Chutney pudi idli | Spicy Idli | Podi Idli : Fiery hot!!

I tried the tempered podi idli at Anand Bhavan Restaurant, Singapore long time back & I liked it very much. My mom or MIL do not prepare this & it was something new to me. After tasting at the restaurant, I got a hang of how they made it & I started making them for myself. Podi idli is not a favorite of my hubby or my son. So, I prepare it with left over idlis for my lunch.

This is my own version, I understand that milagai podi or idli podi is added to this recipe. However I add the putani pudi  ( dry chutney).

If you are at Bangalore (or anywhere in South India for that matter!) & want to try this, here is what you need to do. Go buy around 6 idlis from any fast food joint. Take your mom made or home made chutney pudi & whip this dish in minutes. It could make a great dinner after a long tiring day at office!!

Preparation Time: 5 mins, excluding the idli preparation.
Cooking Time: 10 mins
Serves: 1-2

Ingredients:
Idlis: 6-8 nos, cubed (refer notes)
Oil: 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds: 1/4 tsp
Urad dal : 1 tsp
Onion: 1/2 medium sized, finely chopped
Curry leaves: 4 nos, torn
Red chilli powder: 1/2 tsp, optional
Chutney powder | Putani pudi: 1 tbsp, a little more or less
Salt: As needed

Method:
Heat oil in a wok. When oil is hot, throw in the mustard seeds & urad dal.
When mustard seeds splatter & urad dal turns golden brown, throw in the curry leaves.
When curry leaves wilt, add the finely chopped onion & saute until the onions turn translucent.
Once onion turns translucent, add the chilli powder, chutney powder, and salt.
Throw in the chopped idlis & saute gently until the chutney powder coats well on the idlis.
Serve the podi idli warm/hot.

Notes:

• Idli contains salt & chutney powder too. So, be extra careful while adding the salt. 
• You could use button idlis or mini idlis to make this podi idli. 
• Idli needs to be completely cooled down before chopping them. You could refrigerate for couple of hours. Idli won't crumble while chopping. 
• Feel free to add grated carrots or finely chopped bell peppers for some crunch & added benefits!

Putani Pudi | Roasted Channa dal Chutney Powder | Hurigadale Chutneypudi

One more spiced powder recipe that stays good for at least couple of months! The spice level of this powder is low to   medium unlike the other chutney powders :)

Ingredients:

Putani/Daaliya/Hurigadale : 1 cup

Roasted peanuts: 1/3 cup

Garlic: 6-8 pods

Curry leaves: 6-8 nos, sun dried or dry roasted

Chili powder: 2 tsp, more or less

Salt: As needed

Sugar: 1 tsp, optional

Method:

Add all the ingredients mentioned above to a food processor & pulse till you get a coarse powder.
Can it get any easier than this?!

Notes: 

• You could replace the  roasted peanuts with grated dry coconut for a fine chutney powder.
• Garlic pods could be dry roasted too
• I used 6 big garlic cloves. The garlic cloves available in USA are quite big compared to the ones available in India. If you have small cloves, I suggest using 10-15 pods. 

Shenga Hindi | Spiced Peanut Powder | Dry Peanut Chutney : Easiest chutney pudi ever!!

I prepared 4-5 types of chutney powders for our long trip. We are currently having fun & I scheduled couple of posts before starting our trip. Will share more about our trip later.

Shenga hindi is a very versatile powder which could be consumed with almost anything. This chutney powder stays good for a long time. Like any other nuts, peanuts are also rich in protein & contains "good fat".

Ingredients:
Roasted peanuts : 2 cups, (refer notes)
Garlic cloves: 10-12 nos, (refer notes)
Red chili powder: 1 tbsp, adjust according to your needs
Salt: As needed
Sugar: 1/2 tbsp

Method:

Add all the ingredients mentioned above to a food processor & pulse till you get a coarse powder.
Can it get any easier than this?!

