Aromatic Podis(powders) from my grandma's kitchen!

Y'day I had a great time with my paternal grandma..I was with her whole day watching her cook various things in a spree..I was adoring her elegant style of preparing the dishes with love and care..After lunch ,she made some podis that can be taken with rice and some ghee drizzled on top of it..During free time she makes these podis and store them which will last upto a month ..These podis can be a great quick fix during lazy days .We made five different podis and I love all of them..Next time she promised to make some other types of podis..

Here comes the recipe for the podis ..

Idli Milagai podi/Ullutham parrupu(Urad Dal) milagai Podi :

You will need :

1 cup Urad dal

8 dried red chillies

A pinch of Asafotedia

1 tsp oil

Salt 

Heat oil in a kadai and roast the urad dal until it turns to golden color..

Roasted Urad Dal

In the same kadai,roast the red chillies..

Roasted Red chillies

Grind together the roasted urad dal,red chillies,salt,asafotedia to powder.Cool and store in a air tight container.

Idli milagai podi is generally served as a accompainment for dosa or idlis.Mix them with gingely oil or ghee and use it as chutney..

Kothamalli(Coriander) Podi :

You will need:

1 cup coriander seeds,slightly roasted in a tsp of oil

6 dried red chillies,slightly roasted in a tsp of oil

Salt 

Roasted Coriander seeds

Grind the coriander seeds,chillies and salt together to fine powder.Cool and store in a air tigt container.

Mix a  tablespoon of this aromatic podi with some ghee/oil in hot cup of rice ..Its tastes divine :)

Karivepillai(Curry leaves) Podi :

You will need:

3 cups of curry leaves,washed and dried in a towel

1 cup of urad dal,slightly roasted in a tsp of oil

1 lemon sized ball of tamarind pulp

15 red chillies,slightly roasted in a tsp of oil

Salt

Tamarind ball and Curry leaves..

Grind urad dal ,chillies and salt together.Then add the tamarind and curry leaves and grind together to a fine powder.Cool and store a air tight container.

Some will roast the curry leaves before grinding but my grandma insisted not to do that ..She feels the real flavor and goodness of the curryleaves will be lost by roasting.Eat this podi everyday like a tablespoon along with rice , dosa/idli..or you can add this while making any curry /sambar..Its so good for hair and you will see the difference when taken regularly :)

Parrupu(Dal) Podi:

You will need:

1 cup tuar dal,slightly roasted in a tsp of oil

10 red chillies,slightly roastesd in a tsp of oil

10 cloves of garlic,sking peeled

Salt

Grind together the dal,chillies ,garlic and salt to a powder.Cool and store in a air tight contianer.

Parrupu Podi is ready!

Onion Vadagam Podi :

You will need:

1 cup Onion vadagam (This is used for seasoning and its also known as talimpu/thallipu                                                        vadagam available in Indian super markets)

10 red chillies,slightly roasted in a tsp of oil

Salt

Onion Vadagam broken..

Break the onion vadams in small pieces and roast them in 2-3 tsps of oil .

Grind the roasted vadam,chillies and salt together to a powder.Cool and store in a air tight container.

When you roast these vadagams ,the whole home smells good.It can be served as a chutney for dosa/idli or can be mixed with rice and served..

Thengai (Coconut) Podi :

You will need :

1 cup grated coconut

8 red chillies,slightly roasted in a tsp of oil

1/2 cup urad dal,slightly roasted in a tsp of oil

Salt

Roasted Coconut ..

Roasted the coconut in a pan without oil until it becomes dry and slightly golden..

Grind together roasted coconut,salt,red chillies and urad dal to powder.Cool and store in a air tight container..

My favourite Podi!

Sending these aromatic podis to Smitha's Colors of Taste - Powders:Podi's as an accompainment

Sending the first picture to Gayathri's Magnificient Click contest..

Im so happy to say my friend Archy of Archy's recipe book has given me these two lovely awards for me..Its so sweet of her to think of me as her friend :)

This is the first award I'm receiving.Thanks a lot Archy..Im so happy to be in the 'Circle of Friends' and I must say 'You are Sweet' too..

There are so many sweet people who give there encouraging comments each time I post..

I'm passing it to all of you buddies..

Cham,Asha,Priyanka,Madhu,Siri,Mahimaa,Vishali,Trupti,Varsha,Vibaas,Malar,Nithiya,

Siriharivatsan,Srikar,Gayathri,Priya,Ranjani,Deesha,Paru,Ankita,Neema,Viki,Sanghi,

FoodFanatic,Aparna,Rekhas,Suma,Shama,Zlamushka,Andhra Flavours,Lubna,Soma

plz pick it up...

Falafel Sandwich-Pita bread,Falafel,French fries,Grilled Eggplant & Tahini sauce

I was quite busy with my exams and was out of town for few days.Pardon me for my inconsistent blogging.I was literally away from cooking for a long time :(.So yesterday I was in the kitchen for considerably longer time.

It was in my mind since I visited Kuwait that someday I must try Falafel sandwich.My Dad boasts about this sandwich everyday when I was at Kuwait.But I couldn't taste it and it was in my heart as a deepest regret.Even this time when he visited India, he made me jealous.He said to me that his everyday lunch is a Falafel sandwich.

This vegeterian sandwich is so popular in middle eastern countries.A perfect wholesome sandwich which I guess would be a favourite of all.I made this yesterday and invited few of my friends and cousins to try it.They asked me to make it again..That itself is a great success to this sandwich.I won't  advise to make this for a few becoz it involves lot of effort and time(I spent half a day making this)..But if you wanted to invite many of your friends for this falafel party then you can definitely give this a shot.I made around 7 sandwiches which were vanished in less than no time.

