Idli Milagai Podi

Podi refers to dry powder in Tamil. Idli podi is usually eaten with Idli or Dosai (Please look out for my Idli recipe in the coming weeks). Idli podi is more like an instant mix & is an excellent alternative when full blown sides like Samabars cannot be prepared. Idli podi is also packed with proteins since it is made from different type of pulses. Just mix the Podi with sesame oil & voila! you are ready to eat with your delicious Idlis or Dosas. Here goes the recipe...

Ingredients 
Channa Dhal - 1/4 cup
Urad Dhal - 1/4 cup
Toor Dhal - 1/2 cup
Red chillies - 3/4 cup
Curry leaves - 1/4 cup
Salt - 1 tspn
Sesame seeds- 4 tspn (optional)
Asafoteida - 2 piece or 1 tspn

Method
Dry roast all the ingredients separately. When it cools down grind them into a coarse powder. It is not necessary to roast the salt. Instead of roasting, I tried to oven roast them. It was an experiment to save time. It came out well.The method for oven roasting is as follows..

 Spread the dhal in 3 different cookie sheets & put it in the oven at 300 degrees for 7-13 minutes till the dhal turns light brown. Make sure it's not over browned. Since different dhal roasts at different time, open the oven time to time and take out whichever turns light brown first. For red chillies, curry leaves and sesame seeds you can roast them in a pan. It doesn't take much time. If you prefer roasting them in oven, set the oven at 200 degrees and follow the same procedure as for dhal. So within 30 minutes all the ingredients will be ready to grind without spending much time near the stove. It will be roasted while doing something else. Another advantage of oven roasting the chillies is, it doesn't give out as much fumes as doing the other way. This podi will  last for 2-3 months. If you are planning to keep it for long time, opt out the sesame seeds. It goes rancid in few months when roasted and ground to powder.

Curry masala powder

Ingredients

• 1/4 tablespoons cumin seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom seeds
• 1 tablespoons coriander seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cloves
  
• 1/2 Star Anises
• 1/4 tablespoon fennel seeds
• 1/4 inch cinnamon stick  
• 1 teaspoon chili powder or cayenne powder
• 1/4 tablespoon curry leaf powder  
• 1/2 teaspoons turmeric powder
• 1/4 mace (Jathipatri in Tamil & Jawitri in Hindi)
• 1/2 tspn Kalpaasi

Directions 

Dry roast all the ingredients except for the powders & grind them together. Mix the powdered ingredients with the ground mix when it cools down & store in an air tight container. Homemade curry powder is more stronger in flavor & fresher than store bought masala. A little masala goes a long way. Use 1/4 tspn of homemade curry powder to masalas along with chilli powder to enhance the flavor.

Pav bhaji masala powder

Ingredients 

50 grams red chili
50 grams coriander seeds
25 grams cumin seeds
25 grams black pepper
25 grams cinnamon
25 grams clove
4-5 black cardamom
25 grams dry mango powder
10 grams fennel seeds
1 tbsp. turmeric powder

Directions 

Roast all the ingredients separately. When cooled, grind them. Sift them and mix dry mango powder & turmeric powder and fill them in an air tight container.

Rasam powder

Ingredients
Red chillies - 4-5 nos
Coriander seeds - 2 tbspn
Toor dal - 1 tbspn
Channa dal - 1 tbspn
Black pepper - 2 tbspn
cumin - 2 tbspn
Turmeric - 1 1/2 tspn
Asafoetida (Hinge) - 1 tspn
Fenugreek powder (Methi seeds) - 1/4 tspn
Curry leaves

Method
Dry all the ingredients under sun light (if possible) except for the powders & grind them till they become coarse. If you can't dry them under sun, dry roast just the curry leaves till it gets crispy & turn off the heat & add the remaining ingredients. Let them sit in the skillet  for some time. Your rasam powder is ready. The picture show above is not the actual quantity. It is just for picture purposes.

Paruppu podi

Ingredients
Toor dal - 1/2 cup
Black pepper - 1 tspn
Hinge - 1/2 tspn
cumin seeds - 1 tspn
red chillies - 2 nos
garlic powder -1/2 tspn
curry leaves

Method
Dry roast all the above ingredients separately except for garlic powder. Grind the dry roasted ingredients together with salt & garlic powder. Paruppu podi is ready, so simple, isn't it? Store the podi in an airtight container. Podi will be fresh for 3-4 months. You may consume it by mixing it with rice & ghee.

Tea Masala Powder

Ingredients
Dry ginger powder - 2 tbspn
Black pepper - 1 tspn
Cinnamon - 1 inch
Cardamom - 1 tspn
cloves - 3 nos
Nutmeg powder - 1/2 spoon

Grind all the above ingredients together in a mixer or blender. Add 1/4 teaspoon for 2 cups while tea is boiling. Store any remaining masala powder in an air tight container for future use.

Kootu podi

Ingredients
Coriander seeds - 2 tbspn
Channa dhal - 1/4 cup
Red chilli -3 nos
Urad dhal - 1/4 cup
Cumin seeds - 2.tspn
Pepper   -  1/2 tspn
Poppy seeds - 1 tspn
Cinnamon - 1/2" piece.

Method
Dry roast all the ingredients separately till it gets golden brown & grind them all. That is all, kootu podi is ready for use. Store it in an airtight container.This podi can be used while making mixed vegetable kootu. Please refer the recipe for the mixed vegetable kootu in this link. This podi gives nice flavor  & thickens the kootu.