Notes:

• I bought the unsalted roasted peanuts & used them. If you do not have the roasted peanuts, it is very easy to make them at home. Dry roast the peanuts till they turn golden brown.Once cool completely, rub the peanuts  between your palm to remove the skin. Discard the skin & roasted peanuts are ready!
• I used 10 big garlic cloves. The garlic cloves available in USA are quite big compared to the ones available in India. If you have small cloves, I suggest using 20-25 pods. 

Flax seed and garlic dry chutney | Bellulli Agase Pudi

Chutney powders are great time savers. I store at least two types of chutney powders at home to keep things going fast. We eat these chutney powders with almost anything. This is a modified version of the North Karnataka Agashi hindi /Flax seed chutney powder.

Preparation Time: 20 mins
Cooking Time: Nil
Adapted from: Desivideshi
Makes around: 2 cups of chutney powder

Ingredients:
Flax seed: 1/2 cup
Grated dry coconut: 1/2 cup
Sesame seeds: 1/4 cup
Dry tamarind: 2 tsp
Garlic pods: About 15-20
Chili powder: 2-3 tsp, more or less
Salt: 1 tsp, more or less
Oil: 1 tsp

Method:
Dry roast the flax seeds & the sesame seeds separately.
Mix the roasted seeds with the dry coconut & let them cool.

Meantime, heat the oil. Throw in the garlic & roast the garlic on low heat. The garlic should become soft. Add in the dry tamarind & turn off the heat.

Allow the garlic to cool.
Throw in the flax seeds, sesame seeds & dry coconut to the food processor | mixer | coffee grinder & pulse it till the seeds turn coarse.
Add in the garlic, tamarind, salt, chili powder & pulse again.
Scoop out the powder onto a bowl. Let it cool.
Once cool, store it in a air tight container.
This powder stays good for about a month in the refrigerator.

Flax seeds Chutney Powder/Agase chutney pudi

I had bookmarked this recipe from Madhuri's blog around 6 months back. Needless to say, I always postponed doing it for one or the other trivial reasons!

Flax seeds are an excellent source for omega 3 fatty acids. They protect our bones, prevent & control high blood pressure, and lower cholesterol level. Many people don't know about this hidden gem. One tablespoon of flax seeds would provide almost 75% of daily requirements of omega 3 fatty acid!  WHFoods has some additional info on Flax seeds.

I have used the original recipe as a base & modified according to what I had handy! Here goes my version.
Madhuri's version can be found here.

Ingredients:
Gram dal/Channa dal: 1/2 cup
Urad dal: 1/4 th cup
Fenugreek seeds: 1/4th tsp
White sesame seeds: 2 tbsp
Garlic: 3 pods
Flax seeds: 1/2 cup
Dry coconut/Copra: 1 tbsp, grated (optional)
Red chillies: 8-10 nos ( 5 Kashmiri chillies for color & remaining hot variety of dry red chillies for spice!)
Curry leaves: 8-10 nos
Tamarind: 1 small grape sized
Jaggery: 2 tsp
Hing/Asafoetida: a pinch
Salt: Around 3/4th tsp

Method:

• Dry roast the channa dal, urad dal & fenugreek seeds together until golden brown. Aroma fills the kitchen when the dals are almost done. Spread it on a large plate to cool.
• To the same pan, add flax seeds & roast until the flax seeds just start spluttering. Remove from the heat & keep aside in another bowl to cool.
• Follow by dry roasting the garlic, sesame seeds, curry leaves & tamarind seperately. Each of them should not take more than a minute! Add it to the cooling channa & urad dal mixture.
• Finally dry roast the red chillies until you get a strong aroma. Remove it from heat & add it to the channa & urad dal mixture.
• Add the dry coconut to the hot pan & remove it after 5-10 secs. Keep it aside for cooling.

• Allow the flax seeds & the dal mixture to cool completely.

• First add the channa, urad dal mixture along with chillies, sesame seeds, garlic, curry leaves & tamarind to the mixie/blender & make a coarse powder of it. Towards the end of making the powder, add jaggery, salt & asafoetida. Pulse again for couple of seconds. Scoop it out in a bowl.
• Follow it my making a coarse powder of flax seeds. Add the flax seed powder to the dal mixture.

• Mix both the powders thoroughly & allow it to cool completely.
• Store it in air tight containers & use as required.

