Instant Breakfast Mixes / Dosa / Idli / Upma

Priya Idli Rava is coarsely ground rice, the granular rice rava used with urad dal to make idli batter without grinding whole rice from scratch. It gives idlis a slightly grainier, more open texture than a batter ground entirely from soaked rice, and being pure rice it is naturally gluten-free.

Best for

• Idli batter made with urad dal
• Soft steamed idlis for breakfast
• Steamed rice cakes and rice-and-dal batters generally

How to cook it

Soak urad dal with a little fenugreek for four hours and grind it to a light, fluffy paste. Separately soak the rava in water for about twenty minutes, then squeeze out the excess water and fold it into the ground dal, roughly two parts rava to one part dal by volume. Add salt, cover, and leave it somewhere warm for eight to twelve hours until the batter has risen. Pour into greased idli plates and steam for ten to twelve minutes.

Pack and storage

1kg pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

Telugu Foods Roasted Wheat Rava Fine is fine wheat semolina that has already been roasted, so the step most people skip or rush at the stove is done. Being fine rather than coarse, it cooks quickly and gives a softer, smoother result, and being pre-roasted it is far less likely to turn into a lumpy mass.

Best for

• Quick weekday upma
• Kesari, sheera and rava halwa
• Rava kesari-style sweets and rava ladoo

How to cook it

There is no need to roast it again, though thirty seconds in a dry pan does no harm. For upma, bring two and a half parts water to a rolling boil with salt, then pour in one part rava in a thin stream while stirring without stopping, which is the only reliable way to avoid lumps. Cover and cook on the lowest heat for three minutes, then rest it off the heat for two more. For halwa, use milk in place of water and add the sugar after the rava has absorbed the liquid.

Pack and storage

1kg pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening, in an airtight container.

Telugu Foods Rice Rava is coarsely broken rice, the granular rice used where a recipe wants the grain to hold its shape but cook in minutes rather than the better part of an hour. It cooks softer and stickier than wheat rava, and being pure rice it is naturally gluten-free.

Best for

• Rice rava upma and uppudu pindi
• Idli batter made with urad dal
• Rice porridge and simple breakfast dishes

How to cook it

For upma, temper mustard seeds, chana dal, green chilli and curry leaves in oil, add two and a half parts boiling water to one part rava with salt, then pour the rava in slowly while stirring so it does not clump. Cover and steam on the lowest heat for five to six minutes until the grains are soft and no water sits at the bottom. For idli batter, soak the rava for twenty minutes, squeeze out the water, and fold it into ground urad dal before fermenting.

Pack and storage

1kg pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening, in an airtight container.

Priya Instant Rava Idli Mix is a semolina-based idli mix that needs no overnight fermentation, so the batter rests for a few minutes and goes straight into the steamer. The idlis come out soft with the slightly grainy bite that rava idli is known for.

Best for

• A quick breakfast idli with coconut chutney
• Idli with sambar
• Lunch boxes and last-minute tiffin

How to cook it

Mix the powder with thick curd and water to a spoonable batter, adding the water a little at a time, and leave it to stand for ten to fifteen minutes so the rava swells. A tempering of mustard seeds, broken cashew and curry leaves stirred through at this point is traditional. Grease the idli plates, fill them three-quarters full and steam for ten to twelve minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. Rest the plates for two minutes before unmoulding, or the idlis tear.

Pack and storage

200g pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

Telugu Foods Wheat Rava Coarse is broken wheat at a coarse grind, closer to cracked grain than to fine semolina, and it keeps the bran. It cooks to a firmer, chewier result than Bombay rava and takes longer to soften, which is why it suits savoury pots and breakfast porridges rather than delicate rava dosa.

Best for

• Godhuma upma and savoury broken-wheat dishes
• Wheat rava pongal and khichdi with moong dal
• Sweet or savoury breakfast porridge

How to cook it

Rinse once and drain. In a pressure cooker, use one part rava to three parts water and cook for two or three whistles, then let the pressure drop on its own. In an open pot it needs closer to four parts water and fifteen to twenty minutes of simmering, topped up as it thickens. Temper mustard seeds, chana dal, green chilli and curry leaves in oil first and add the drained rava to that, so the grains take on the flavour as they swell.

