Chutney Powder

I am languishing away at my parents' home currently with all the time and laziness in the world. Today I decided to thwart the laid-backedness and post some recipes for basic everyday use powders. Basically my mom is the chef and I am the "helper" while she makes these delights to pack off to my brother's home. But since its my mom, who is anyway behind most of my recipes, I take the liberty to blog about it as if mine :)

"Chutneypudi" as it is called in our homes is a tasty side dish in South India for many snacks like Idli, Dosa, Rotti or even Uppit. It adds to the taste of whatever is eaten along with it. Its lip smacking for its khatta-meetha flavour.

Here I will post the recipe for making 250 gms of Chutneypudi, enough to last for atleast a couple of months.

What you need to make Chutneypudi

• Kadlebele (Split yellow chickpeas) - 100gms
• Uddinbele (Black gram) - 100 gms
• Red Chillies - 10
• Tamarind - small ball of 1/2 inch diameter
• Copra (Dry Coconut) - 75 gms
• Curry Leaves - 1/4 cup
• Jaggery - small ball of 1 inch diameter
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Asafoetida - a pinch
• Oil - 1 tsp
• Salt - 1 and 1/2 tsp or to taste

Preparation to make Chutneypudi

• Wash curry leaves and dry thoroughly in the sun. It should not have any moisture in it.
• Place a heavy bottomed vessel on the stove with the flame low. Do all the roasting in this vessel.
• Roast curry leaves till dry and crackling. Take care not to burn it. Keep aside in a plate to cool.
• Roast kadlebele along with half the red chillies till light brown. Pour it in a separate container to cool.
• Roast uddinbele along with half the red chillies till light brown. Pour it into the same container as kadlebele to cool.
• Grate the dry coconut.
• Roast the dry coconut till light brown. Take care not to burn it. Keep aside in the same plate as curry leaves to cool.
• Heat oil in the heavy bottomed vessel with the flame still low. To this add turmeric, mustard seeds, asafoetida and tamarind (stranded) and fry till the mustard seeds splutter.
• Switch off the stove.
• Now add the roasted dry coconut and curry leaves to the fried ingredients and mix well. Keep aside the entire mixture to cool.

Method to make Chutneypudi

• Once the kadlebele, uddinbele and red chillies are cooled, dry grind all the three to a coarse powder.
• Add the fried and cooled mixture to this and grind some more.
• Add salt and grind.
• Spread out the powder into a large plate and allow to cool.

My fundas

• Do not make the powder too smooth. Its nice to eat when a little coarse.
• Keep the chutney powder in an air tight container at all times.
• I love mixing this powder with sugar and eating it with dosa. You could try it too!
• Another great way to eat this would be to slice an Idli like a burger, apply ghee inside and sprinkle chutney powder. Idli burger :)
• T even eats this with rice with a little ghee to mix well. Loves it.