Idly Milagai Podi

No tamil homes,I would say,without this red spicy aromatic powder,preserved in small or big jars,glass bottles or plastic containers.A 'must' served item of any Tamil home for the 'tiffin'.Of course every home has its own version of making the same...less spicy...more spicy..a bit more of asafoetida/hing added to it...a bit more garlicky or less and so on...




Idly Milagai Podi, served with generous amounts of gingelly oil or ghee serves just right for Idly or Dosa .This recipe is specially posted for the portal, Tamil Recipes.

Here's the recipe I mastered from my husband's granny,who is very specific in measuring the ingredients in Tamil Nadu's traditional containers called padi.Well,I too take the measurements in the padi as she does...the oru padi,ara padi or araikkal padi as it suggests for 1,1/2 and 1/4 respectively.I have put the same into tea cup measurements for the sake of my fellow bloggers:).

The asafoetida piece in the centre,rock salt,bengal gram dal,
urad dal and the red chillies(after roasting).

Thevai: yeilds 1 1/2 cups of powder.

2 cups of well dried destalked Red chillies / Kayntha milagai (30 gms).
1/2 cup Bengal gram dal/kadalai paruppu.
1/2 cup Broken urad dal / udaitha uzhutham paruppu.
A small piece of rock asafoetida/Katti perungayam.Using the hard perungayam gives more aroma to the powder..can be replaced by the powdered one as well.
A tsp of Rock salt or as you need.
A tsp of Oil.

Roast the ingredients one by one till deep brown.

Seymurai:

1.Heat a wok(iron wok preffered) and DRY roast the bangal gram dal and the Urad dal SEPARATELY until deep brown.Keep the flame'medium',taking care not to over or under fry.The frying part is the most important slot as this decides the quality of the powder. See picture carefully.

2.Now add oil in the same wok and roast the piece of asafoetida.Remove soon and keep aside.

3.Using the same oil fry the red chillies,taking care not to burn them,in a low flame till the colour changes and its aroma comes out..(you tend to cough:) at this stage).Add salt and mix.Remove the chillies from the wok.

4.Cool the roasted ingredients and powder altogether in a mixie.Some prefer it a little coarse and some like it too powdery.Do it as you like..

Podi smeared idlies-perfect to pack away.

Variations.

If you like the flavour of gingelly seeds/ellu,fry 4 tsps of them,after frying urad dal,separately and grind together with the other ingredients.
If you go for a garlicky flavour,avoid gingellyseeds and use 4-5 flakes of garlic/poondu and dry roast it separately till brown, grind with the other ingredients.

See also the related , Kerala version, Chammanthi Podi .

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