Pack and storage

1kg pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening, in an airtight container.

Priya Idli Karam is the dry spice powder eaten with idli and dosa across Andhra and Telangana, ground from lentils and red chillies with salt. It is coarse, pungent and properly hot, and it is served dry at the table with oil or ghee added on the plate rather than cooked into a dish.

Best for

• Idli and dosa with a spoon of sesame oil
• Upma and pesarattu
• Hot rice with ghee

Using it

Put a teaspoon on the plate, mix it with sesame oil or ghee to a loose paste, and dip the idli or dosa into it; mixing at the table is what keeps the powder dry in the jar. It can also be sprinkled over a dosa on the tawa before folding, or stirred into hot rice with ghee. Use a dry spoon, as any moisture will cake the powder.

Pack and storage

100g pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

MTR Instant Dosa Mix is a ready-to-mix batter powder for making dosa, the thin, crisp South Indian rice and lentil crepe. Instead of soaking and grinding rice and urad dal at home, this pack lets you prepare a dosa batter simply by adding water.

The dosa made from this mix has a mild, slightly tangy flavour typical of fermented rice batter, with a crisp texture when cooked well on a hot tawa (griddle).

How to use

• Mix the powder with water to form a smooth, pourable batter and let it rest briefly.
• Heat a tawa or non-stick pan, pour a ladle of batter and spread thinly in a circular motion.
• Drizzle a little oil around the edges and cook until golden and crisp, then fold or roll and serve with chutney or sambar.

Pack size: 200g. Store in a cool, dry place.

Priya Dosa Mix is a ready dosa batter powder of rice and lentil flours: you add water and let it ferment, instead of soaking and grinding rice and urad dal overnight. It makes a standard thin, crisp dosa rather than a thick set dosa.

Best for

• Plain and masala dosa
• Onion and podi dosa
• Weekend breakfast with chutney and sambar

How to cook it

Mix the powder with water to a smooth pouring batter, thinner than a pancake batter, and leave it covered somewhere warm for six to eight hours, or overnight in a cold kitchen, until it rises a little and smells faintly sour. Stir in salt. Heat the tawa until a drop of water skitters across it, wipe it with oil, pour a ladleful in the centre and spread outwards in a spiral. Drizzle oil round the edge and cook until the base lifts away on its own; a dosa that sticks means the tawa was not hot enough.

Pack and storage

500g pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

MTR Instant Sambar Mix is a ready mix for preparing sambar, the South Indian lentil and vegetable stew usually eaten with rice, idli, dosa or vada. Unlike a plain masala powder, this instant mix is designed to make sambar preparation quicker by combining the spice blend for direct use with cooked dal and vegetables.

The finished sambar has the familiar tangy, spiced and slightly sour taste that comes from tamarind and the sambar spice blend, along with the earthy flavour of cooked lentils.

How to use

• Cook toor dal (split pigeon peas) with chopped vegetables until soft.
• Stir in the sambar mix along with tamarind pulp or paste, adjusting quantity to taste.
• Simmer for a few minutes and finish with a tempering of mustard seeds and curry leaves in oil before serving.

Pack size: 200g. Store in a cool, dry place.

MTR Instant Vada Mix is a ready mix for making vada, the popular South Indian savoury fritter usually shaped like a small doughnut and deep-fried until crisp. The mix is based on urad dal (black gram) flour along with seasonings, so there is no need to soak and grind lentils separately.

Vada made from this mix has a crisp, golden outer layer and a soft centre, with the mildly spiced, savoury taste typical of lentil-based fritters. It is commonly served with coconut chutney and sambar.

How to use

• Mix the powder with water to form a thick, holdable batter.
• Shape small portions into rounds with a hole in the centre.
• Deep-fry in hot oil until golden brown and crisp on the outside, then drain and serve hot.

Pack size: 500g. Store in a cool, dry place.

Aachi Rice Idly Mix is a ready idli batter mix of rice and lentil flour, so the overnight soaking and wet grinding are already done. You add water, let it ferment, and steam. The idlis come out soft and white, much as a home-ground batter would.

