Tiranga (tri-colored) Kanjeevaram (Kanchipuram) Idli

It’s been a long time since I made kanjeevaram idli. Since my mom was visiting us, I got a chance to have these idlis.Unlike regular idli that is bland, plain and white in color, the Kanjeevaram idli is different. It is a colorful and seasoned Idli. The seasoning gives it a nice flavor.

I wanted to try making tri-colored dish for Republic day. So thought why not give a try with these idlis. I used tomato for saffron color and spinach for green color.

This is an ideal travel food. It doesn’t get spoilt for a long time. So, in the Iyengar weddings, this is packed for kattu saadha koodai along with puliyodharai and bahala bath.

I steamed /cooked as a big cake instead of using a traditional idli stand. Let’s see how it is made.

Ingredients:                                                                             

Raw rice	1 Cup
Par boiled rice	1 Cup
Urad dal	1 Cup
Dried ginger ((Sukku powder)	1 Tsp.
Pepper Jeera powder	1 Tsp.
Salt	1 Tsp.
Asafoetida	½ Tsp.
Ghee	1 Tsp.
Sesame oil	1 Tbsp.
Yogurt	1 Tbsp.
Spinach	1 cup
Store-bought tomato paste	1 Tbsp.

For seasoning

Oil(Sesame oil)	1 Tbsp.
Mustard	1 Tsp.
Bengal gram	1 Tsp.
Urad dal	1 Tsp.
Curry leaves	Few sprigs

Method:

Soak raw rice, par boiled rice and urad dal together for 6 hrs. Grind them into a slightly coarse paste.

Leave the batter in a warm place to ferment for 6-8 hrs. When the batter is ready, add salt, dried ginger powder, pepper jeera powder, asafoetida, ghee, sesame oil and yoghurt.

Next - heat oil in a pan, add all ingredients (mentioned in the seasoning) one after another. When they turn golden brown, add to the batter.

Now we are ready to make idli cake. Divide the batter into 3 equal parts, first one for orange color, second one for white color, and last one for green color.

Orange Batter: Mix store-bought tomato paste to the idli batter.

Green batter: Blanch spinach in water. Grind it to a fine paste. Mix the paste to the batter.

Take a flat wide-bottom vessel that will fit inside your pressure cooker. Grease the vessel well with oil. First, pour orange color batter.

Steam it by keeping the vessel inside your pressure cooker for 5 minutes on a medium flame. Now lower the flame.

Next - pour the regular white batter over the steamed green batter

. Increase the flame and steam it again for 5 minutes.

Lower the flame, pour the final green colored batter over the steamed white batter. Increase the flame and steam it again for 5 minutes. Switch off the flame. Let the idlis completely cool

. (Don’t try to remove the idlis before it cools completely. You won’t get the shape what you are looking for. )

Tri colored kanjeevaram idlis are ready to serve with tomato chutney.

 Tips that I follow for this recipe:

• I used 1 quart. Pyrex Glass Container to make idlis.
• To ensure that I get the colors mixed well, I took some batter and spinach Paste and once ground them in mixer.
• In order to get the idlis out of pan in shape, I made sure they were cooled completely and greased the container very well with oil.