Kanjeevaram idli is a spiced, cylindrical idli from Kanchipuram. It is served as prasadam at the Varadarajar Perumal temple. There are several variants of this delicious snack. This one was passed down to me by my grand-aunt.
What you need
Parboiled rice – 1 cup
Raw rice – 1 cup
Black gram – 1 cup
Whole black pepper – 2 tsp
Pepper powder – 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Dry ginger powder or an inch of ginger finely chopped – 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida – a pinch
Salt - to taste
Curry leaves, washed, chopped fine – a few
Gingelly oil – 2 ladles
Ghee, melted – 1/2 ladle
Cooking instructions
Soak the rice and black gram together overnight. Grind to a slightly coarse batter. Add the pepper powder, cumin seeds, dry ginger powder, whole pepper, salt and asafoetida and grind again.
Allow the batter to ferment for about ten hours.
Add the chopped curry leaves, the gingelly oil and ghee and mix well.
Pour into greased stainless steel tumblers or cups and steam for 20 minutes or till done. The tumblers may be lined with plantain leaves to add to the aroma. Serve hot with gun powder (milagai podi).
This idli does not spoil and may be stored for a couple of days.
Radha Vasudevan is a social scientist/educationist and runs a school.