Best for

• Soft steamed idlis for breakfast
• Idli with sambar and chutney
• Lunch boxes and easy weekday mornings

How to cook it

Mix the powder with water to a thick batter that drops slowly off a spoon rather than pouring, and leave it covered somewhere warm for six to eight hours, or overnight in a cold kitchen, until it has risen and smells faintly sour. Stir in salt gently, without knocking the air out. Grease the idli plates, fill them three-quarters full, and steam for ten to twelve minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Rest for two minutes before unmoulding.

Pack and storage

1kg pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening, in an airtight container.

Telugu Foods Bombay Rava, also sold as upma rava, is coarse wheat semolina, the granular flour left after the bran is removed. It is unroasted, so it needs a few minutes in a dry pan before it goes into a dish, and it cooks into distinct grains rather than a paste when the water ratio is right.

Best for

• Upma with onion, green chilli and curry leaves
• Rava dosa and rava idli
• Kesari, sheera and halwa

How to cook it

Dry roast the rava on medium heat for four or five minutes until it smells nutty and the grains move freely, then set it aside; skipping this is the usual reason upma turns to porridge. For upma, use one part rava to two and a half parts boiling water, add the rava in a steady stream while stirring constantly to stop lumps forming, then cover and cook on low heat for three to four minutes. For halwa, keep the same ratio but use milk or a milk and water mix.

Pack and storage

1kg pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening, in an airtight container.

Bambino Vermicelli is thin, wheat-based vermicelli (seviyan), a pantry staple in Indian kitchens used in both sweet and savoury dishes. Bambino is a well-known vermicelli brand widely used across South India.

The vermicelli has a mild, wheaty taste that takes on the flavour of the dish it is cooked in, whether that is a milky, sweet payasam or kheer, or a savoury vermicelli upma.

How to use

• Roast the vermicelli lightly in ghee or oil if it is not pre-roasted, then add milk and sugar for a sweet payasam, or water and vegetables for a savoury upma.
• Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vermicelli softens and the liquid is absorbed.

Pack size: 350g. Store in a cool, dry place in an airtight container.

MTR Roasted Vermicelli (Seviyan) is wheat vermicelli that has already been roasted, so it can be used directly in cooking without the extra step of roasting it in ghee or oil first. It is commonly used to make both sweet dishes, such as payasam or kheer, and savoury dishes, such as vermicelli upma.

The vermicelli has a light, toasted flavour from the roasting and a soft texture once cooked, absorbing the taste of milk, sugar or spices depending on the dish.

How to use

• For a sweet dish, add the vermicelli directly to boiling milk with sugar and simmer until soft.
• For a savoury dish, add it to a pan with tempered vegetables and water or stock, then cook until the liquid is absorbed and the vermicelli is tender.

Pack size: 950g. Store in a cool, dry place.

Annam Dosa Mix is a ready ground blend of rice and lentil flours for making dosa without soaking, grinding and fermenting from scratch. You add water and salt and you have batter, which turns a weekend job into a weekday one.

Best for

• Plain and masala dosa at short notice
• Uttapam with onion, tomato and chilli
• Paniyaram and quick tiffin breakfasts

How to cook it

Whisk the mix with water to a smooth, pourable batter, a little thinner than pancake batter, and let it stand for twenty to thirty minutes so the flours take up the water. Heat a tava until a drop of water skitters, rub it with oil, pour a ladleful and spread it outward in a spiral. Drizzle oil at the edges and lift when the underside is golden and comes away cleanly.

Pack and storage

1kg pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

MTR Vermicelli (Seviyan) is unroasted wheat vermicelli, thin strands of wheat-based pasta commonly used in Indian cooking for both sweet and savoury dishes. Being unroasted, the vermicelli needs to be roasted in a little ghee or oil before cooking, which is the traditional first step in most seviyan recipes.

Once cooked, this vermicelli has a soft texture and a mild, wheaty taste that takes on the flavour of whatever it is cooked with, whether that is a sweet payasam or kheer, or a savoury upma-style dish.

How to use

• Roast the vermicelli in a little ghee or oil until lightly golden.
• For a sweet dish, add milk and sugar and simmer until soft; for a savoury dish, add water or stock and vegetables and cook until tender.

Pack size: 950g. Store in a cool, dry place in a sealed container after opening.