Kanchipuram Idly and Vellulli Karam -- A match made in Heaven

A healthy low fat nutritious breakfast commonly found in every south Indian house is the mighty Idly i.e, Steamed cakes made with fermented batter of Lentils and Rice. At our house at least 2-3 days a week Idli would be the breakfast. They were like white, very light and fluffy pillows of nutritional goodness. Oh my grandma makes the best fluffiest and lightest Idlies and they would melt in your mouth right away. I remember she used to steam in copper vessel which was so heavy and thick. She took so much effort by preparing the batter in a bigger mortar and pestle ( Rubbu Rolu ) unlike us using the electric blender or grinder. Love you Grandma.



Coming to this
Kanchipuram Idly ( Kanchi Idly ) aka Steamed Vegetable Rice and Lentil Cakes, they are my all time favorite. Onions add crunch, chillies add spice, and cashew nuts add nuttiness and curry leaves add so much flavor to the idlies. Sometimes we used to ask mom to pack these for lunch to school as they taste good even cold unlike the plain Idlies. Vellulli karam( thellagadda karam ) is a garlic, curry laves and cumin flavored red chilli powder which takes minutes to make and goes great with dosa, idly, fried veggies and curries. For us nothing complements these Kanchi idlies better than this vellulli miram.



Ingredients for
Kancheepuram Idly:
  • 1/2 cup urad dal
  • 1 cup idly ravva / uppudu ravva / cream of rice
  • 1 carrot grated
  • 2 onions chopped
  • 4 green chillies
  • 10 curry leaves
  • 1 inch finely chopped ginger
  • chopped cilantro
  • 3 tbsp oil
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tbsp chana dal / bengal gram
  • 1 tsp urad dal / Black dal


Preparation of
Kancheepuram/ vegetable Idly:
  • Soak urad dal and cream of rice separately overnight
  • Next morning grind urad dal to a very fine paste adding water, the natter should be ground to very smooth batter
  • Drain off all the liquid from the ravva / cream of rice
  • Mix the ground paste and ravva together along with salt( try to use your hands, it helps in fermentation )
  • You can make regular plain idlis with this batter otherwise let it ferment for 5 more hours so that it turns out little sour because masala or vegetable idlis taste better when the batter is sour
  • In a kadai or saute pan do the tempering aka tadka i.e., heat oil and add chana dal, cumin mustard seeds, cashew nuts, urad dal and chana dal. Once they start to pop add curry leaves and mix with the batter
  • In the batter add chopped onions, chopped ginger, green chillies and carrot. Mix everything together and pour some batter in the idli moulds and steam cook for 15 - 20 mins. To check for doneness, wet your finger and touch the steamed idlies, if they don't stick to your hands they are done and ready to be served.
  • Carefully remove the steamed rice and lentil cakes from the moulds with a flat spoon

Ingredients for Garlic
chilli powder / Vellulli kaaram podi
  • 1 cup red chilli powder
  • 1/2 cup salt
  • 10 curry leaves
  • 3-4 garlic cloves with the peel on
  • 1 tbsp jeera / cumin seeds


Preparation of Garlic
chilli powder / Vellulli kaaram podi:
  • In a blender add red chilli powder, jeera / cumin seeds, salt and grind to fine powder
  • Add the remaining ingredients i.e, garlic cloves with the peel and curry leaves and grind well
  • Do adjust salt and spice to taste. You can store this garlicky chilli spice powder for up to 2 weeks outside and couple of months in refrigerator
For us, these Vegetable idlis ( Kanchi Idly ) and Garlic chilli powder( velluli miram ) is definitely a sumptuous match made in heaven, you gotta try it to believe it. I'm sure this spice powder beats fresh coconut chutney or sambar along with the steamed rice and lentil cakes( kanchi idly ). To get the maximum flavor, use chilli powder with either clarified butter( ghee ) or fresh lime juice.

This delicious combo is on its way to:

30 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:18 AM

    Wow....nice beautiful entry. Thank you for sending it. I've posted your entry. Do check it out.BTW, you've got a wonderful blog here.It's mt first time here:-)

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  2. what a lovely combo...just tempting!..

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  3. Nice to see such a combination. i think i would be the 8th wonder of the world. Keep it up kalva :)

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  4. Wowo...Idly looks perfect and soft..And vellulli karam looks great..

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  5. Idli and vellulli karam really look yummy.

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  6. Thanks Rathna all entries were really droolworthy!

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  7. Thanks Srivalli and Mohan for stopping by!

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  8. I love kanchipuram idli!!! Garlic powder so inviting...

    This is my first visit to ur blog...Good recipes!!!

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  9. Beautiful pictures.........
    Love idlies any time.

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  10. wow looks great and so so so yummy combo mouthwatering

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  11. The podi looks especially awesome!! I love idlis!

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  12. ooooh, the vellulli karam is sooo tempting! I love it spread on dosa's also.

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  13. That looks stunning and I love the spicy looking velluli kaaram in particular.

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  14. I ve just made the kanj idli for an event but not posted yet. Ur recipe is quiet different , I just love the vellulli karam!

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  15. simply gorgeous!

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  16. Wow great job.Nice combination mouthwatering and so tempting.Cant wait to eat them right now.Thanks for ur wonderful recipes.Good job and keep it up .Wonderful blog .

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  17. Yes Pavithra these soft ans spicy idlies are my all time favorite.. And nothing compliments best like moms Vellulli karam, simply delicious!

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  18. wonderful combo! looks so mouth-watering. Nice pics.

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  19. and sounds lovely

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  20. Anonymous10:00 PM

    Hi Kalva,
    You might want to check this link. I guess it's copied from ur blog...http://renukambal.blogspot.com/2009/02/kanchi-idli-with-side-dish.html

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  21. Kanchi idly looks heaven. When I taste ur kara podi, ouch my tongue is burning and my ears get smoking due to this heat of chilli podi.

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  22. Anonymous3:54 PM

    Fluffy Idlis.. Almost can taste them.. Rich redness of the podi is awsome!

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  23. Woah that's a killer combination, very nicely done!

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  24. Just chanced upon your blog through facebook. The idlis look lovely!

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  25. lovely recipe..though am a follower of ur blog neve got a chance to comment on..i made this for dinner and my hubby liked it a lot :)..do check out my blog
    http://fine-flavours.blogspot.com/ ..also follow if u like it :)

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  26. lovely recipe..though am a follower of ur blog neve got a chance to comment on..i made this for dinner and my hubby liked it a lot :)..do check out my blog
    http://fine-flavours.blogspot.com/ ..also follow if u like it :)

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  27. Amazing pictures ! I wish i wold have then on my portal.

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Thanks for stopping by, reading my posts and leaving your wonderful comments and suggestions. Hope you would visit again for more of my culinary adventures. Happy cooking!!