Ramassery Idli

Ramassery idilly is a famous traditional food of Ramassery village near Elappully in Palakkad district.The shape and taste of this dish is entirely different from the traditional idilly of Tamil Nadu.This is circular in shape like a small dosa.This can be keep for one week without much detioration in taste.
The mudaliyar family migrated about 200 years from Tamil Nadu has brought and spread this unique taste in Ramassery.Now it is considered as a special food.Four familes alone are now engaging in the preparation this food item.
Ramassery idily is preparing in a specially designed mud pots. We can prepare 3 iddily at a time.Since the preparation is in steam the food is very soft and nutritious. To get a uniform heat tamarind wood is using for the preparation. The major ingredients of this idily are rice and black gram.For every 1Kg of rice 150 gm of black gram is needed.The spicy powder , Chamanthy pody ,made out of roasted rice,pepper,broken black gram and red chilly and coconut oil is the ideal combination for this food item.

Ramassery Idli Shop - Saraswathy Tea Stall

Ramasseri, an offbeat village in Palakkad is known all over Kerala for the idlis it makes—the delicious Ramasseri Idli. Spongy and soft Ramasseri Idli is slightly different in shape from the conventional idlis. It is a little flat and round. Ramasseri Idli is eaten with Podi mixed in coconut oil. The beginning was from a Mudaliar family living near Mannath Bhagavathi Temple in Ramasseri near Elappully.

The recipe of Ramasseri idli dates back to about one century,which again is a trade secret. The Muthaliyar family had migrated to Palakkad from Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu. The new generation in the profession says that the secret of the recipe and taste were handed down to them from the older women of the community. Now the idli business is confined to four families in Ramasseri. Selection of rice is very important in making Ramasseri idli. Usually the varieties used are Kazhama, Thavalakannan, Ponni etc.

The taste depends on the boiling of paddy itself. Drying and dehusking are also important and need to be done in a particular way. The combination of rice and black gram is also equally important. For 10 kg of rice, one kg of black gram is used. Idli is made only after four hours of fermentation. Steaming of the idli is done on a cloth covered on the mud pot using firewood. This allegedly provides a special taste to the preparation.

Leftover Idli can be torn into crumbs and used for preparing dishes such as Idli fry and Idli Upma.