Kancheepuram idli/Kudalai idli/Rice and lentils cake

There are few things that come up to my mind if I think about Kancheepuram. Obviously, silk sarees, temples, periyavaa and the Kanchi idly which is also known as kudalai idli. Which are traditionally cooked in dried leaf cups or fresh banana leaf. They make it in a huge size which takes hours to cook but in homestyle we can do it in less than 15 mins.

Urad dal health benefits:

Protein rich. The Fermented batter has high prebiotics. Good for diabetes humans. 

Kancheepuram idli/Kudalai idli/Rice and lentils cake

Cuisine: Indian/south

Category: Breakfast

Serves: 5

Preparation time: 8hrs

Cook time: 12-15 min

Ingredients for grinding batter: 

(Soak rice and dal in water separately or even together. But if soaked and ground separately the texture comes out better)

1 cup raw rice

1 cup parboiled rice/idly rice

1 cup urad dal(skinned whole)

½ tsp fenugreek seeds (has to be soaked along with urad dal if dal is soaked separately)

Counting how many soaks I used…😕

Ingredients to temper:

1 tbsp cumin/jeera

1 tbsp pepper

½ tbsp dry ginger powder/fresh minced ginger

1 spring curry leaves

2 tbsp ghee

10-12 cashew nuts (come on you can add as much as you like)

To make Kancheepuram idlis:

1. Grind the soaked rice and dal separately or together to a slightly coarse texture. No rules for grinding like idli or dosa batter so just grind to a coarse texture. Urad dal required 1 cup water and rice required 1 ½ -2 cups water to grind. Set aside overnight to ferment. (at least 6hrs)

2. Once the batter is fermented temper items given to temper and add it to the batter. Fold in the batter and don’t whisk vigorously. Steam the batter in desired moulds with ghee/oil greased inside. If moulds are shallow it takes about 12-15 mins to cook and if the moulds are deeper then it might take some extra time. 

You can check if the idlis are done by piercing a toothpick inside. when it comes out sticky and clean idlis are cooked. Serve hot with idly podi/chutney/sambar.

Note:

The idly batter should be slightly thick not runny. If you want extra flavour cut and place banana leaves in the moulds and steam the batter. Instead of adding ghee you can use sesame oil also.