Kariveppilai podi (curry leaves powder)

Ingredients:

Curry leaves (washed and dried in shade) - 2 cups
Urad daal 4 tablespoons
Mustard seeds 1/4 tea spoon
Dry chilly - 1
peppercorn - 1 tea spoon
Salt as required
Refined oil - 1 tablespoon

Method:

Roast the urad daal, mustard seeds, chilly, pepper in a heated pan. Take it separately and let it cool. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the curry leaves keeping the flame in sim. Once that cools down, grind it as a fine powder.

A variation is to add a little tamarind and making it a semi dry paste.

Should be eaten with rice with a little ghee/gingelly oil. The semi dry version can be eaten with dosa and rotis also.

Sambhara podi (coriander leaves powder)

Ingredients:

Coriander leaves (separate the stems, wash, strain and dry it in shade) - 2 to 3 cups
urad daal - 4 tablespoons
dry chillies - 4
Tamarind - 1/2 of amla size
Salt as required
Jaggery 1 teaspoon
refined oil - 2 tablespoons
mustard seeds - 1/4 teaspoon


Method:

Roast the urad daal, chillies in a heated pan. Pop the mustard seeds separately. Grind these separately into a fine powder. Then grind the coriander leaves, tamarind and salt and grind it without adding any water. Add the daal, chilli powder to this, grind it till it get mixed completely. Add jaggery at the last.

Can be eaten with rice or as a side dish to dosa, idli, rotis etc., I like this the best with curd rice.

Kothamalli virai podi (coriander powder)

Ingredients:

Dry coriander seeds 1 cup
Urad Daal 2 tablespoons
Dry chillies 1
Asofoetida (perungayam) 1 pinch

Method:

Roast the urad daal, dry chilli and asofoetida in a heated pan (kadai) till you get a nice aroma. Add the coriander seeds to this and roast it nicely. Grind it to a fine powder.

Should be mixed with rice and eaten. A little gingelly oil or ghee will enhance the taste. This is good for digestion and also for headache and nausea.