Thengai Podi

                                                              We Tamil Brahmins eat a lot of these Podi's like Curry leaves,Jeera podi, etc and one of the main and tasty podi is the Thengai Podi.Everyone in my house loves it because it is a little spicy and tasty.We eat it with hot rice with some ghee or gingelly oil drizzled on it and with few roasted or fried pappads and more kuzhambu.Actually it is the dry version of Thengai Thogayal which can be stored for two weeks.You can also carry it while travelling and have it with idlis,dosas and steaming rice of course when you crave for some spicy home food.

Jeera Podi

                                                   After all the diwali sweets and savouries everyone must be longing for some simple easily digestible food.Yes I made this "Jeera Podi" today which is light on the stomach.This recipe is from my grand mother.She used to eat this podi with hot rice every day.My mother used to make and store it in a glass(horlicks) bottle  for a month because it was needed every day.My grandmom used to offer the first few bites of the hot rice to us as kids every day when we used to sit with her for lunch but we used to enjoy it once in a while.Every one who came to our house and saw my grand mom eating this became a fan of this podi and took some podi with them and took the recipe also with them.
                                                      It has Cumin seeds which makes digestion very easy and pepper which is also very good for health my grandmom said we could have it after delivery and while feeding the baby.Need not say about the goodness of cumin,pepper, etc. so make this podi and enjoy its benefits and taste when you want to feel light and after a feast.

Vazhakkai Podi/Raw Banana Podi

                                                              Vazhakkai Podi is a rare and traditional recipe my grandmom used to make.It is slightly different from curry and the regular podis.It can be had with sambar rice as an accompaniment, as vegetable and of course had as a podi with hot rice and gingelly oil or ghee and last but not the least it is a great accompaniment for curd rice.It is a very rare recipe so i thought i will record it.

Sambar Powder/Sambar podi/Kuzhambu podi

                                                              Sambar powder is a very important powder,masala or podi stored in a Tamil house.It is a basic masala powder used to make our staple sambar,rasam and vathakuzhambu.There are powders seperate for rasam and vathakuzhambu with slight variations but still we can manage with the sambar powder quiet well.
                                                                I am posting this recipe to make at home in a small quantity.Traditionally all the ingredients are sun dried and powdered in a flour mill in large quantities and stored for a couple of months.But now the families are small and the need is also less so this quantity can be made at home in a mixer and used for a month.

Curry Leaves Powder/Karuvepillai Podi

                                                                    Curry Leaves powder or karivepillai podi is a dry version of the curry leaves thogayal.It can be stored for a much longer period and it is easy to carry when you are travelling.It is easy and simple to make and it can be used as an alternative to 'dosai milagai podi' so you can have it as an accompaniment for idlis and dosas along with some gingelly oil.
Curry Leaves has enormous benefits and its iron content helps ladies overcome their menstrual problems too.So it is advised to include lot of curry leaves in our diet and when it is consumed like a thogayal or karuvepillai podi you do not throw away the leaves like we do when it is put in sambar or other dishes.

RASAM POWDER

You Will Need

• One cup of Coriander seeds
• Twenty Five Red chillies
• Half a cup Tur Dal
• Quarter cup Black pepper
• Two Tbs of Cumin seeds
• Few strands of Dried Curry leaves

How to Make It

1.Dry roast all the above ingredients one by one except cumin seeds.

2.Cool and make it in to a coarse powder and store it for few weeks.

3.Use it while making tomato rasam,paruppu rasam etc.

Dosai and Idli milagai podi

Dosai or Idli milagai podi is an aromoatic,spicy powder had with idlis and dosas in South Indian homes.How many ever accompaniments you have for idli or dosa this powder is a must.

It is usually mixed with a generous amount of gingelly oil and applied on idlis. It is a perfect travel food.I am sure all of us(south Indians)would have enjoyed this while we were travelling.