Yellu Podi/Sesame Seeds Chutney Powder!

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Yellu podi/Sesame chutney powder.

Ingredients and method: 

First, these are the ingredients for dry roasting:



1. 200 gms. Black sesame seeds/til/karuppu yellu
    Black sesame seed has got more nutrition and smells good.                              
    Dry roast it in a kadaai and let it cool.
    Grind it in a mixi and keep aside.

Fry these ingredients in 1 tsp.of coconut oil:

2. 1 tsp. Mustard seeds/rai/Kadugu.  Let it splutter and then add:

3. 1 tbs. Black gram dhaal/urad dhaal/uluththam paruppu

4.  6-7 Red chillies 

5.  Washed and cleaned curry leaves...add this and fry a little. Then add

6. 2 tsp. of Black pepper/kaali mirchi/milagu (as soon as you hear the        
    'ttup'of one pepper's bursting/spluttering, switch off the fire.  If you allow all  
    the peppers to burst/crackle, the powder might taste bitter).

7. Let it cool and then grind in a mixi.  The chilli seeds should get crushed    
    properly. Add enough salt (1 tsp. first, taste it after grinding and add more if
    needed). 1/2 tsp. of sugar to blend the taste and 1/2 tsp. of Dri Tam
    (brand name for dry tamarind powder) should be added.  Add the ground    
    sesame powder and grind again. 

    Tasty yellu podi is ready.

Dry roasted sesame seeds.

Fried ingredients. You can reduce or increase the no.of chillies as per your taste.

Grind separately and then mix together in the end.

The tasty yellu podi!

Try it at home and let me know if you liked it.  You can store it in a normal container.  Refrigeration is not needed! Stays for months together if wet spoon is not used:). Good luck!


P.S.: I did with 200 gms. of seeds.  Reduce the quantity of the ingredients if you are doing with 100 gms. I took photographs when I did it during last Pongal!

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Paruppu Podi/Daal Powder For Idli/Dosa

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Paruppu podi

This is a sort of chutney powder.  We, in Tamil nadu and Andhra too, keep this powder in handy at home.  This can be mixed with rice and ghee, mix a spoon of  gingely oil/coconut oil/ghee,  with 2 spoons of powder and have it with idly, dosa etc.  It is tasty with chapaati too. 

Now to the ingredients: 

1. 2 cups/200 gms. Fried gram/Pottu kadalai (dry roasted)
2. 1/2 cup/50   gms. Tuvar Daal/Tuvaram paruppu (dry roasted)
3. 1 tbs. Pepper (dry roasted...roast very lightly)
4. 2 " long piece of Dry ginger
5. 3-4 red chillies (reduce or increase as per your taste)
6. A piece of Hing/asafoetida
7. Curry leaves
8. 1 tsp. of sugar (optional)
9. Salt - as per taste.
10. 1 tsp. coconut oil

Method:

First dry roast tuvar dhaal for half a minute and then add fried gram and dry ginger. Roast for half a minute. Then add pepper.  Roast for half a minute. Half a minute means, stirring for 5-6 times! Put this mixture in a plate.

Take 1 tsp. of coconut oil in the same kadai. Add the piece of hing. It will bubble up, then add red chillies and curry leaves. After half a minute, add all the dry roasted ingredients.  Stir it a few times.  Switch off the stove.

After it cools a bit, powder it in the mixer adding sugar and salt.  Paruppu podi ready!

A relative of mine, adds half tsp. of dri-tam powder...tamarind powder. I do add sometimes to have some variation!

Try it and tell me if you like it! Very easy to make powder.

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Dosai Milagaai Podi/Chutney Powder For Dosa

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Dosai milagaai podi/Chutney powder for dosa

All South Indians will have some sort of Dosai Chutney powder at home.  Most of us eat dosa or idly with chutney podi/dosai milagaai podi at home (apart from coconut or some chutney and saambaar!).  It will be very tasty...for you too!  Now, to the recipe:

Ingredients:

1.   1 tbs.  Black sesame seeds/yellu/til

2.   30-35 Red chilllies/lal mirchi/sigappu milagaai (I didn't weigh it but counted it!)

3.   1 tsp. Mustard seeds/kadugu/rai

4.   2 cups Bengal gram/chana dhal/kadalai paruppu

5.   1 cup Black gram/urad dhal/uluththam paruppu

6.   Asafoetida (as per taste - I use LG solid hing)/Perungaayam

7.   1 tsp. Dri tam/tamarind powder/puli podi

8.   1 tbs. or a bit more, salt/namak/uppu

9.   1/2 tsp. of sugar

10. Curry leaves

12. 2 tsp. of coconut oil


Method:

Keep all the ingredients handy.  Wash the curry leaves and see to it, it hasn't got water droplets in it.  For me, I take the ingredients without measuring it, but it is better for you, if you are new to cooking, to measure the dhals, chilli etc. and keep in separate plates, so that it would be easy for you to roast them. 

First dry roast the til in a kadai/wok.  Within minutes, they will start bursting.  Put it in a plate.

