Idly podi

I love idly with sambhar, idly with chutney, idly with sambhar and chutney, idly with mango pickle, idli with plain gingelly oil  and idly with this podi and gingelly oil. In short I love idly and I can gulp down a few with any side-dish. But idly, podi and gingelly oil combination is very special. Many a time my lunch box contained idly and podi. My mom would mix this idly podi with gingelly oil and apply on the the idlies. Until afternoon the idly imbibes the flavour of the podi and OMG!!! I miss it. I definitely miss it. This type of idly podi preparation is my mom's speciality. Urid dhal is the main ingredient. Fried urid dhal smells awesome and imagine it being mixed with the flavours of curry leaves and fresh pepper corns.......Excellent is the word to describe the combination and this idly podi. I have seen many people asking my mom for this recipe. Hope you will like it too.

Ingredients :

Urid dhal- 1 cup

Channa dhal- a handful

Rice- 1 tspn

Black pepper corns- 50 nos

Curry leaves- some 40 leaflets

Garlic- 5 pods ( mince into small pieces)

Dried red chillies- 15 nos (adjust according to your taste, I love it hot and when you mix this podi with oil the hotness get reduced a lot)

Asafoetida- few pinches

Salt to taste

Method :

Very simple. Fry all the ingredients together, including the garlic pieces. Remove from fire when the urid dhal acquires a golden brown colour. Then dry grind the ingredients into a coarse powder with enough salt and few pinches of asafoetida. Idly podi will be ready to be served. Serve with gingelly oil.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : Take care not to burn any ingredient when frying. Fry on low heat. Never miss black pepper and curry leaves when preparing this idly podi. Happy cooking!!!

A love story and idly upma

Before going to the above photographs explanation I would like to share with you one of my love story . My love affair with him started when  I left India and came to Germany. No, the previous statement may be wrong, the correct statement would be I realized the love for him only when I came to Germany . In India, he was most of the time near my reach. Atleast thrice or four times a week we meet each other. I used to wake up on hearing the sound of his arrival. I will be eagerly waiting for him, eventhough I never realized the passion and love I had for him. Since he is nearby I took him for granted.  He is so soft and as pure as a snow. ' Partha udane appadiye kadichu sapidalmnu thonum' .  He smelled great too. When I left him in India, I never had any regrets. But after spending few weeks in Germany I literally yearned for him . Sometimes I would wake up with dreams of his beautiful scent and softnes. OMG!!! I love him so very much, and I am talking about.........IDLY  yeah Idlies, the most wonderful of man's creation and I love him crazily .

When my friend posted idly upma recipe in her blog I wanted to taste it immediately. So today I made idlies for breakfast. Only during this India visit we bought an Indian made mixer grinder. Now I can prepare reasonably good idlies. But before with the mixie available here in Germany, I failed in my idly making attempt several times but I never forsook my attempt of making decent idlies. At last I came up with a recipe which called for the addition of beer in the idly batter  which made my darling as soft as I get in India. But now with the new mixie I do not encounter problems. My idli batter rises very well . So coming back to the point again, I tried Anu's idly upma recipe. It came out very well and I enjoyed it with a cup of tea as an evening snack. Thank you Anu and I always  appreciate the way you present your recipes beautifully (after all I learned from you but never so perfect). Keep on posting girl and please try some of my recipes too .

 Here is the link for Anu's idly upma recipe. Enjoy!!! and Happy cooking!!!