Chutney powder/pudi is a must at our home for plain dosa & akki rotti. My son loves to eat it with chapathi/Indian bread & idli too.

Notes:

Unlike menthyada hittu, this chutney pudi/podi is coarsely powdered.

Menthyada hittu/ Fenugreek seeds powder

Though this powder is a tad bitter, it tastes too delicious that the bitterness goes unnoticed. This powder is made with lentils & is rich in proteins.It is considered beneficial during both pregnancy & post pregnancy. None the less, you can include it as part your daily intake too. The shelf life of this powder is 2-3 months (without refrigeration). Preparing this one is like, putting the effort one time & reaping the benefits many a times :)

I have been waiting to put up this recipe from the last year or so. I have told this recipe to a dozen of my friends & most of them have been making this powder since then. My son & hubby can happily finish their dinner/lunch with this powder, rice & ghee.

Ingredients: (For about 3 cups of powder/hittu).
Toor dal: 1 cup
Channa dal/Gram dal: 1 cup
Moong dal: 1 cup
Urad dal: 1 cup
Coriander seeds/dhaniya: 2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds: 2 tsp
Dried red chillies: 4-5 nos(non spicy chillies like Kashmiri or byadgi chillies)
Asafoetida: a big pinch
Turmeric: A big pinch
Salt: 1/2 tsp

Method:

• Dry roast the toor dal, channa dal, moong dal, urad dal, coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds seperately. The dals should slightly change the color & leave out the aroma. 
• Dry roast the chillies at the end & allow the lentils/dals to cool. 
• Once the dals are completely cooled, mix them & make a fine powder of the dals & chillies together. Use a spice blending jar to make the job easier.
• Add turmeric, asafoetida, salt to the powder. Mix well & allow the powder to cool for an hour. 
• Store in air tight container & enjoy whenever needed or daily!

(Serving suggestion: For a cup of cooked steaming hot rice, add a tbsp of this powder, a tsp of ghee & salt (according to your taste). Mix well & enjoy the rice)


Notes:

1. For this recipe alone, I have used a smaller cup. 1 cup holds 100 ml of water.

Here goes the first recipe - Karibevu Chutney pudi

I belong to a small village from Chikmagalur, Karnataka, India. I'm proud for being born in Chikmagalur, awesome place on earth. We at our home prepare varieties of chutney powders (chutney pudi) & a variety of gojju (something like curry). This one's is my ever favorite. It also helps people in reducing the body weight[ladies, keep a note on this]. I remember my granny preparing fenugreek powder (menthyada hittu), om kalu chutney pudi(ajwain chutney powder) & many more to quote, along with the one mentioned below. We eat this chutney pudi with anything like rice, chapathi, dosa, idli. I love eating this with steaming hot rice & ghee.

You know what, just after my delivery(post pregnancy or bananthana in kannada), I was made to eat this every night (along with rice, ghee). After eating this, i used to get little pepper rasam or rice & milk( anna-haalu). I enjoyed those days.., ehhahha.....

Karibevu chutneypudi (Curry leaves chutney powder)


Ingredients:
2-3 bunches of curry leaves(karibevu),
2-3 spoons of urad dal(uddina bele)
1 spoon channa dal(kadale bele)
1 small cup of grated dry coconut or dessicated cocounut (kobbari)
6-8 red chilli (depends on the taste)
jaggery, salt & tamarind (according to taste)

Procedure:

1. Wash & dry the curry leaves.
2. Dry fry or roast the curry leaves on pan till it becomes crisp.(Leaves should break easily). Allow it to cool for sometime.
3. Then dry roast the channa dal & urad dal.
4. Roast the red chilli & grated coconut seperately.
5. Allow all the roasted items to cool for a while.
6. Then put curry leaves, roasted channa dal, urad dal, red chilli in the mixie jar & make a course powder out of it.
7. Now, add tamarind, jaggery, salt, dry coconut & make a final powder out of it.

This powder lasts for almost 3-4 months without refrigiration.


Tip: Keep the chutney powder in air for 30 mins before keeping it in a closed container.

This is my recipe for SWC-Karnataka