Kanchipuram Idly

Ingredients

Raw rice (pachcharisi) - 3 cup

Urid dhal (ulutham paruppu) - 1 cup
Pepper (milagu) - 1 teaspoon
Jeera - 1 teaspoon
Dry ginger (sukku) - 1 small piece
Asafoetida - 1/2 teaspoon
Gingely oil (nallennai) - 1 tablespoon
Sunflower oil- 1 tablespoon
Ghee - 1 tablespoon

Whichever cup you use, maintain the above ratio

Maavu (Batter) Preparation

1. Soak raw rice and urid dhal in same vessel for 4 hours
2. Wash this thoroughly 4 times and drain the water
3. Coarsely grind the rice and urid dhal in a mixer grinder
4. Transfer this to a vessel
5. Add salt and mix
6. Allow this to ferment for 8 hours. If the initial batter occupies half the vessel, after
fermentation the batter must occupy three fourths of the vessel.
7. Coarsely grind the pepper, jeera and dry ginger in a mixer grinder. (Just grind for
few seconds)
8. Mix this with batter
9. Lightly heat gingely oil, sunflower oil, ghee and mix this with batter
10. Store the batter in fridge
Idly Preparation

Idly can be made using a regular idly plate (OR) For making large sized idly, use a cooker
vessel. After cooking you can make pieces of idly.

If using idly plate :

1. Fill the idly plates with batter

2. Keep the plate in a pressure cooker
3. Add 2 tumblers of water in the cooker and steam for 10 minutes (without using a
whistle)
4. During cooking, after five or six minutes, check whether water is present in
cooker. If not add 2 tumblers of water again in the cooker

If using cooker vessel :

1. For making idly for 2 persons, use 6 ladles (kuzhi karandi) of batter
2. Fill the batter in a vessel. Vessel must be able to hold double the size of batter
quantity, as the batter size will double when idly is prepared.
3. Keep this inside a pressure cooker
4. Stove must be in low flame
5. Add 2 tumblers of water in the cooker and steam for 20 minutes (without using a
whistle)
6. During cooking, every 5 minutes, check whether water is present in cooker. If not
add 2 tumblers of water again in the cooker
7. Cut the idly into cakes of required size
8. For preparing idly for 4 or 6 people, you can use 2 or 3 vessels of same size in the
pressure cooker
 KANCHIPURAM IDLI RECIPE, KOVIL IDLI RECIPE

SAVE PRINT
PREP TIME
8 hours
COOK TIME
20 mins
TOTAL TIME
8 hours 20 mins

Kanchipuram Idli Recipe, Tamilnadu Kovil Idli Recipe. Kanchipuram Kovil Idli Recipe. Kovil Idli / Idly preparation with
step by step pictures.
Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
Recipe type: Idli
Cuisine: Tamilnadu
Serves: 1 liter batter

INGREDIENTS
 Measurements used - 1 cup = 250 ml (approx)
For the batter
 ¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
 ½ cup parboiled rice
 ½ cup raw rice
 ½ cup whole white urad dal
 ½ cup poha / aval
 1 teaspoon salt
Spices
 2 teaspoon ghee
 2 sprigs curry leaves, finely chopped
 ½ teaspoon asafoetida / hing
 1 teaspoon dry ginger powder
 1½ teaspoon cumin seeds
 1½ teaspoon black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Wash and soak the raw rice, parboiled rice, urad dal and fenugreek seeds in water over night.
Drain the water and grind the mixture to a slightly coarse paste. Add up to a cup of water for
grinding and grind the batter in batches in the mixie. Do not add too much water while
grinding.
2. Soak the poha for 10 minutes in half a cup of water. Grind it to a smooth paste and add it to
the batter.
3. Heat ghee in a pan and add in the crushed cumin pepper mixture and curry leaves. Once the
curry leaves are crisp, switch off the flame. Add in the dry ginger powder and asafoetida. Toss
well and add it to the batter.
4. Add in the salt to the batter and mix everything well to combine. Cover the pan with a lid and
allow it to ferment in a draft free place for 8-10 hours.
5. Steam the idli for 20 minutes. Serve with chutney and sambar.

KANCHIPURAM IDLI RECIPE, KOVIL IDLI

RECIPE
October 13, 2016 by Suguna Vinodh 10 Comments

The Kanchipuram Idli or the Kovil Idli is the traditional prasadam offered in
the Varadharaja Perumal Temple at Kancheepuram. The idlis are cooked
in bamboo casings lined with dried “mandharai” leaves. The mandharai
leaves add to the flavour of the idlis. The batter for the idlis is mixed with
spices and steamed. I adapted the recipe from here.

Wash and soak the raw rice, parboiled rice, urad dal and fenugreek seeds
in water over night. They all can be soaked together. Drain the water and
grind the mixture to a slightly coarse paste. Run the batter in your fingers
and you should feel the texture similar to that of very fine rava. Stop
grinding when you reach that texture. The batter should not be very
smooth. Add up to a cup of water for grinding and grind the batter in
batches in the mixie. Do not add too much water while grinding.

Soak the avalakki / aval / poha for 10 minutes in half a cup of water. Grind
it to a smooth paste and add it to the batter. This is not a very traditional
ingredient but I like to add it as it makes for a very soft textured idli at the
end. I really like adding a little bit of aval as it tremendously improves the
texture of the idli.
Next comes the star ingredients. Its the spices that makes the kanchipuram
style idli so tasty. The main spice in the idli is the dry ginger, cumin seeds
and black pepper. The aroma of dry ginger in the batter is so heavenly!

Note: Dry ginger is called as Sukku in tamil.

Pulse the pepper and cumin in a mixie jar for a couple of times to slightly
crush the spices. The cumin and pepper can also be crushed in a mortar
and pestle.

Heat ghee in a pan and add in the ground cumin pepper mixture and curry
leaves. Once the curry leaves are crisp, switch off the flame. Add in the dry
ginger powder and asafoetida. Toss well and add it to the batter.
Add in the salt to the batter and mix everything well to combine. Cover the
pan with a lid and allow it to ferment in a draft free place for 8-10 hours.

The batter is now ready for steaming. You can steam the idlis in the regular
idli plates but Kanchipuram idlis are steamed like cakes and cut afterwards.
We will be using a 2 inch deep bowl to steam the idlis today. Grease the
bowl with some oil and fill the bowl half way through.

Steam the bowl for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, insert a toothpick and the
idlis are cooked if it comes clean. Cook for some more minutes if need be.

Remove from heat and let the bowl rest for five minutes. Insert a knife on
the edges to release the sides of the idlies. Cut the idlies and serve.
Serve with chutney and sambar.