Sambar Podi/Powder

I moved to my own domain name "www.nandinisfood.com". Now Let's continue to sambar powder.

It is natural to have unique preferences when it comes to taste. Similarly, the liking of sambar varies among individuals. The key item in sambar is the sambar powder. The sambar powder has to be customized for grinding. Some like it fiery hot, some like it mild. With a spice grinder/coffee grinder, we can manage for one day or even up to one week's usage. For larger quantities, chillies, coriander seeds and other ingredients (in large amounts) are dried under the sun directly until the chillies become crisp. Then they're collected in bags or in stainless steel vessels and  taken to the rice mills which have a separate machine for grinding these ingredients. After the powder is ready, they're taken back home and are spread on a big sheet of paper or on a large plate to cool as it's hot. It's stored in air-tight containers afterwards and are used for several months.

In this fast-paced world today, you can see various sambar powder brands readily trying to push one another to attract customers in the shelves of departmental stores in the masala section.

For people who live in apartments (and especially in the time of winter), you can saute the ingredients in the humble kadai and powder them.

Ingredients:
Dry whole red chillies - 100 g
Coriander seeds - 175 g
Tur/arhar dal - 20 g
Chana dal/Bengal gram - 20 g
Peppercorns - 10 g
Cumin seeds - 10 g
Fenugreek seeds - 2 big pinches
Turmeric pieces- 3 pieces/5 g
Asafoetida powder - 1/2 tsp. (heaped)

Method:
Dry roast chillies, coriander seeds, arhar dal, chana dal, peppercorns, cumins seeds and fenugreek seeds each separately till a nice aroma arises.
Cool.
Powder them along with crushed turmeric, asafoetida in small batches (My jar became very hot and I ran it after regular intervals).
Cool the powder and store in an air-tight container. Use them in sambar as required.

Note:
Expect to sneeze and cough a lot during the grinding process.

Posted in: podis