Sambhar Podi

Idly-Sambhar is very satisfying for breakfast. If the sambhar is especially yummy, one can even drink a bowlful of it. What easy way to make sambhar predictably every single time than have a ready made podi in hand. We make just one boxful and use it up within a month or two so the flavours remain fresh until the last helping.

Ingredients:

Dried red chillies - 1/4 Kg
Dhania - 1/2 Kg
Pepper (Milagu) - 50 g
Toor dal (Thuvaram paruppu) - 200 g
Channa dal (Bengal gram, kadalai paruppu) - 150 g
Jeera (Cumin, seeragam) - 60 g
Methi (Vendhayam) - 30 g
Curry leaves - 8 - 10
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

Method:
Sun-dry chillies and dhania. Dry roast them separately. Dry roast pepper, cumin, curry leaves, methi, turmeric, toor dal and bengal gram. Keep them aside. After the roasted ingredients have cooled down, use the large mixer jar, to blend them into a fine powder.

Use a teaspoon ful of sambhar podi to make sambhar serving 4 people.

Variation:There is a short-cut to this recipe. For those of you who have already ground chillies and dhania for milagai podi, you can use powdered ingredients in the right proportion to make sambhar podi.

Use 1 cup milagai podi (made with chillies and dhania in 1:2 ratio). Dry roast this and keep aside. If pepper and jeera are in powder form, dry roast 2 tbsp pepper po, 2 tbsp jeera powder with 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder.

Now you only need to dry roast, toor dal, channa dal, methi and curry leaves. Powder these fine and once cool, tranfer to the storage jar (400 - 500 ml). Add the chillie powder and pepper, cumin powders in the jar. Close the lid tightly and shake it well to combine all ingredients. Keep aside. Once the powders have completely mixed and settled down, transfer a small quantity to a small jar (150-200 ml).

Use the sambhar podi from the smaller jar and refil at regular intervals from the larger storage jar. This will help keep flavours of the spices fresh.

Verdict: Definitely recommend this to anyone who uses store-bought masala. This is a small step towards avoiding artificial colours and flavours.

Raagi Porridge Powder

The most joyous occasion in any parent's life is the birth of their first child :). It is a very beautiful gift from nature, but there are challenges and responsibilities galore that accompany a new born.

I am sure every mother has felt that their responsibilities will be alleviated when the child is a little older. But then newer challenges crop up as the child's age progresses. I thought that waking up several times at night, will be gone, when my daughter migrates to solid foods; but no, as nursing continued, so did her mid night feedings! This went on for nearly 2 years, phew!


So when she turned 5 months, I was eagerly waiting for her to start her solid feeding! Thinking that was going to give me some respite from the endless nursing sessions. But wasn't I mistaken?
Anyways, that is another story.

When it was time to start her on solids, I consulted her pediatrician. His wavelength suited mine just fine. He strongly favours the child eating from the family "pot" and advised us to avoid cooking anything specifically for the baby as she grows older. But to introduce her to solids, he recommended that we start with thin porridge and then gradually make it lumpy and thick in texture.

So I made the ragi porridge powder with mom's help.
Here's how:
Ingredients:
Raagi grains - 1 kg
Channa (white) - 1/2 kg
Green Gram - 1/4 kg
Par-boiled rice grains - 1 cup (rice cup - 150 ml)

Clean and soak the raagi in water overnight. Separately soak the channa and green gram in different containers.
In the morning, drain the water and tie the raagi in a muslin cloth, allowing it to sprout. Do the same with channa and green gram.
It takes about 24 hours to see the legumes sprouting. Dry the legumes completely in sunlight.
Dry roast par-boiled rice grains. Cool and keep aside. Combine all the ingredients and grind it to a fine powder. We usually take it to the flour mill to do this. We need the powder to be really fine and the food processor does not grind it that fine.

To make the porridge: Heat 1/2 cup of water in a saucepan. Add a tsp of ghee and mix well. Make a paste of 1/2 tablespoon of the raagi porridge powder with a tablespoon of water. Add the paste to the water in the saucepan, stirring all the while. Cook in medium-low flame for 4-5 minutes.
For children under 1 year of age it is not recommended by the doctor to add sugar or salt to the food. But for those who feel they should add some taste to the porridge, you can either add a pinch of salt or a few shreds of jaggery. Avoid sugar as much as you can, even when the child is older. 

Amti Masala

Amti Masala is something I came across in Mallika Badrinath's cookbook.
I use this regularly at home now as a substitute for garam masala in most curries and rice. A few ingredients are not easily available. So I omit them when I don't have them in hand. The taste is just fine.

Ingredients:

Coriander seeds - 1 cup (heaped)

Red chillies - 1/2 cup

White sesame seeds - 2 Tbsp

Cumin seeds - 1 1/2 tbsp

Black pepper - 1 1/2 tbsp

Cinnamon - 10 sticks

Cloves - 2 tsp

Bay leaf - 6-7 Big

Caraway seeds (Shah-Jeera) - 2 tsp (I omit this)

Dahad Phool - 2 tsp (I use Star Anise instead)

Powdered asafoetida - 1 tsp

Turmeric - 1tbsp

Rock salt - 1 tbsp (heaped)

Oil for frying.

Method:

1. Dry roast sesame seeds till light brown and keep aside. 

2. Fry coriander and cumin seeds in oil till light brown. 

3. Fry red chillies in 2 tsp of oil. 

4. Fry asafoetida, turmeric, cinnamon, bayleaf, cloves and other spices separately one by one using little oil. 

5. Dry roast rock salt for one minute. 

6. When everything cools down powder together.

7. Store in an airtight container. 

If a recipe calls for Garam masala in a gravy based dish or rice variety, just use half the measure of Amti masala instead. Results are simply amazing.