Kanchipuram/Kanjeevaram Idly

Kanchipuram is a place famous for temples and silk sarees.Its also popular for a nice flavorful and fluffy idlies in which crunchy cashews and spices incorporated in the idly batter and steam cooked.Originally this idly is steam cooked in thonnai(dried banana leaf cup)which gives a nice aroma to the idly. Today I steamed in a round  vessel and cut into pieces or it can be steamed in a small cups or tumblers.Here follows the recipe for tasty and flavorful Kanchipuram idly for the 7th day of Blogging Marathon.

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Idly or boiled rice	1cup
Raw rice	1cup
Urad dhal	1cup
Mustard seeds	1tsp
Cumin seeds	1tsp
Black pepper(coarsely ground)	1tsp
Cashews(broken)	1tbs
Ginger(chopped)	1tsp
Curd	1/2cup
Cooking soda	a pinch
Asafoetida	a pinch
Curry leaves	2sprigs
Oil	1tbs
Salt	to taste

Method

                   Soak the rice and dhal separately for 3-4 hours and grind it to a smooth batter.Mix in salt and allow it to ferment for atleast 6-8 hours.Heat a pan with oil and crackle the mustard seed,cumin  seeds, chopped ginger and ground pepper.Finally add in the cashews and curry leaves,turn off the stove.Add this to the fermented batter,add the curd,cooking soda and mix it well.

Grease a round,flat base vessel or a steel plate (with side rim)and fill the batter to 1 inch thickness,steam in a idly cooker for 10-15 minutes or till it gets cooked.Once it is done take out and let it cool down for 2  minutes.Remove it from the dish by invert it on top a plate and cut into wedges.

Yummy Kanchipuram Idly is ready.Serve it with sambhar,chutney or idly podi.

• Grinding the rice and dhal in the wet grinder results in soft and fluffy idly.
• A pinch of turmeric powder can be added to the batter to get a nice yellow colored idly.
• Soak the urad dhal and keep in the refrigerator and grinding it with ice cold water gives nice and fluffy batter.

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