Idli Milagai Podi

After the sinfully sweet gulab jamuns, here comes an aromatic spice powder - Idli Milagai Podi.

This together with sesame oil makes a tasty and ready made dip for idli, dosa and like.

I don't see the presence of sesame seeds in the shop brought ones. The magic of an aromatic milagai podi lies in the addition of sesame and ellu(sesame) milagai podi is absolutely divine.

Idli(s) coated with milagi podi make a great candidate for travel lunch boxes.

Ingredients:

Channa dal - 4 tablespoon

Urad dal - 3 tablespoon

Red Chillies (long ones) - 10 to 12 (If you are making this for kids, reduce the chillies)

Black sesame seeds - 1 to 1.5 tablespoon(Black sesame seeds give a nice smoky flavour. If you do not like the smoky taste and dark color, go for white sesame seeds. If you are using white, you can go for a little more)

Salt to taste

Asafoetida half a tsp

Method:

1. Dry roast the dal(s) along with red chillies on a low flame. You can add a little salt to avoid the pungent smell of red chillies. When the dal starts changing color, add the sesame seeds. Roast till the sesame seeds start popping. Add the hing.(Take care that the ingredients don't char)

2. Cool and grind into a coarse powder with salt.

Serving tip:

Take 1 tsp of the spice powder in a plate. Make a well in the center. Add sesame oil(highly recommended) and mix well.

Serve with idli/dosa

Idli coated with milagi podi tastes great for travel.

Curry Powder for Variety rice

Here is the recipe to make curry powder which I use to flavour variety rice like tomato rice, brinjal rice or potato rice. Why I am mentioning these 3 varieties is, these were the standard ones packed by my mom for lunch boxes. Potato rice is not common and it was invented by my mother in order to make a quick one pot meal for boxes. You can be creative and make use of the powder to flavour any rice, like you can even try okra rice. Well, I wouldn't say it is too much creativity because you are gonna just mix this powder with any veg to come out with a delicious variety rice. But cooking is all about what to mix with what and your creativity should not end up as a disaster. So better be careful. I will just give the recipe for the spice powder and will post a variety rice using the powder as a separate entry.

Ingredients:

Urad dhall - 3 tsp
Channa dhall - 3 tsp
Dhania seeds - 2 tsp
Dry red chilllies - 2 to 3

Dry roast the ingredients one by one and powder them together.

Tip: You can also include a piece of cinnamon, 2 cloves and a cardomom if you like it spicy.