Idli Milagai Podi - The best pal of Idli

South Indian breakfast items are usually a hearty fare and you can go about even skipping the lunch if you had a heavy breakfast. Idlis form a staple diet in breakfast menu and comes with a variety of side dishes. Some like it with sambar, some with coconut chutney. Pudina or mint chutney is capable of sending down unlimited idlis within a wink of an eye while tomato chutney leaves you asking for more.. All said and done, it would be unfair if I leave out the most under-rated yet the most delicious side dish for idli, the 'Milagai Podi' or the gun powder as the local lingo names it.

My dad and grandma can never finish off their idli or dosa without a hint of this powder, irrespective of having sambar, chutney on the plate. I used to be a great fan of this one that I can have it as is..! Brrr....

Now that I have toned down the spice levels during and post pregnancy, mom makes this less-spicy powder to suit my palates. You can always increase the amount of red chillies, or replace the red chilli with pepper for a better taste.

Idli Milagai podi/Gun powder
Spice powder served with rice cakes

What we need:
Urid dal - 1 cup
Gram dal - 1 cup
Roasted Gram dal /Dalia / Pottu kadalai - 2 tbsp.
Red Chilli - 10 to 12 or Pepper corn - 1 tsp.
Asafoetida - 1 tsp.
Curry leaves - 4 sprigs
White Sesame - 1 tbsp.
Salt - as needed
Oil - little, for frying

How to do:
1. Roast all the above ingredients (except salt) separately in a tsp. of oil each.
2. After the ingredients cool down, grind to a coarse powder. You can also make it a fine powder if you like it that way.
3. Combine salt as needed and mix thoroughly.
4. Store in an air tight container.

When serving with idli, mix generous amount of sesame oil or ghee and serve.

Till I come back with another toungue tickling recipe, Happy Cooking and Happy Blogging!

Ellu Podi / Ellu Urundai

Ellu or the Sesame seeds is the one of the most versatile seeds that have a place in every other cuisine in the world. They are known for the nutritional benefits and are exceptionally rich in Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, Calcium and also have Vitamin B1 and Vitamin E.

There is also a general belief that Sesame seeds have the property to regulate the menstrual disorders in Women. Although I do not recommend taking it without any Professional advice, I myself have experienced it working like magic.

Over to our simple Ellu Podi or Sesame powder..

Ellu Podi
Sweetened Sesame Powder

What we need:
White Sesame seeds - 1 cup
Powdered Jaggery - 3/4th cup
Cardamom Powder - a pinch Optional

How to do:
1. Check for any impurities and dry roast the sesame seeds till they turn light brown.
2. Let them cool and powder them in the mixer.
3. To this, add the powdered Jaggery and pulse it for 3 to 4 times. Mix in the cardamom powder and pulse it once more.
4. Allow it cool and store it in an air-tight container.

You can use this powder to make Ellu Sadam (Sesame rice), Ellu Sevai (Sesame Rice Hopstrings) and also add this at the end when making "Vatha Kozhambu", it tastes awesome!

To make Urundai or balls, all you have do is to shape the powder using your hands into balls immediately after pounding. The stickness from the sesame and the slight warmth will help in shaping them.

These yummy Sesame balls find their way to Priya's Cooking with Seeds: Sesame. Thanks Priya for organising such a wonderful event!
See you all soon with another interesting recipe. Till then, Happy Cooking and Happy Blogging!

Rasam Podi

This is the rasam powder mix my mom and grandma makes. They have been following the ratio to book for years. All the measurements are rough and approximate, because we never measure it with a scale. Everything is "கை அளவு கண் அளவு" (Taken in hand, measured with eyes!!)But I sure can vouch for the taste, because it has come this way over a few years! :)

Rasam Powder
Basic Spice powder to make Rasam

What we need:
Red Chilli - 100g
Dhania - 50g
Peppercorn - 50g
Jeera - 50g
Fenugreek (Vendhayam) - 25g
Mustard - 2 tbsp.
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp.
Asafoetida - 1 tsp.
Curry leaves - a few sprigs

How to do:
1. Dry roast the mustard till it starts to pop. Remove and set aside.
2. Dry roast the fenugreek seends till it turns dark red. Remove and set aside.
3. Dry roast the dhania seeds till it starts emiting out a nice aroma. set aside.
4. Now add all the remaining ingredients (except turmeric powder and asafoetida) to the pan and roast well.
5. In a mixie, grind together all of them with turmeric powder and asafoetida to a fine powder.

Note: 1. It is important to roast Mustard and Fenugreek well (as in Step 1 and 2). Otherwise the rasam will taste bitter.
2. In order to make large batches, increase the quantity of ingredients propotionately.
3. Storing in an air-tight container preserves this powder along with its flavor for upto an year. You can use upto 2 tbsp. of this rasam powder to make 2 servings. Please do refer to my Thakali Rasam recipe for the procedure.

Rasam Mix (Wet)

The idea of having a rasam mix was born out those bottles I used to see at Ambika Appalam Depot, Sri Krishna Sweets in Chennai. They are very much a boon to the bachelors and even us, house-wives, to make rasam in less than 3 minutes.

We had planned for a long weekend get-away to Paris and MIL was already planning for the menu after holidays; I must say she is a dheerga darisi, because after a long holiday that had only french fries and pizza for lunch and dinner (thankfully the hotel we stayed provided a decent American breakfast.. But no indian there too!!), I was looking a spicy homemade rasam to satisfy my palates.

We prepared this mix before hand and kept in the fridge. It was just a work of 3 minutes to make the rasam and less than that to happily to drink it off the plate ;) And I will bet anywhere, nothing can be so overwhelming than having a simple homemade rasam after you palates have died consuming an all-foreign-food!! :)

The quantity I have mentioned here makes enough rasam for 3 to 4 people. Adjust the ingredients accordingly to your needs.

Rasam Mix (Wet)

What we need:
Tomato, medium sized - 1
Tamarind extract - 5 to 6 tbsp. Made from a marble sized tamarind ball
Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp.
Dhania (Coriander) seeds - 1 tbsp.
Pepper corns - 6 to 7
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
Chana dal - 1 tbsp.
Toor dal - 1 tbsp. Optional, but gives a frothy texture
Red Chillies - 2 to 3
Salt - as needed

How to do:

1. Dry roast all the ingredients except tomato and tamarind extract.
2. Blend the roasted ingredients along with salt, tomato and tamarind in a mixer/blender without adding water.
3. Transfer to an air-tight jar and store it in the refrigerator.

Making Rasam with this mix:

Dilute this mix with enough quantity(2 to 3 glass) of water. Bring it to a boil, garnish with coriander leaves.

Tips: Temper mustard and cumin seeds in Ghee and add to this mixture to give a better flavor. Grind a pod of garlic along with the other ingredients for an added flavor and taste.