Ottu Shavige | Home made Rice Noodles(String Hoppers)

Ottu Shavige(Vothu Shavige) or Akki Shavige is a specialty of Karnataka and is also widely prepared in our family.At our place it is called 'Shastralu' or 'Saasthalu'. It is a specialty of our community and is prepared on special occasions and functions and also if we have special guests at home.Ottu Shavige of Karnataka is similar to Idiyappam of Tamilnadu though the process is slightly different.In the preparation of Otthu Shavige,rice flour is cooked and made it into cylindrical shaped balls which are then steamed and pressed into thin string hoppers while in the later process(Idiyappam),the flour is mixed to a dough and it is pressed into thin noodles and then they are steamed.Despite using the same ingredients,the resultant product of both the processes taste slightly different and my taste buds always incline towards Ottu Shavige,the one which I am quite familiar with from my childhood.Though we get instant rice noodles in market,the taste of freshly pressed rice noodles is nowhere compared to those instant rice noodles.Though the preparation process is tedious,it is worth the effort.

Usually Ottu Shavige is prepared on special occasions or if you have some special guests.Preparing Ottu Shavige is quite laborious and needs at least two people to help. I still remember how we used to help our mom when she used to prepare this dish.It is really fun if two or more people do this but it is quite laborious if a single person has to handle it,you need at least two people to prepare this.

Ottu Shavige is quite versatile and we prepare sweet as well as spicy varieties with it.The usual  sweet side dishes we prepare for Ottu Shavige are Gasgase Payasa(Kayi Halu) or Nootoodi (Sweetened Sesame seed powder) or sweetened Gasgase powder or sweetened Groundnut powder.We can prepare spicy varieties like Lemon Shavige,Tamarind Shavige, Coconut Shavige, Tomato Sevai with Ottu Shavige.Among all,my most favorite is lemon shavige and the combination of ottu shavige with gasgase payasa and sesame powder.

We need a special Shavige press to prepare Ottu Shavige.The picture below shows how the Shavige Press looks which is used to prepare Otthu Shavige.This machine is quite sturdy with a handle to turn and a perforated cylindrical cup and stands on its legs.

As I do not have this machine in Mumbai I usually ask my mom to prepare this when I visit her.I was able to click few pictures when she prepared last time so that I can share with you all,otherwise I don't think that my favorite recipe would appear in my blog.If you do not have Shavige press you can use the Idiyappam press(murukku press) to prepare this,but I am sure that it would not be easy to prepare Ottu Shavige in the Idiyappam press as the dough is already steamed and needs more energy than usual to rotate the handle.

Otthu Shavige | Akki Shavige | Home made Rice Noodles Recipe:

Serves 2-3

Prep time:1 hr | Cooking time:45 mins | Total time:1hr 45 mins

Cuisine: Karnataka - South Indian | Category: Breakfast 

Ingredients:

to prepare Akki Ottu Shavige:

2 cups Home made Rice flour

3 1/2 cups Water

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Oil

to prepare Kayi Haalu | Coconut Poppy Seed Payasam:

1 cup grated fresh Coconut

2 tbsp Poppy seeds

6-8 Cashew nuts

1 1/2 cup Milk

1/2 cup Water

1 1/4 cup grated Jaggery

1/4 tsp Cardamom powder

to prepare sweetened sesame powder:

1/2 cup white Sesame seeds

1/2 cup grated Jaggery

to prepare sweetened groundnut powder:

1/2 cup roasted and skinned Groundnuts

1/2 cup grated jaggery 

Method:

to prepare sweetened Groundnut powder:

• Grind roasted and skinned groundnuts to a powder in the mixie and add grated jaggery to it and run it again to get a uniform mixture.
• Store it in air tight container.Make this on the previous day itself to ease up the process.

to prepare sweetened Sesame powder:

• Dry roast sesame seeds over medium flame for 3-4 mins until they smell nice.
• Grind sesame seeds to a powder in the mixie and add grated jaggery to it and run it again to get a uniform mixture.
• Store it in air tight container.Make this on the previous day itself to ease up the process.

to prepare Kayi Halu:

• Grind cashew nuts,poppy seeds,grated coconut and cardamom into a fine paste.
• Mean while add grated jaggery to 1/2 cup of water and boil until jaggery melts and strain this mixture.
• Boil the jaggery mixture again and add the ground coconut-poppy seed mixture.Cook it on low flame until it comes to a boil.
• Add milk and cook for another 2 mins and remove it from the stove.Do not boil for more time as it might curdle.

to prepare Akki Shavige:

• Bring water to a boil in a deep pot and add salt and oil to it.
• When the water is boiling add Home made rice flour in the center of the pot and close the lid to half(do not cover it completely,leave some space for the steam to escape otherwise the water would over flow) and let the flour(which would be floating) cook over low flame for half an hour.

• Stir vigorously now until you get a lump of mixture formed and all the ingredients are well mixed.You can use a long ladle or your roti belan for this process.
• Divide the mixture into two parts and knead the mixture into a smooth dough on a silicon baking mat or on a clean plastic sheet.Be careful the dough would be very hot,so wet your hands while doing this process.You can even place the dough in a clean plastic bag and knead well,this is very easy and risk free process.This should take at least 4-5 minutes.It is always better to do in small portions.

• Make smooth cylindrical shape balls(4" lengthwise) out of the mixture and arrange them in a steamer and steam for 20-25 mins.You can even use cooker to steam them,make sure you remove the whistle while steaming them.
• Keep the Shavige press ready and grease the inside portion with oil and also keep a plate below the press to collect the freshly pressed noodles.

• Keep all the balls in the hot box and take out one ball at a time and place it inside the Shavige press and press it to strings of thin noodles.This is a bit laborious process and needs bit strength as it is not easy to rotate the shavige press.You need two people to do this,as one would hold the legs of shavige press and move the plate underneath while pressing the shavige so that noodles would spread out widely and not form a lump and the other person to turn(rotate) the handle of shavige press.Also,take care while doing this process as the dough would be very hot to handle.Drop the noodles(collected on plate) carefully into a big wide vessel and keep the plate back in position to repeat the process.Repeat the process with all the balls to get the noodles.It is important to keep the dough balls in hot box so that they would not turn dry and hard and also it would be easy to press them while they are hot.

Serve the plain Otthu Shavige with Kayi haalu(Sweetened coconut milk) or Sweetened Sesame powder or Sweetened Ground nut powder and ghee.Mix the otthu shavige with ghee and the powders and enjoy the heaven on plate.

You can even use them to prepare Lemon Shavige, Tangy Tamarind Shavige, Coconut Shavige, Tomato Sevai.The recipe for Lemon Shavige recipe would follow soon.

Notes:

1. It is essential to use Home made Rice flour for the recipe,follow this link to know how to prepare home made rice flour.You can alternatively use Idiyappam flour,but you need to follow the instructions for the water measurements as mentioned on the packet.
2. It is important to keep the dough balls in hot box so that they would not turn dry and hard and also it would be easy to press them while they are hot.
3. This is a very laborious process and need atleast 2 people to prepare this.So attempt this recipe only if you have any help in the kitchen.

Check out few traditional recipes of my family which are prepared using rice flour.

• Bilavalige(Rice Flour Chapati) and Pithikipappu
• Mosaru Kodubale/Curd Kodbale
• Utha(Plain Rice Flour) Rotti with Avarekaalu Benne Usli
• Vadappam(Riceflour Poori) and Chintaku Palya

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