Spicy Kanjivaram Idlis

This special variety of idli is from Kanchipuram,South India.I remember when we were young,we often used to visit the Sri Parthsarathy Temple,in Chennai.We,as kids,longed to buy and eat from the prasadam counter their famous "pulihodari" and " kanchipuram idli" after finishing our prayers.I therefore thought of sharing this recipe which I came across in one of my old recipe books.I made this for my family a number of times and they enjoyed it too! If you like the flavour of the spices like pepper,cumin seeds or ginger powder then you must try it.This recipe is nearly authentic but there may be some variation also.This idli was steamed as one big portion in a large plate for two hours and then cut into required shapes before serving or but we can use the idly steamer and make small idlis. This serves eight to ten piecesor more. Its gluten free too.

Ingredients	Quantity
Black Gram Dhal (Urad Dhal)	½ cup
Raw Rice	½ cup
Parboiled Rice	½ cup
Dry Ginger Powder	2 tsps
Pepper Corns	2 tsps
Cumin Seeds (Jeera)	1 tsp
Asafoetida (Hing)	¼ tsp
Curry Leaves	a few
Salt	to taste
Sesame Oil (Gingelly Oil)	5 tbsps

Method

1. Soak the dhal and rice seperately in water for two to three hours.


2. Wash them and grind the dhal to a fine paste and grind the rice coarsely and mix all of them in a container with salt. Add water if necessary for the right consistency.Keep this idli batter overnight to ferment.


3. Whenever you want to prepare idlis ,first powder coarsely the ginger powder,cumin seeds,pepper corns,asafoetida and curry leaves in a grinder and keep it aside.


4. Heat two tablespoons of oil in a pan and add it to the batter.Then add the powder of spices and the remaining three tablespoons of oil without heating and mix into the batter well.


5. Take an idli steamer and grease the moulds with gingelly oil and drop a spoonful of the mixed batter into the moulds and steam them in the pressure cooker for ten to twelve minutes.


6. Serve hot with coconut chutney.