Idly Milagai Podi / Chutney Podi

If you are a south Indian and happen to stop by this post, your mind-voice might tell you 'What?? This is a different recipe. Phew!!! I can make my own Molaga podi or 'My mom's recipe is the Best'

True that. Every south Indian home has their own 'Molaga podi' recipe. So much so that there are differences of the recipe in the same family.

Even the oil used to mix the podi is different in different homes. In my mom's house, we use sesame oil to mix in the podi, but in my mother-in-law's house we use 'chuttennai' which is re-used coconut oil to mix in the podi.
I personally don't prefer the bitter taste of sesame oil and prefer refined vegetable oil.

Every Molaga Podi has a distinct flavour and taste of its own.
I have never made 'molaga podi' on my own. My mom always sends them to me and if that does get over, I buy the instant packs from the stores. But they never match the taste even closely to the home-made ones.

This is my mom's original 'molagapodi' recipe. I can eat it with not only Idlies or Dosas, even Adai, Chapathi or even plain rice.

I sometimes sprinkle a few spoons of this powder on my 'Pasta'  and eat it much to the bewilderment of my BH (Better half, now that I have started blogging, have to learn to thrown in a few popular blogging terms).

I am so addicted to this 'podi' and my children too, that we finish mom's supply so quickly and have nothing but the chill flakes.

I remember my mom making this podi and packing it to all her relatives and friends.

Okay this recipe is for the south Indians who don't like their household recipe or who don't get their yearly supply of molaga podi from their moms.
I am sure no one else will even try making molaga podi, as their knowledge is only limited to chutney and sambar accompaniments for Dosa/Idli as most hotels don't serve them.

Ingredients :

1/2 a cup of Chana dal
1/2 a cup of Urad Dal
Red Chilli - a handful
White Sesame seeds - 2 or three tbsp
salt - as per taste
Hing or Perungayam -  a pinch (people who eat pranic diet can avoid this totally)


Method:

In a wide open pan, sauté all the dals and sesame separately with very little oil till golden brown.
Be careful, they will turn to an ugly brown in a wink.

Then slightly fry the red chillies. Allow all of them to cool.

Grind them in a mixie. My mom doesn't grind them very fine and not too coarse. She grinds in such way that the powder looks fine but when you eat, the tiny bits of dal make the experience of eating molaga podi enjoyable.

The small bit of the dal makes the molaga podi crunchy and enhances the taste when mixed in oil.


Enjoy!!!!!