Idli Podi Recipe | Milagai Podi
Spice up any boring meal with this South Indian condiment. Made primarily of lentils and chilies, it's hard not to fall in love with this hot and spicy explosion of flavours in your mouth.
Servings 250 grams
Equipment
- 1 Mixer Grinder
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Urad Dal (skinned split black lentil)
- 1/4 cup Channa Dal (Bengal Gram)
- 1/4 cup White Sesame Seeds
- 10-12 Dried Red Chilies
- 1/2 cup Curry Leaves
- 1 tbsp Mustard Seeds
- 1/4 tsp Asafoetida (hing)
Optional Ingredients
- 1/4 cup Dried Coconut Powder
- 2-3 cloves Garlic
- 1/4 cup Peanuts or Flaxseeds
Instructions
- Wash and soak channa and urad dal separately for an hour atleast in warm water. Soaking is optional but recommended.
- Bring a wide heavy bottom pan to medium heat. Add sesame seeds and roast them till they become slightly brown and start crackling and popping. Set aside on a large plate.
- Roast curry leaves till the leaves become crisp and shrink in size. Set aside.
- Pat dry urad dal with a kitchen towel. Add a tsp of oil and dry roast on medium flame till it becomes golden brown. Set aside.
- Pat dry channa dal with a kitchen towel. Add another tsp of oil in the pan and roast channa dal on medium flame till it becomes golden brown.
- Now roast dry red chilies till you get a pungent smoky aroma from chilies. Set aside.
- Next add mustard seeds and roast them till they start crackling and popping in the pan.
- Once everything is well roasted, put it all in a blender. Add salt, asafoetida (hing) and grind well. Grind in intervals of some seconds to a coarse powder.
- Cool down podi and add it to an airtight glass or steel jar. This powder will easily last you 3 to 4 months.
Notes
- Always use fresh spices and lentils to make podi.
- It is always better to soak lentils for an hour in warm water and dry them with kitchen towel before roasting.
- I always add sesame seeds to make podi. It gives a great flavour and also is super nutritious. You can skip it if you like. Instead of sesame seeds, you can use flaxseeds or peanuts.
- Do not roast sesame seeds for long or it will taste bitter.
- To cut down the heat, you can use black peppercorns but this will give you more peppery flavour
- You can also use 2-3 cloves of garlic if you like. Simply dry roast them till the rawness goes before blending.
- If using coconut use good quality fresh copra and the old rancid one which will leave a very unpleasant coconut flavour. Remember using coconut will also reduce the shelf life of podi.