Dry roasted til/sesame seeds/Yellu

Take a tsp. of oil...I use coconut oil.  If you don't want to use it, take a tsp. of refined oil or sunflower oil.  Put the piece of hing into it.  It will get fried.  If you don't have the solid hing, you can add the hing powder while grinding.

Then, add the mustard seeds.  After it flutters, add the red chillies, roast it for a couple of minutes.  Add the curry leaves. You can hear the dry sound when you fry it.  Pour them in the plate with the til.

Red Chillies, Hing, Mustard and Curry leaves - roasted with a tsp. of oil.

Take another tsp. of oil. Add the chana dhal.  Fry it for a couple of minutes.  Then add the urad dhal.  Urad dhal is small in size, so it is better to add it a bit later. Roast it till it is a bit brown.  The picture was taken a bit earlier.  It should be golden brown.  Let the flame be medium, so that the dhal don't get burnt! Switch off the stove!

Chana dhal, Urad dhal, roasted with a tsp. of oil. It should be browner than this! I took the picture a bit earlier!

First grind the chilli mixture in the mixie, until the chilli seeds are powdered.  Don't leave the fried chilli until it is cold.  Then the seeds won't get powdered.  Then add the dhal, dri tam powder, salt and sugar.  My mother used to fry a piece of tamarind with the dhal and use it.  Now, we get the tamarind powder, which is easy to use! Sugar is used to blend the taste.  Powder it into a coarse powder.  It will be tasty if the dhal is coarse.  Taste it.  Add salt, if you need it.  Dosai chutney powder is ready.  You need not add til, if you don't have it at home.  I like the til taste, esp. black til. Mix one or two tsp. of this powder with oil and eat it with dosa or idly...you will love it! We add one or two tsp. of oil (ginginly oil in our house), for a tbs. of this powder, mix and eat with idly or dosa or chapaathi too! We apply this paste on the chapaathi, roll and eat! My son loves it!

We use this powder to make Idly usili/upma out of the remaining old idlies...mash/powder the remaining idlies.  Fry mustard, chana dhal, urad dhal etc. in a tsp. of oil.  Add mashed idlies.  Put one or two tbs. of this powder or according to taste. Add half tsp. of salt and half tsp. of sugar.  If you want it more tasty, add a tsp. of ghee! Mix them well. You can add some gharam masala powder also, if you want! I keep the remaining idlies in fridge and then mash with fingers.  It will be like powder!  This 'easy to make snack' will be a favourite snack of your children. You can make it just like you do upma...add chopped ginger, green chillies, onion, curry leaves with the granished dhals.  Add mashed idlies plus this powder! Snack is ready!  I will try to add the pictures of these snacks also, when I make them next time!

When we travel, most of us take idly soaked in oil plus this chutney powder.  We mix needed quantity of powder (we need more powder for this) with oil (Gingily oil, mostly...and sprinkle some water, just sprinkle, on it. It makes the idly to remain soft without drying up).  It should be like slightly watery paste ... need more oil!  Then dip the idly in it...cover both sides and pack it! We take some Amul chaach...masti... to go with it! We love this combination, while travelling! It stays for 24 hours. That's it for now!

This powder will be good with Rava/Raagi dosa too.  Click on the link for the recipe!

Please write to me if you have got any doubt. I would love to know the result, if you try this.  Try half the quantity first! If you like it, do it again and store it in an airtight container.

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Garam Masala Powder - My Version!

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Sharada, this is for you!

 

Ingredients:

Japatri

Black cardamom

Star Anise/Annasi poo

Maraati Moggu

Shahjeera

Cinnamon/Pattai/Dalchini

Ceylon Cinnamon

Bay Leaf

Stone flower (This is also optional)

Clove/Kraambu

Cardamom/Elakkai/Elaichi

Pepper/Milagu/Kaali mirch

Cumin seeds/Jeera/Jeeragam

Coriander seeds/dhania

Nutmeg/Jaadikkai/jaaikaai

1.  25 gms. Japatri
2.  10 gms. Black cardamom (optional)

3.  25 gms. Star Anise
4.  25 gms. Maraati moggu
5.  25 gms. Shahjeera
6.  10 gms. Cinnamon
7.  10 gms. Ceylon cinnamon
8.  25 gms. Bay leaf
9.  1 tbs. cloves
10. 10 Cardamom pods
11. 50 gms. Pepper
12. 10 gms. Jeera
13. 25 gms. Dhania
14. 1/2 Nutmeg/Jaadhikkaai(Optional)


Method:

Dry roast - as far as possible - one by one, at least the thick ingredient, so that it gets powdered finely in the mixer.  Yes, powder everything together and that's it! Every ingredient has got its own flavour.  So, use most of the above ingredients as much as possible.

If you think that you don't need this much powder, take 50% of the ingredients and grind.  Keep the rest of the remaining ingredients in an airtight container.

Keep the powder too, in an air-tight container.  This powder is quite strong, so 1 tsp. for 1 litre subzi is enough.  After using it once or twice, you can increase/reduce the quantity, according to your taste.

Kaththarikkai (Brinjal) curry powder!

Roasted ingredients for Kaththarikkai Curry Powder.

This recipe is for my niece, Apparna!

