Idli Milagai Podi

One of the must haves for the kitchen, esp., if you are making idlis or dosas quite often. Each of us make our own version of the podis. All the recipes are very tasty to have with idlis. And more to that they are always handy when you run out of stock to prepare your chutneys. Some times, I rather eat my idlis just for the sake of the podis.

I prepare the podis rich in dhal content, and so they are good to have. Along with the dry chillies, they still arent too spicy when dhals are added to give a nutty spice flavor. When I was in my childhood days, I just have podis even for my curd rice. Grind this and store in air tight containers for about 6 months. But I tell you, you are not going to let them stay there so long. They get exhausted as early in a month.

Sambar Powder

Ever since my marriage till now, I have the readily prepared sambar powder sent by my aunt from India. So handy it is, and so tasty sambar comes out as result. My aunt (Mother's sister) is such a great cook. She prepares most of the podis for me. When it comes to sambar powder and idli chilli powder, she makes loads and loads that I stock it for more than a year. Well, the idli powder comes for couple of months. But with her recipe, it comes out great for me too.

You need:

Dry red chillies -  1 Lb
Coriander seeds - 2 lbs
Turmeric - 200 gm (I used the whole turmeric, varali manjal in tamil)
Black pepper - 100 gm
Toor dhal - 400 gm
Channa dhal - 25 gm
Cumin seeds - 25 gm
Methi seeds - 10 gm

Mix everything and dry grind everything to a fine powder. This needs to be done in a dry grinder. Cool the powder by placing it on a paper for sometime. Then store in a container for months.
Prepare yummy sambar or even rasam. I sometimes use this powder for simply making potato fry, okra fry or tindora fry.