige back then.


Saastraalu Roll or Shaavige maker

The tradition is mostly lost now. What with the whole process being so tedious and laborious, and fresh, soft rice noodles available in the market easily, no one really makes these at home. To solve problems for people away from India, various brands of the dried version of rice noodles is available. Just drop it in hot water, strain and use as needed. A world of Instant solutions!
But nothing can taste like the original and nothing can bring the memories back like the original. I brought the shaavige maker or “saastraalu roll” home with me from India. Time constraints have restricted me from using it often. But every once in a while I atke it out and make those yummy fluffy Shaavige. My kids and sometimes my husband help me. My husband thinks its just a waste of time! The non-foodie that he is, he thinks nothing is worth that much effort. But all the same, he’ll happily eat a plate full of the Shaavige!
My kids love to help me. My little one, Diya, the patient, focused girl she is, loves twisting the handle for me, though her petite frame is just a bit taller than the roll itself!



So when Asha of Foodie’s Hope announced RCI-Karnataka, I definitely wanted to make this and send this to her! What a fitting traditional dish to lovely Karnataka! So finally dear friends, here are the recipes….

For the Shaavige (Rice Noodles):
Soak 5 cups of Boiled Rice with ¾ cup of Raw Rice overnight. Grind to a very smooth paste by adding about 1 to 2 cups of water in intervals. The consistency should be quite thick just like Idli batter. Soak about ¾ cup of Flattened rice (Poha or Avalakki) in some water for about 1 hour prior to this. Grind the poha separately into a smooth paste and mix with the rice batter. This batter need not ferment. You can make idlis with them right away. Then stuff the cooked idlis in the shaavige maker and twist until you get fluffy and stringy rice noodles.


Stringy Rice Noodles

Once you have the rice noodles, there are a multitude of dishes that can be made with them. Lime shaavige, Coconut shaavige, huli shaavige, masale shaavige and sweet shaavige are some of those. We usually made lime shaavige and sweet shaavige at home.


Delicious Lime Shaavige

For the Lime Shaavige:
In a pan, heat about 3 tbsp of oil. Fry some peanuts until golden brown. Remove and keep aside. In the same pan, season with mustard seeds, channa dal, urad dal, curry leaves, chopped green chillies, finely chopped onions. Sauté till the onions are tender. Then add about ½ tsp turmeric powder and mix well. Turn off the stove, add the rice noodles, peanuts and a pinch of salt (the rice noodles already has salt) and mix well. Gently mix with your hand by splitting the noodles until well coated. Squeeze the juice of 1 lime and mix well. Garnish with some chopped cilantro and grated coconut and serve.


Closer Look. Hungry?

For the Sweet Shaavige:

First, we would need to make a powder.
You will need:
2 tbsp White Sesame seeds (til) (Dry Roasted)
4 tbsp Peanuts (Dry Roasted and Skin removed)
3 tbsp Jaggery (crumbled into a powder. Use a mortar and pestle since jaggery is usually hard. If not use a knife to shave the jaggery into crumbles.)
2 tbsp grated Copra (or Dry coconut)

Combine all of the above and grind into a coarse powder.

To serve the Sweet Shaavige:
Place the white shaavige, sprinkle with 3 tsp of the sweet powder, add a tbsp of ghee or a tbsp of milk. Mix well and serve.

Sweet and Savory Shaavige served!

Hope you guys enjoyed this elaborate post. Thanks for stopping by.