Idli is a traditional and healthy dish served in many parts of south India. If you have the batter ready, idli can be whipped up very quickly. I know of many families where they grind the idli batter twice a week or even more often. Although plain idli’s are tasty we certainly would like variations. One such variation is the Kanchipuram idli where the batter has more of urad dal than the regular idli. It also has the distinct taste of cumin seeds and ginger. Traditionally this idli uses a combination of parboiled rice and raw rice, but I have used only idli rice.

Ingredients
1.5 cups idli rice
3/4 cup urad dal
1/2 tsp peppercorns
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp chopped ginger
Curry leaves
1 tsp ghee (optional)

Tips
1. You can add grated carrots, peas, etc to the idli.
2. Batter should be ground coarsely.

Method
Soak the dal and rice together for 2-3 hours.

Grind coarsely. I had to grind it for only 10 minutes in the grinder. Add salt and asafoetida and keep it in a warm place to ferment.

In the same pan fry ginger and curry leaves.

Add the pepper-cumin mixture, ginger and curry leaves to the fermented batter. Add a tsp of ghee if using.

Mix well.

Ready for steaming. Steam in pressure cooker (no weight valve) or idli cooker for 10 minutes.

Idli’s are done.

Tasty and fluffy Kanchipuram idli ready to be had with chutney and sambar.

Enjoy!