• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Vidhya’s Vegetarian Kitchen logo
  • Home
  • About
    • VVK Galleries
    • VVK YouTube Channel
    • VVK Mentions
    • Privacy & Copyright Policies
  • Recipes
  • Shop
    • Amazon Shop
    • Cookbooks
  • Contact
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Shop
  • Contact Us
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » Blogging Marathon » Sevai | Homemade Sevai / Rice vermicelli with Rice Flour

    Sevai | Homemade Sevai / Rice vermicelli with Rice Flour

    Posted on April 22, 2016 · Last Updated on January 8, 2019 · By Srividhya G · 32 Comments

    3 shares
    • Share2
    • Tweet
    • Reddit
    Jump to Recipe Card

    Sevai or Santhakai or Santhavai is one of the popular rice vermicelli recipes from Tamil Nadu. According to wiki, it is popular in Kongunadu region of Tamil Nadu. In Kannada it is called shyavige or shavige. Sevai is prepared from home made rice flour but I am preparing it with store bought rice flour using the traditional Sevai presser or Nazhi.

    Both Sevai and Idiyappam have lot of histories. The story of our Food by KT Achaya has reference to appams and Idiyappam being quoted in Sangam Literature and if you are a Ponniyin Selvan (Historic novel by Kalki) fanatic like me you will know what Senthan Amudan’s mother had served Vandiyathevan. (Idiyappam and coconut milk)  It’s very interesting how the regional cuisines are intertwined. I have mentioned about the Ponniyin Selvan historic reference in my vegetable stew and Idiyappam recipe which I posted in 2014 and I used store bought Idiyappam flour for preparing the Idiyappam. Usually we prepare the dumplings and press it and then steam it for Idiyappam. For Sevai, we prepare the dumplings, steam them and then press them.  Also in the same post I mentioned that I will post the home made recipe soon. But that soon never came until today.

    RiceflourSevai

    So what kept me from posting it? I, me, myself. Lol. I was contemplating whether I should start everything from scratch like how my ammama does or just go with store bought rice flour (similar to Idiyappam). And when  I decided to go with rice flour, I lost my Sevai presser mold during our house shift. Sigh!!!

    StringHoppers

    For this blogging marathon, I wanted to try Sevai again and when I asked my friend N for the mold, she surprised me by giving her traditional Sevai presser itself. My joy knew no bounds. No I am not being dramatic here. That Nazhi bought back my entire child hood memories. Every summer when my grandma prepares Sevai, we cousins take turns to press them. One will hold the bottom and the other will add the dumpling and press. It’s a fun activity. I wanted to pass on these memories to Vaandu and we (I, M and Vaandu) prepared this Sevai on one Sunday evening and we had loads of fun pressing it. M took a video too and scroll down to see the video. Here is the picture of the Sevai presser.

    SevaiNazhi

    For today’s post, I am just explaining the process of preparing the Sevai. I did prepare lemon and coconut Sevai but those two are coming as separate posts later. I am NOT using the Idiyappam flour here; it is the regular store bought rice flour.

    Ingredients:

    • Rice flour – 2 cups
    • Water – 2 cups
    • Salt – ½ tsp
    • Oil – 1 tsp + for greasing.

    Method:

    • Boil the water in deep bottomed vessel by adding 1 tsp of oil and the salt.

    SevaiStep1

    • Once the water starts boiling, add the rice flour slowly and keep mixing it.
    • Mix the flour well, cover it with a lid and reduce the heat to low.

    SevaiStep2

    • Turn it off in couple of minutes and let it sit for 5 minutes.

    SevaiStep3

    • While the flour is warm, grease your hand with oil, and knead the dough nicely.

    SevaiStep4

    • Make big balls/dumplings from the dough and make sure these dumplings fit in your presser. I made four big dumplings.

    SevaiStep5

    • Now in an idly cooker or in any steamer, steam these dumplings for 15 minutes.

    SevaiStep6

    • Let it cool for 5 minutes meanwhile grease the insides of the presser, mold with oil.
    • Add the dumplings and start pressing them. Here is the video. 

    PressedSevai

    That’s it. You can serve this with sugar and coconut milk or prepare any flavored Sevai. (recipe coming soon)

    Shyavige

    Notes:

    • Start kneading the dough when it is warm. If not it becomes really hard. If required, add few tbsps of water while kneading. (I didn’t add any)
    • The size of the dumpling is depending upon the size of the presser you have.

    Sevai

    Pin Recipe Print Recipe
    3.67 from 3 votes

    Sevai | Homemade Sevai / Rice vermicelli with Rice Flour

    Home made Sevai or Santhakai or Rice Vermicelli prepared with Rice flour by preparing the rice dumplings, steaming & pressing them.
    Prep Time10 mins
    Cook Time45 mins
    Total Time55 mins
    Course: tiffin
    Cuisine: South Indian
    Servings: 4
    Calories:
    Author: Srividhya G

    Ingredients

    • Rice flour - 2 cups
    • Water - 2 cups
    • Salt - ½ tsp
    • Oil - 1 tsp + for greasing.