First let me tell you about this sandwich.A middle eastern bread called 'Pita' is used to make this sandwich.Pita bread is locally called as 'Khubz' in arabian countries.This puffed bread is similar to Indian Naan but it is in circular shape and has pocket(puffed).Traditionally,the pocket is slit open and stuffed with falafel(A patty made of chickpeas),french fries,pickle,lettuce,tomato wedges,cucumber cubes,grilled eggplant rounds and tahini sauce (A middle eastern sauce made with tahini(sesame paste) and lemon juice).

I will explain each of them one by one.

Pita Bread(Khubz):

You will need:

2 1/2 cups of flour(Maida/all purpose) + 1/4 cup for kneading/dusting

2 tbsp active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

A pinch of sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp olive oil

Take the warm water in a cup.Make sure that the water is not too hot.Add the yeast and sugar.Stir and cover and keep in a warm place for 10 mins.The yeast mixture gets frothy.

In a large mixing bowl,take the flour and add salt.Mix well.

Make a small well in the center add oil.Rub the flour with the oil.Add the yeast mixture.Mix until all the ingredients are nicely incorporated.Add more flour if sticky.Divide them into 7 equal portions.

Keep them in a plate and cover with the wide mouthed bowl.Keep this in a warm place for 1 hour.I preheated my oven and turn it off.Kept the dough inside the oven .It became double in size.

After an hour,punch down each portion.Dust in the flour and make as a ball.Using a rolling pin spread as a circle of even thickness.Bake in a 250 C preheated oven until it puffs up and you see brown spots.Keep other portion of dough covered while rolling/baking pita.

Baked one..

As many do not have an oven,they have an alternate way.Heat the tawa ,place the rolled dough on it.When you see white spots on side flip on the other side.Wait for the white spots on other side too.Now place the pita on direct flame ,you can see it puffing beautifully.Transfer on a cloth lined basket.The procedure is same as you do for Phulka.No need to apply oil/butter for pita.

Note:Pita pocket will be frim when it is baked.And you do not get the black small dots.

            Look the picture below for baked Pita.

                            'Stove top' Pita breads are softer and spotted as shown below.

Tahini Sauce:

You will need:

1/2 cup Tahini paste

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup water

1 glove of garlice,finely minced

1 tbsp of finely chopped corainder

1/4 tsp of cumin powder

Salt

For Tahini paste:

1 cup of white sesame seeds

2 tbsp sesame oil/peanut oil

Dry roast sesame seeds on a pan for few mins on medium heat.

Grind the sesame seeds along with oil in a mixer until you get a smooth paste.This paste is Tahini.

In a bowl,add the tahini and water.Whisk until it become a homogenous mixture.

Add lemon juice,garlic,salt and coriander.Whisk until all are incorporated.Add ore water if you want it more watery.

Tahini sauce is ready.

Falafel

You will need:

1 cup of Chickpeas

1 medium sized onion

2 red chillies

1 tbsp pepper

3 gloves of garlic

1/2 tsp of baking powder

4-5 sprigs of coriander

1/4 cup of bread crumbs

salt

oil for frying

Soak chickpeas overnight.In a blender,coaresely grind all the ingredients from chickpeas to corainder.

Add the bread crumbs to the corasely ground mixture and mix well.

In a heavy pan,heat oil,make a patty out of the chickpea mixture.I used a 'Falafel maker'.If you dont have one,you can shape like 'Masala vada' and drop in oil.

Cook in medium flame.Remove from oil when it is browned.

French Fries:

 

You will need:

1/2 Kg of Potatoes(Russet vareity is very good for frying)

salt

oil for frying

Peel the potatoes.To cut the potato into strips,keep the potato in longitudinal postion and slice them into 2 mm thick ovals.You will get 4-5 ovals.Lay each oval flat and cut them into strips.

Wash the potato strip in water to remove starch.Fill a vessel with 3/4th of water,add genorous amount of salt and bring it to boil.Add the potato strips.Cook for exactly 7 mins.Now the potato strips will cooked for 60-70% only.

Strain the potato strips and spread them on a kitchen towels.Pat them dry.

Heat oil.The temp(270.C) can be higher for frying french chips as it already cooked.We just need to be crispy in the outer.I fried the chips following the falafel.Fry until you get nice golden color on the edges.Transfer on a paper towel to remove excess oil.

Grilled Eggplant:

You will need:

Eggplant

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp curry powder

1/2 tbsp cumin powder

1/4 tsp pepper powder

2-3 tbsp oil

Cut the eggplant into thin round slices.

Mix the curry powder,cumin powder,pepper ,salt and oil to a paste.

Rub the paste on either sides of  the eggplant slices .Marinate for 1/2 hour.

In grill mode,grill the slices for 10 mins.5 mins on each side.

Or heat a tawa,place the slices on tawa and roast each sides until you get it crispy and browned.

Falafel Sandwich:

Peel and chop 1 cucumber.

Cut 2 tomatoes into wedges.

One can use lettuce.I dont get lettuce here.So i used strips of cabbage.

For pickle ,I used Jalapeno in vinegar..

Traditionally,the pita is cut cross -  sectionally,and all the goodies are sutffed in the pocket.As I have puffed the pita on direct flame,they are soft and flexible so i made as a wrap.

I placed 2 falafel slightly smashed.Some french fries,1 grilled eggplant,1 tomato wedge,2 pieces of cucmber,few cabbage strip,1 small piece of pickle,and of course some good amount of tahini sauce drizzled over them.Wrapped and inserted a tooth pick to hold them.

Served the with tomato ketchup and more tahini sauce.

In few mins,

The plate looked 'Khallas' !