Idlis steamed in banana leaves (Rononu)
Our grannies were smart, no doubt they came up with so many wonderful recipes & creations, yet here I am saying it in the context of coming up with ways to make life easier to feed a house full of people. Up until 2 decades ago there were families living together under 1 roof as a joint family in most homes of Udupi, Mangalore. To feed all of them at one shot, this recipe was born. Instead of steaming idlis in idli plates, idli moulds, they came up with a trick to steam all of the idli batter at once. They lined the idli steamer with banana leaves, they poured all of the idli batter into the steamer & served breakfast to all in one shot. No extra vessels to wash while banana leaves are used, no spending extra time in the kitchen steaming idli in batches. Time & effort saved. And to top it the idlis taste great from the smell & taste of banana leaves, their texture is beautiful too. And do I even have to talk about the health benefits of steaming in banana leaves? And it was a given our ancestors have always been very very sustainable in their practices. Writing this with so much awe & love & being inspired.
Idlis steamed like this in bulk are called rononu in Konkani. They are made them with many variations. To make everyday breakfast interesting, to add variety & taste to idlis, they used different kinds of pulses etc to make different types of rononu.
- They added finely chopped, smashed green chillies, ginger to idli batter.
- They made muga rononu with moong.
- They made mugadli rononu with split yellow dal.
- They made kulita rononu using horsegram.
- They made ukde tandla rononu using red rice.
- They made dasvala panna rononu using hibiscus leaves once a year as medicine.
Brief recipe:
Idli batter with urad dal: rice rava in the ratio 1:2 is made.
Grind urad dal to make soft, fluffy, smooth, thick batter.
Mix rice rava, ferment for 8-9 hours.
Steam to get rononu.
The batter is steamed inside the steamer lined with banana leaves.
To make these idlis more interesting & tasty, they would add smashed ginger, green chillies to the batter. This is the most common type of rononu made.
Here’s the recipe to make plain rononu, flavoured rononu.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of urad dal
- 4 cups of rice rava
- Salt to taste
Preparation Time: 45 - 60 minutes
Cooking time: 30 - 45 minutes
Serves: 4
Preparation Method:
1. Wash urad dal well, soak for a minimum of 30 minutes.
2. Grind urad dal into a smooth, fluffy, thick batter using a grinder. None of the mixers till date have given me the fluffy batter I got from a wet grinder, not even Hamilton beach.
3. Remove the batter into a vessel.
4. Wash rice rava with water, strain out all the water. Mix it with urad dal batter.
5. Add salt to taste & mix well.
6. Allow it to ferment for 7-9 hours depending on the room temperature.
7. Wilt banana leaves on gas flame, line steamer with the leaves such that there are no gaps. Watch the above video for details.
8. Pour in batter once the steamer is rolling hot.
9. Steam on medium heat for 35-40 minutes.
10. Serve pieces of idlis steaming hot or once cold. Use a dosa turner to cut it into pieces.
11. Serve with coconut oil on top, coconut chutney on the side.
To make rononu interesting:
Finely chop ginger & green chilli into pieces, smash them along with salt, add it to the idli batter & mix well. Then steam them & enjoy.
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