Kanchipuram idli
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A spiced temple idli flavoured with pepper, cumin, ginger and ghee, traditionally made as an offering in Kanchipuram's Vishnu temple.
Region: KanchipuramOccasion: Temple prasadam; breakfastTime: 40 min + soaking and fermentingServes: 4Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw rice and ½ cup parboiled rice
- 1 cup whole skinned urad dal
- 1 cup thick curd
- Salt to taste
- 3 tbsp ghee
- 1 tbsp gingelly oil
- 1 tsp whole black pepper, coarsely crushed
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp grated ginger
- A pinch of hing
- A sprig of curry leaves
- 10 cashews, broken
- Dried ginger powder, a pinch
Method
- Soak the rice and the dal separately for 4 hours. Grind both to a slightly coarse (rava-like) batter.
- Mix with the curd and salt and leave to ferment overnight.
- Heat the ghee and oil and fry the pepper, cumin, ginger, hing, curry leaves and cashews. Add the dried ginger.
- Stir the tempering into the batter.
- Pour into a greased steel tumbler or a bowl lined with banana or mandarai leaves and steam for 25–30 minutes until a knife comes out clean.
- Cool slightly, cut into slices and serve with gingelly oil and milagai podi or sambar.
History
This idli is associated with the Varadaraja Perumal Temple in Kanchipuram, where it is made as a temple offering and is traditionally steamed as a large cylinder.
Significance
It shows the temple style of Tamil cooking, rich in ghee, pepper and dry ginger. Pepper rather than chilli was traditional in temple kitchens.