Almost every festival in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana will include Chalimidi in some form as a naivedyam or prasadam. It is called Akki Thambittu in Karnataka.
To a bowl, add the 1 cup rice flour, 3 tbsp grated coconut, 3/4 cup powdered sugar, and 1/2 tsp cardamom powder.
Mix well.
Melt 4 tbsp ghee.
Gradually add the melted ghee to rice flour mix.
Mix well. You should have a wettish mix that can still be shaped into a soft ball.
Shape the Pachi Chalimidi into a large ball or into small laddus.
Offer as naivedyam along with Panakam and Vada Pappu.
Notes
You can also make Chalimidi with Grated Jaggery. In this case, grate the jaggery till it is very fine and then add hot ghee to jaggery to melt it. Then add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
You can use small pieces of coconut instead of coconut. If you are doing that fry the pieces in the heated ghee till they just start to change color.
I have used both store-bought and home-made rice flour with equally good results. Now-a-days, I stick to store-bought flour as I rarely have the time to make rice flour afresh.