Idli Dosa Podi
Quintessentials of Idlis and Dosas
Steaming idlis dipped in sambar served with a spoonful of ghee- tastes heavenly, right? Masala dosas served with an assortment of coconut, tomato and coriander chutneys takes the entire culinary experience to a different level, doesn’t it? Well, the options of serving idli-dosas with are endless but have you tried these dishes with the idli dosa podi yet? Idli-dosas tastes so good with this podi that inspite of making sambars, chutneys etc, this spicy podi needs to make its appearance on my table alongside them.
The Idli Dosa Podi
Well, I am talking about the red, slightly coarse, spicy podi (dry chutney) known as milagai podi, gunpowder, simply idli-dosa podi or Karappu as we call it in our house. Karappu stands for Khara = spicy and Uppu = Salt (tikhat-meeth or namak-mirch as we say in Marathi and Hindi respectively).
A Must-Have in my Pantry
My house always has a stock of this home-made idli dosa podi. One batch usually lasts me for more than a month. It comes in handy for those lazy times when I am not in a mood to cook something elaborate. Be it the early 7 am breakfast, I whip up for my school-going kid or my no-leak tiffin of podi-idli to be packed and taken on an early morning outing; it is a time-saving delicious spice mix to be had as an accompaniment.
How to Eat the Podi?
It is to be had with a dash of sesame oil, mixed well into a thick slurry to be eaten as a chutney. Do not try to skimp on sesame oil served on the podi. Firstly, because you will end up ruining the taste of the podi as to how it is to be eaten. Secondly, you will miss on the goodness of this healthy oil.
I fell in love with the Sakthi brand of idli-dosa podi when we were in Bengaluru. So much so that I had stopped making the podi at home. However, now that I am in Pune, I have resorted to the home-made version which tastes as good as the store-bought one. Not convinced? Try my recipe out to the ‘T’ and let me know.
Every South-Indian household has its own recipe of this podi. Some add garlic, some add peanuts; there are umpteen versions of this flavourful spice mix and here is mine, as usual – the no garlic-sattvik version as is common of my household recipes:
Ingredients for Idli Dosa Podi:
- 1 cup udid dal
- 0.5 cup chana dal
- 0.5 cup til
- Curry leaves – 2 sprigs (optional)
- Tamarind – 1/2 an inch flat piece (optional)
- 10-12 Red chillies or Chilli powder – as per the spice levels required. (Kashmiri chilli powder gives a nice deep red colour to the podi)
- 2 tsp Oil – to shallow fry
- Salt-to taste
Recipe:
Shallow fry these ingredients, except tamarind, in a little bit of oil separately on a low-medium flame. Allow it to cool and grind it into a almost fine powder. If you are using chilli powder, then add it to the ground podi and mix it well. Some like this podi a bit coarse but the little fellow in my house prefers it fine 🙂
Hope you make this soon and enjoy it lots!