MY AMMA'S KANCHIPURAM IDLY RECIPE :-))

Ingredients :-

Raw rice: 1 cup

Par-boiled rice: 1 cup

alternately, you can take 2 cups of raw rice)

Urad dal - 1 cup
Curds - 1/2 cup

Masala: Black pepper, cumin seeds, 1-inch ginger piece, 1 sprig curry leaves and salt to taste

Mustard, black gram and bengal gram for seasoning.

Gingelly oil - about 5 teaspoons


Method :-

Soak the urad dal and rice separately for about two hours. Grind the urad dal (I use a food processor or mixie, since the quantity is small and doesn't require the wet grinder) to a fine paste. This takes about 3 minutes. Remove this and then grind the rice to a coarse paste, which takes about 3 minutes again. Do not add salt at this stage, as it tends to dilute the batter. Mix the ground urad dal and rice and store.

After about 8 hours, your Kancheepuram idli batter is ready. Grind the black pepper, cumin seeds, ginger, curry leaves and salt to a coarse powder. Heat the gingelly oil and add mustard. When it sputters, add the black gram and bengal gram and toss till golden brown. Now switch off the stove and immediately add the ground masala powder and turn till it gives off a nice flavor. Add this to the batter with the curds.

The seasoning requires at least 5 teaspoons of gingelly oil. This is essential to obtain the genuine taste of this idli.

Here comes the interesting part. Kancheepuram idli typically comes in odd shapes. For want of other options, you can cook it in your regular idli mold. Else, pour the batter to about an inch thickness in a round vessel and cook (in a cooker/microwave/electric cooker). This takes about 20 minutes. On removing, you can cut it into various shapes.

Truly tried this for the first time and came out very well :-))