Our social:

Friday, May 29, 2009

Idly Milagai Podi

For the last two months I was in chettinad in my mothers house to take care of it since my parents were abroad on a vacation (The house is converted into a heritage home. if you want to have a look at my house ref http://www.chettinadumansion.com/ ).For many years I have never stayed there so long as we also will be touring during the vacations. The houses in chettinad as many know will be very huge (It will extend to one full street).The house will be common for all the brothers of a generation and their children that follow. Each family will have a separate kitchen in the fourth courtyard. There are four such kitchens in my mom’s house too. My periyamma (Dad’s brother’s wife) who cooks deliciously (the best so far I know) was also there this time. She usually stays abroad with her son. I had the golden opportunity of getting the rarest recipes from her this time. I prepared many and will share with you in my future blogs. I always feel that the idly milagai podi recipe that I follow is short of something. So I asked her for the recipe. At the age of 76 she was right behind me till I grinded the podi. It was awesome.
Ingredients
Red chilies (long one)-3 cups (any cup)
Garlic-7 pods (those who dont like this flavour can avoid this)
Asafetida-A small piece (1 teaspoon powder)
Curry leaves-handful
Urudh dhal-1 cup
Thoor dhal-1/2 cup
Salt-1 table spoon (Check for taste)
Procedure
Keep the kadai in the stove. Add 2 teaspoons gingili oil. Fry the garlic pieces in medium fire till they turn golden brown. If asafetida piece is used fry that also in the same oil after garlic. Take them out from the oil. If oil is less add a teaspoon more oil. Now roast the urudh dhal along with curry leaves till the dhal gets little red .After this the same way roast the thoor dhal also. Fry the chili also in little oil in medium fire till it gets roasted.If you have microwave then you can get away with the difficulty of frying it in the kadai.Immediately after putting it in the oil in the kadai,transfer it to a microwavable plate and microwave for 2 minutes.If crystal salt is used put that also in the kadai for a minute without oil. After all these cool first grind the chilies then add garlic then asafetida then urudh dhal and curry leaves and finally thoor dhal and salt .Grind to the consistency you like. Store it in an air tight container. For a small family this measurement will be enough for a month or two.

27 comments:

Cham said...

Wondering that u went on vacation. I will be in Pondy in few days Aunty. Hope ur parents are doing great here :)
Garlic and curry should make this podi aromatic!

Cilantro said...

Thank you for the recipe. Let me try out and will let you know.

Jen Kumar said...

Thank you for posting this! Can't wait to make it. I love podis of all kinds to eat with dosa, idli, rice, etc!! I also recently got a new mixie so more things to try in it, the more training I will get!!!

Poornima said...

Achi, thanks so much for the recipe, adding garlic is new to me, usually amma makes it similar but without garlic, i am going to try it with garlic. today i made idly with kosamalli and it came out great. tomorrow i will try the idly podi.

Unknown said...

Hi Aunty,

First time in the comments section, though I have tried several of your recipes. They are so good. Thanks :)

Went through the Chettinad Mansion link, it is so beautiful.

Appreciate the effort behind making this happen. And I am glad that someone in the family is trying to preserve the ancestral home.

All the best with the venture.

Regards,
Reshma

passion said...

Hi! Just saw ur site. U are doing a marvelous job! I just started a blog of my own..just 2 days back :) And loved what you have going on here on your site. Great job!
www.recipesgalores.blogspot.com...do drop by. Would love your advice and tips!

maxo said...

Aachi,

Can you share the recipe for Aiyirai Meen Kozhambu / Curry.

Pls do kindly share

Unknown said...

Yes, i've stayed at the mansion with my family. It's a lovely abode of opulence and hospitality! Don't even get me started on the authentic chettinad cuisine!! Yum!!

Serendipity said...

wonderful recipes.. i dont look through too many blogs these days ,coz it gets confusing, but urs i always visit as it is simple and the recipies are something i relate to.

as for ur vacation, must say u r so lucky to be a part of such a wonderful family..

although i hv not been to chetinaad, i hv a few pics in my collection..
will definitely share them with u, maybe u will also be able to identify whose house it is :)
thanks for ur wonderful blog..

Unknown said...

hai achi
i have 1 doubt.dont v fry it chillies in the oil???have v add raw chillies to grind..

Unknown said...

nice bolg.1 big + is ur measurements..its so perfect ...great

Solai Chidambaram said...

Sorry Ramesh.The chilli also for sure has to be roasted.I have corrected my blog.Thankyou

krits said...

hello aachi...
ur blog is very nice...i ve tried so many recipes and they all ve become a huge hit in my home...
1 kutti doubt is it thuvaram paruppu in the ingredients?? because i ve known only kadali paruppu being used for molaga podi..can u pls clarify...thanks...

Solai Chidambaram said...

Yes Krits.This idli podi recipe includes thuvaramparuppu.

Venkat Nataraj said...

Podi With Toor Dhal is a different one for me. It came out well .My kid likes this .Thanks. Is there any list of all ur recipes in ur blog?
Its all seems to be interesting. But bit difficult to navigate.You can give the list on the side.Thats my kind suggestion.

Solai Chidambaram said...

There is a drop down list under various heads on the side.there is a search box also Natraj.

Nirmala said...

Hi Achi

Saw your blog yesterday when i was searching for beetroot vadai. Really good blog and i intend to try many of the recipes.
One small doubt in this recipe - could we microwave all the dals or is it only for redchillies?

Solai Chidambaram said...

Yes Nirmala u can microwave the dhals too.I feel that roasting in oil adds taste.Thats why I roast it with little oil in a kadai.

Skl said...

hello aunty,
your home is very beautiful,saw the link,good to hear its converted to heritage home,so people can come over and stay there?shd be a nice experience,
great recipe with garlic and curry leaves,
thank you,skl

Unknown said...

Hi aunty,
I just made this podi and its too good. We all loved it. Can u please tell how to make ellu milagai podi that goes well with idly and dosa. Thanx in advance.
Deepa

Me said...

Hi Solai,

Nice recipes, awesome mansion!! I think you should do more to promote it in this blog, why don't you post pictures of it and write about how you grew up there, etc...it would be wonderful to read. Also, your elderly relative, who gave you the milagi recipe, ask her how it was in her day and share it with us, since it gives us a glimpse into a past era.

You are so lucky to have the house. My ancestral home in Hyderabad, which my grandfather bought from a Nawab's widow before she left for Pakistan at partition, has been torn down....now it's an ugly apartment.
The sad part is that we do not have any photos of it, all we have are memories. sigh.

Unknown said...

Helo achi,

Thankyou verymuch. because i am searching the good recipe , lucky i saw your idly milagai podi recipe. its great thanks a lot.

Greeko said...

Should I use fresh red chilis or the dried ones for this recipe?

Solai Chidambaram said...

Dry red chilies should be used

Abhirami Muthu said...

Wow my favourite. Thank you achi.

sharmila said...

hello Achi,
thoor dal na kadala paruppa?
thuvaram paruppa?//
nan edhu varia idli milagai podikku kadala paruppu than poduven, en amma apapdi than solli koduthanga.
you have mentioned thoor dal
what is that?
thuvaram paruppu or kadala paruppu?
please answer.

Solai Chidambaram said...

Thoor dhal means thuvarM paruppu sharmila.You can use either of these paruppu.I use thuvaram paruppu.