Ramassery 9 kms from Palakkad town is famous for round idlis. The recipe is the same as that of ordinary idlis.It is prepared by grinding rice black gram and fenu greek. The magic is in preparation of these idlis.
Earthern pots are used for boiling water.The batter is spread on a piece of thin,white cloth placed on a special iron mesh over the pot.It takes five to seven minutes to cook .Only three meshes will be used on a hearth at a time.The heat wont spread evenly if there are more meshes and that will affect taste,says Ammal who is a fourth generation mudaliar family in Ramassery which had introduced the special idlis to kerala.
Traditional hearth is still used to cook idlis though grinders have replaced the traditional grinding rock stones.No other wood makes perfect fire like the tamarind tree wood ammal says pointing to the godown behind the kitchen where the wood is stocked. The soft and puffed idlis served with sambar coconut chutney chilli chutney and idli podi.