    Instructions

    • Boil the water in deep bottomed vessel by adding 1 tsp of oil and the salt.
    • Once the water starts boiling, add the rice flour slowly and keep mixing it.
    • Mix the flour well, cover it with a lid and reduce the heat to low.
    • Turn it off in couple of minutes and let it sit for 5 minutes.
    • While the flour is warm, grease your hand with oil, and knead the dough nicely.
    • Make big balls/dumplings from the dough and make sure these dumplings fit in your presser. I made four big dumplings.
    • Now in an idly cooker or in any steamer, steam these dumplings for 15 minutes.
    • Let it cool for 5 minutes meanwhile grease the insides of the presser, mold with oil.
    • Add the dumplings and start pressing them.
    • That’s it. You can serve this with sugar and coconut milk or prepare any flavored Sevai.

    Notes

    Start kneading the dough when it is warm. If not it becomes really hard. If required, add few tbsps of water while kneading. (I didn't add any)
    The size of the dumpling is depending upon the size of the presser you have.

    I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.

    Tried this recipe?Mention @vidhyasvegetariankitchen or tag #vidhyasvegkitchen
    For Video RecipesCheck out My YouTube Channel
    BM#63  A-ZChallengeBadge
    Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 63

    [inlinkz_linkup id=601073 mode=1]

    3 shares
    • Share2
    • Tweet
    • Reddit

    Filed Under: Blogging Marathon, Breakfast / Tiffins Tagged With: A-Z Challenge, Blogging Marathon, Cuisine of Tamil Nadu, Idiyappam, kongunadu cuisine, rice flour sevai, rice vermicelli, santhakai, santhavai, sevai, sevai with store bought rice flour, string hoppers

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. S S Subramani says

      January 31, 2021 at 4:26 am

      Which rice used for soft sevai please send the reply

      Reply
      • Srividhya G says

        January 31, 2021 at 4:36 pm

        This one is store-bought flour. We usually use raw rice.

        Reply
    2. radhika says

      March 11, 2019 at 9:20 am

      nice sevai. I tried this ‘receipe twice but my sevai was sticky in spite of keeping the dough warm. any specific brand of rice flour to use like nirapara or idiyappam flour… it would be better if u had posted a video of the whole receipe

      Reply
      • Srividhya G says

        March 11, 2019 at 10:24 am

        Hi Radhika, sorry to hear that. I regularly buy Udupi brand rice flour and that’s what I used for this recipe also. I will definitely do a full video of this recipe. Meanwhile, you can try a couple of things. As it is becoming sticky, you can reduce the water to 1.5 cups or steam the dumplings for 18 minutes instead of 15. I hope this helps, but I will post the video soon. Thanks for your feedback.

        Reply
    3. sapana behl says

      May 04, 2016 at 5:14 pm

      Omg home made sevai looks too good yaar. Love reading the post.

      Reply
      • Srividhya G says

        May 04, 2016 at 5:42 pm

        Thanks a lot Sapana :-)

        Reply
    4. Smruti | Herbivore Cucina says

      April 29, 2016 at 5:07 pm

      Such a great recipe Srividhya. Loved the video :)

      Reply
      • Srividhya G says

        April 29, 2016 at 6:51 pm

        Thanks Smruti. :-)

        Reply
    5. Pavani says

      April 25, 2016 at 7:24 pm

      Wow, homemade rice sevai — you made them perfectly Vidhya. Loved your video :-)

      Reply
      • Srividhya G says

        April 25, 2016 at 9:46 pm

        Thanks a lot Pavani. :-)

        Reply
    6. MyCulinarySaga says

      April 25, 2016 at 12:11 am

      wow that press brought back my memories from childhood too. My mom still uses the press to make Nuputtu :)

      Reply
      • Srividhya G says

        April 25, 2016 at 9:15 pm

        :-) Thanks a lot Trupti. Glad it bought some good memories.

        Reply
    7. harini says

      April 24, 2016 at 7:37 pm

      Wow! Never used a sevai press and it is interesting to know that sevai and idiappam are different.

      Reply
      • Srividhya G says

        April 24, 2016 at 9:02 pm

        Yeah.. its just the cooking method. :-) Thanks Harini

        Reply
    8. Suma Gandlur says

      April 24, 2016 at 3:44 pm

      I bet it is fun making sevai from sctarch at home. I too love coconut and lemon sevais.
      Vidya, is this what called otthu shyavige in Kannada? And Idiyappam has to be that Coorgi Noolputtu, right?

      Reply
      • Srividhya G says

        April 24, 2016 at 9:03 pm

        yup Suma.. Noolputtu is idiyappam and shyavige in kannada is sevai. Thanks

        Reply
    9. Amara says

      April 23, 2016 at 5:23 am

      I was thinking both are the same, thanks for an amazing post. Love your sevai. Bookmarked:)

      Reply
      • Srividhya G says

        April 24, 2016 at 10:43 pm

        Thanks amara.

