Soak the Idli rice for at least 4 hours.

Drain the rice and then grind it along with green chilies to a coarse batter. The rice need not be ground to a smooth paste. You can add water as needed and grind it to a coarse batter. The consistency of the batter can be like a dosa batter.

Add the salt needed for the batter and mix well.

In a heavy bottom, heat 2 tablespoon of oil. Add the mustard seeds, chana dal, asafetida and curry leaves and let it fry for few seconds.

Add the ground batter and mix well. Cook the batter in low to medium flame until it becomes a solid mass. This will take about 10 to 15 minutes.

Cover the pan and let it cool down enough to handle.

Once the dough is cool enough to handle, make small to medium balls out of it and place it on a greased steamer plate.

Preheat the steamer vessel in the meantime. Once all the dough has been shaped, place it inside the steamer and steam for 12 to 15 minutes. I used my Instant pot for steaming the pidi kozhukattai. I set it on steam function with the vent open and steamed it for about 14 minutes.

Let it rest for few minutes and then serve the pidi kozhukattai with chutney of your choice.