Traditional kanchipuram idly

Hi friends, 

Happy weekend. Many of you would have heard about kanchipuram idli and many of you would have tried it too. We had the opportunity to taste it at kanchipuram varadaraja temple. Kanchipuram idly is made with a lot of spices. There it is a little sour and you have no side dish.

Every year me and my parents with my paternal side used to go to varadarajar temple for Thirumanjana seva. We used to meet at tambaram thathas house and from there we used to go by van to kanchipuram.  

Fresh idlies soaked in podi and oil, puliyodharai, vadam , curd rice and pickles were packed by the ladies for the trip. It was just a one day trip. But the memories  last forever. At the end of the seva,we used to get this idly at the temple as prasadam.

Traditionally it is prepared in bamboo casings with mandarai leaves.

For a change , we too can, instead of using traditional idli plates, use tumblers or cake tins to steam this cake.

Kanchipuram idli 

INGREDIENTS:- 

Raw rice      :- 1 cup

Idly rice       :- 1 cup

U.dal             :- 1 cup

Vendayam   :- 2 tbsp

Salt

Soak everything in a bowl for a good 3- 4 hrs. Then grind it like idly batter with salt, but this batter should not be too smooth. Keep it aside for 8 hrs for it to ferment. 

To temper  :-

Oil                           :- 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds      :- 1 tsp

Sukku powder      :- 2 tsp

Pepper                    :- 2 tsp crushed 

Jeera                        :- 2 tsp crushed

Ginger                     :- 2 tsp finely chopped 

Curry leaves 

In a pan pour oil , temper mustard seeds, pepper, jeera, ginger, curry leaves.  Pour the tempering into the batter. Add the sukku powder to the batter. Mix it well. Kanchipuram idli batter is ready. 

Now pour the batter into oiled cups or tumblers and keep it for steaming.  Steam till the idlies are cooked . Serve it hot with chutney 

Some tips

Traditionally it's made only with raw rice. But here we are including idly rice too.

You can add fried cashews to the batter before steaming.

Onion tomato chutney works best for this idly. 

This idly is best when consumed that day itself.  It doesn't keep well in the fridge. 

This measurement is suitable for 4-5 people.