        Reply
    10. miladyronel says

      April 22, 2016 at 11:31 pm

      I love your recipes – especially how you make everything with fresh ingredients. And the step-by-step instructions really help. I also like the print-out versions :-) Now I have new vegetarian recipes to try out this winter. Good luck with the rest of the AtoZchallenge.

      Reply
      • Srividhya G says

        April 24, 2016 at 10:44 pm

        Thanks a lot Ronel and your comment made my day. Glad you like the format. Thanks a lot for your wishes and welcome to my space.

        Reply
    11. Gayathri Kumar says

      April 22, 2016 at 9:57 pm

      I usually press the sevai and then steam them. When I tried this version, I failed profusely and I think I will never try it again. Your s looks so nice. Love that video too..

      Reply
      • Srividhya G says

        April 24, 2016 at 10:45 pm

        Thanks a lot Gayathri.. :-) With rice flour it comes out well.. never tried it from scratch though.

        Reply
    12. usha says

      April 22, 2016 at 3:24 pm

      It must have a been a fun activity to donut with your child. Sevai looks so good.

      Reply
      • Srividhya G says

        April 24, 2016 at 10:46 pm

        Yes it was. thanks Usha.

        Reply
    13. Priya Suresh says

      April 22, 2016 at 1:09 pm

      Sevai, i just love this healthy dish, especially when flavoured with lemon and curry leaves spice powder..

      Reply
      • Srividhya G says

        April 22, 2016 at 1:40 pm

        curry leaves spice powder is an awesome idea. Thanks a lot will try that out.

        Reply
    14. Srivalli says

      April 22, 2016 at 8:17 am

      That’s a wonderful post Srividhya, good notes on the difference between idiappam and sevai..however I too never found much difference between these two even those from hotels…..:)..anyway thats a good post..

      Reply
      • Srividhya G says

        April 22, 2016 at 8:36 am

        Thanks a lot Valli. Both has very subtle difference na.. :-)

        Reply
    15. CHCooks says

      April 22, 2016 at 7:36 am

      Gosh! I always thought Sevai and idiyapam are one and the same. Thanks for enlightening me today :) We had a similar Nazhi at home too – I have very fond memories of it too :)

      Reply
      • Srividhya G says

        April 22, 2016 at 7:59 am

        You know GB I was under the same impression too and we all use it interchangeably. I realized that only when I posted the idiyappam. The rice used is a big difference and also the steaming process. Taste wise I couldn’t find anything. May be because whenever I prepare idiyappam with the idiyappam flour I always serve with coconut milk or stew. Never tried other flavors like lemon or coconut. Should give it a try and see how it will be.

        Reply
    16. My Kitchen Area says

      April 22, 2016 at 7:13 am

      Looks yum !!

      Reply
      • Srividhya G says

        April 22, 2016 at 7:55 am

        Thanks :-)

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Welcome

    Author Vidhya smiling in the renovated kitchen

    Hello all, I am Srividhya, the person behind this blog. I firmly believe that the mouth is the way to the heart. My blog is all about vegetarian and vegan food with unique and exciting recipes from all over the world. From traditional, authentic recipes to fusion and eggless bakes, you can find it all here! Read more →

    Enjoy My Cookbooks

    Two cookbooks beautifully presented on the table

    Discover the diverse and delicious taste of South India, eggless recipes made in Instant Pot and other deliciousness! Find out more →

    Sign Up to Newsletter

    Must-Try Soup Recipes 

    • Vegan Miso Ramen Soup With Tofu
    • Easy Pumpkin Soup | Pumpkin Shorba
    • Vegan Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup | Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup
    • Broccoli Almond Soup (Instant Pot Method)

    As Featured On

    As seen on logo banner

    YouTube

    Follow me on YouTube for regular recipe videos and insights from my kitchen!

    Follow

    Disclosure

    VVK is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program - an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate VVK earns from qualifying purchases. Privacy Policy →

    Most Popular Posts

    • Chikoo Chocolate Lassi | Sapodilla Lassi
    • Instant Pot Kadhi & Rice | Mixed Vegetable Kadhi
    • Spicy Savory Tamarind Lassi
    • Tofu Scramble | Scrambled Tofu Breakfast Burrito
    • Pesto Mozzarella Sandwich
    • Sweet Corn and Steel Cut Oats Soup

    Explore Your Favorites

    15 + Mango Recipes

    25 + Easy South Indian Instant Pot Recipes

    10 + Must Try Vegetarian Pasta Recipes

    20 + Kids Friendly Lunch Box Recipes

    20 + Indian Lentils Recipes Made in Instant Pot

    Footer


    VVK is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program - Privacy Policy
    HOME | ABOUT | CONTACT US

    Footer

    ↑ Back to Top

    VVK horizontal logo

    About

    • About
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy

    Cooking

    • Sign Up to Newsletter
    • All Recipes
    • My Cookbooks
    • My Amazon Shop

    VVK is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program

    Copyright © 2023 | VidhyasHomeCooking.com