Kancheepuram Idli

For this week marathon, I have decided to post the famous recipes from Tamil Nadu.Starting with the divine city near Chennai - Kancheepuram.
Kancheepuram, also called temple city of Tamil nadu is famous for its temples, silk sarees and of course Kancheepuram idlis.This idli is different from the normal ones with added spices and flavours.This is a parasadam served in Varadharaja Perumal temple at Kancheepuram.Typically these idlis are steam cooked in Dhonnai (Made with banana or mandharai leaves) which gives an extra divine flavor to it.

Ingredients
For Idli batter:
Raw Rice: 1 cup
Boiled Rice: 2 cup
Urad dhal: 1 cup
For seasoning
Sesame oil: 2 tablespoon
Melted ghee: 1 tablepoon
Fresh thick curd: 3 tablespoon
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
Pepper: 1.5 tsp
Jeera/Cumin seeds: 1.5 tsp
Ginger powder/sukku podi: 1 tsp
Hing: 1/2 tsp
Cashew nuts: 1 tablespoon (optional)
Curry leaves: a sprig


Procedure:
Step1:
Soak the dhal and rice separately for 6 - 8 hrs


Step2:
Grind them separetly , add salt and allow to ferment overnight

Step3:
Powder pepper and cumin seeds to a coarse powder


Step4:
Heat 2 tsp of ghee in a pan and slightly fry the pepper cumin powder ,ginger powder,hing and curry leaves.Fry the cashews as well

Step5:
Add this to the batter. Also add the remaining ghee, sesame oil and curd and mix well

Step6:
Pour it into idli moulds and steam cook for 15 - 20 minutes(This may take little longer to cook than normal idlis)


Step7:
Serve with idli milagai podi or sambar