Kanchipuram Idli |Spiced Tamil Kanchi Idli Recipe| Kanjeevaram idlee

Kanchipuram Idli is a special traditional type of Idli made at Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu. It is very delicious and easy to prepare. Kanchipuram Idli is slightly different from the usual plain Idli. Kanchipuram Idlis have a distinct taste of cumin seeds, ginger and pepper.The Kanchipuram Idlis taste very good with onion chutney.Kancheepuram Idlis are a trendy version of the ideal basic idli. They are healthy and nutritious to eat, retains its flavor, colour and taste. This goes well with sambar or coconut chutney too.

 Generally a basic plain idli is bland and white in color but the Kanchipuram Idli is different, looks colorful and seasoning gives an excellent flavor and taste to the Idli. This traditional Idli is also offered as prasadam in some temples. Kanchipuram Idlis are specially cooked in a big cake or cooked in small deep cups instead of using the standard idli stand. They are healthy and nutritious. I had made the idlis in the regular idli mould.

Kanchipuram, Kanchi or Kancheepuram is the temple city in Kanchipuram district of Tamil Nadu. It is also called as ‘City of 1000 temples’ and is also famous for its hand woven silk sarees. Kanchipuram idli is as popular as the temples in the South Indian town!

Idlis are normally healthy low fat nutritious breakfast commonly available in every South Indian house and restaurants. The steamed Idlis (cakes) are made of fermented batter of Lentils and boiled rice. It is generally cooked for breakfast almost thrice in a week. They are like pleasing white in color, very light, fluffy and with lots of nutritional goodness. Light and fluffy idlis just melt away in your mouth. They are one of the best diets for old aged, patients and diet freaks.

Kanchipuram Idlis makes a ideal breakfast for children’s tiffin box as its easy to pack and taste good. They can also be seasoned with chilli, curry leaves to add more flavor and onions for crunchiness and cashew nuts for nuttiness. They also taste exceptionally good with Onion tomato chutney.Kanchi idlis with garlic podi (velluli karam podi) is yet another deadly combination.

Ingredients

1/2 cup urad dal

1 cup idly rava /  cream of rice /rice sooji

3 green chillies

10 curry leaves

1 inch finely chopped ginger

10-15 black pepper(kali miri) coarsely crushed

3 tbsp oil

10-15 cashew (kaju) broken into medium pieces

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp chana dal / bengal gram

1 tsp urad dal / Black dal

Method :

1 Soak urad dal and cream of rice separately for 7-8 hrs.

2. Next grind urad dal to a very fine paste adding little water, the batter should be ground to very smooth batter.

 

3.Drain off all the liquid from the idli rava / cream of rice

4.Mix the ground paste and rava together along with salt

5.Let it ferment for 12 hours or overnight so that it turns out little sour.

6 Fry cashew till golden brown in oil . In same oil do the tempering/ tadka i.e., heat oil and add chana dal, cumin , mustard seeds, cashew nuts, urad dal and chana dal. Once they start to pop add curry leaves .Pour tadka along with cashews into batter & mix with the batter.

7In the batter add crushed pepper, chopped ginger, green chillies .Mix everything together

8.Pour some batter in the idli moulds and steam cook for 15 - 20 mins. To check if idlis are done insert a knife in the idli if it comes out clean and if batter don't stick to knife  they are done and ready to be served.

9.Carefully remove the steamed rice and lentil cakes from the moulds with a flat spoon.

Tips

1.We can also pour this batter in a deep plate and pour 4 laddles of flour in it. Steam it in a pressure cooker or idli cooker for about 20-30 min. Remove from the stove and cut it to small squares and serve.

2.For basic idli  batter you can even try  this ratio - 1 cup urad dal,1 cup raw rice ,1 cup boiled rice or use the following ratio - 1 cup urad dal,1 cup raw rice ,1 cup idli rava