We call it Kaththarikkai curry powder, but actually this is just 'curry powder'! We can use this powder in any vegetable curry...add a half tsp. with our normal chilli powder, just for giving extra flavour or add just this powder...the taste changes! For Brinjal (kaththarikkai curry), this powder is a must!

Now, to the ingredients:

Red chilli/Sigappu milagaai/Laal mirch

Curry leaves/Kariveppilai/kadi paththa

Bangal gram/Kadalai paruppu/Chana daal

Asofoetida/Perungaayam/Hing

Coriander seeds/dhania

Check list of the ingredients:

1. 100 gms. Red Chillies

2. 1/2 cup Coriander seeds

3. 1/4 cup Bengal gram

4. 6-7 twigs of curry leaves.

5. 1/2 inch piece of Hing (you just pull out a piece...half marble size... from the softened hing, it is difficult to measure it!)

6. 2 tsp. of coconut oil (you can take 1 tsp. also)

Method:

In a kadai, heat the oil and drop a half an inch piece of Hing. After it is fried, add Bengal gram, roast a bit. Then add the Coriander, Chillies and Curry leaves. Roast it until everything is crisp. Powder it, after it cools down. Your curry powder is ready!

TIP: You can add this powder with some coconut, grind it and mix it in saambaar (araiththu vitta saambaar). Less daal should be used when you add coconut.

Edited to Add: The first picture is added now (18.6.11, 3.24 pm)!

Saambaar Podi - South Indian Style

My friend, Kavita had asked for the recipe of our South Indian Saambaar powder, a couple of weeks back and I took my time to present it here! Hope this is easy to follow, Kavita!

First collect all the 10 ingredients:

1. 250g. Red chilli (long chilli is preferable)/Sigappu milagaai vattral/Laal mirchi
(No need to pluck the 'kaambu' - stalk which is supposed to be hottt!)

1 a. 100g. Kashmiri mirch or Bengaluru byadagi menasu (optional), to give colour!

2. 250g. Coriander seeds/Dhania
(We get slightly green coloured coriander seeds at Nilgiris stores. which smells better and fresh and so, I buy that).

3. 100g. Cumin seeds/Jeeragam/Jeera

4. 100g. Fenugreek/Vendayam/Methi

5. 100g. Mustard/Kadugu/Rai

6. 100g. Black Pepper/Milagu/Kaali mirch

7. 100g. Bengal gram/Kadalai paruppu/Chana daal

8. 100g. Tuvar daal/Tuvaram paruppu

9. 3-4 pieces Turmeric root/Manjal kizhangu/Haldi

10. A big bunch of Curry leaves/Kariveppilai/Kadi pattha

Your saambaar podi is ready!

Ingredients (Check list!):

1. 250g. Red chilli (long chilli is preferable)

1 A. 100g. Kashmiri mirchi or Bengaluru byadagi menasu (optional)

2. 250g. Coriander seeds

3. 100g. Cumin seeds

4. 100g. Fenugreek

5. 100g. Mustard

6. 100g. Black Pepper

7. 100g. Toor daal

8. 100g. Bengal gram

9. 3-4 pieces Turmeric root or 2 tbs. of turmeric powder to be mixed with the saambaar powder.

10. A big bunch of Curry leaves

Method:

Collect all the ingredients and dry them on a paper or tray in the sun. I keep everything in a huge aluminium tray, cover it with a thin cloth (tuck the edges under the tray) and dry it. We get many pigeons near our house and they are after the daal in the tray, so we cover it for this reason and to avoid dust!

I dry the curry leaves with the stem as shown in the picture separately because it take a bit more time to dry and mix it with the other ingredients later. Turmeric root should be mashed a bit or else the grinder machinewala might refuse to grind it - just break them with a Mortar & Pestle (too elaborate name in English, so click on this word to see the picture!). Please give me the Hindi name, I have forgotten!

If you don't get enough sunlight or if it is rainy season, you can slightly dry roast all the ingredients, one by one...just enough to dry it, not roast it. The powder will be better if the ingredients are dry and will last longer.

Kashmiri mirchi or byadige menasu is optional. I add it just to give colour to the powder/saambaar. You can increase this chilli more and the other one less, if you are not used to hot and spicy saambaar!

Send it to the dry grinding machine for powdering. When you bring back the powder, it will be hot. Don't cover the lid because the sweat from the hot powder will drip into the powder which might spoil the it in due course. Just cover it with a thin paper until it cools down and then store it in an airtight container (like a tupperware container...I was a dealer once, so the habit doesn't leave me for an opportunity to canvas!). I keep a small quantity, in a small bottle for daily usage so that the freshly ground smell does not leave the powder!

One more tip: We send a cup of tuvar daal in a small container separately to the machine. We ask the drygrinderwala to 'run' this daal through the machine to collect the remaining powder from the machine, which we use while making saambar (the ingredients we use here are too expensive...we can't leave the powder to the machinewala...I used to follow these things like a ritual until a few years back, now don't bother that much!).

2 table spoonfull of powder is enough for a litre of saambaar. You can increase or decrease the quantity as per your taste, gradually.

Hope this recipe is clear and easy to follow. I would be happy if you can give suggestions to improve my presentation.