Homemade Idli podi

My breakfast is incomplete without this homemade idli podi, right from my school going days. I usually eat Idli or Dosa and this “podi” is mandatory, even if my mom made sambhar or chutney. At least, one bite of the steaming hot idli along with the podi mixed with gingelly oil(otherwise called sesame oil) has to go into my mouth. Without which, I do not have the satisfaction of eaten a healthy and tasty breakfast.

After coming to US, my mom used to send this Idli podi along with other items once in a year from India. Even if she sends kilos and kilos of podi, it was not sufficient for me. So, I started to make this podi myself. Here is the recipe for the same.

Ingredients:

1. Urad Dhal – 1 heaping cup
2. Roasted Bengal gram dhal – 1 cup
3. Bengal gram dhal – 1/4 cup
4. Dry red chilli – 1 cup (or about 30 in number)
5. Asafoetida or hing powder – 1 teaspoon
6. Salt – 1 teaspoon

Method:

1. Dry roast all the ingredients separately without oil. Use a wide pan for this purpose and keep on stirring the contents continuously. Also, roast the contents on low-medium flame for 5 minutes or until you get the roasted smell of the ingredients.

Note: Remove the contents off the heat, once you see a slight color change. If the ingredients are left unattended even for 30 seconds, they might get burnt quickly.

2. Place all the roasted contents together, in a large plate and allow them to cool. Then, transfer them to a blender along with asafoetida powder, salt and blend them to fine-powder consistency. This podi should be stored in an air-tight container in room-temperature and it has a shelf life of 3 months. Do not use wet hands or wet spoons while taking the podi out of the container.

Serve with hot steaming idlis or dosas!