Grandma's Milagai Podi

This is yet another spice powder I'd been wanting to record. I realize there are two versions of several spice blends and dishes in this space - one from my mother's family and the other from my in-law's. My paternal side of the family has its own unique Andhra+Tamil version of everything, so I need to make it a personal project to get some precious recipes from my aunts. All these versions are equally important to me, because they come with their own stories, personal connections, and interesting variations. As the years go by, maybe one day I will make a fourth version by combining the three versions and confusing everyone :)

Anyway, since dosai is one of my absolute favorite foods, I have wonderful memories of gorging on crispy dosais and freshly made milagai podi at my grandma's place. My grandma used to add jaggery to milagai podi. And for us spice-sensitive people, she used to add a dash more of jaggery. So milagai podi with spice and sweetness intermingling in my taste buds as I chomp on idlis or doasis takes me back to summer vacations, grandma's cooking, and fun with cousins.

Grandma's Sambar Powder / Sambar Spice Blend

This is my grandma's recipe for sambar powder. Actually, this is my great grandmother's sambar powder recipe. It has come down all the way to me.

Spice blends are slightly different in each family, although the overall ingredients remain the same. The quantities are adjusted slightly, and this creates a whole slew of different variations in essentially the same spice blend.

This sambar powder defines my childhood meals. Every sambar, kootu, and vegetable curry was spiced with this blend, so this evokes my sensory memory of childhood the most. My mom made a fresh batch of this sambar powder before coming, so it is wonderfully aromatic and delicious when added to sambar!

Karuvepilai Podi / Curry Leaf Spice Blend

Curry leaves are used to season most South-Indian curries, kootus, and gravies. They infuse a distinct curry flavor that is hard to replicate. Curry leaves grow abundantly in tropical climates. So, almost every family grows curry leaves in their yard. One of the ways in which they utilize the surplus leaves is to brew them in coconut oil and sesame oil to make a specialized hair oil to boost hair growth. Another culinary use for curry leaves is through a flavorful spice blend that can be mixed with rice.

So, here's how the spice blend is made!

Yellu Podi / Sesame Spice Blend

Yellu Podi is a spice mix made with sesame seeds and other Indian seasonings. It is smokey, nutty, and flavorful when it is mixed with steamed rice. Simple ingredients go together to make this spice blend that is quite popular in South India.

Rasam Powder - Version 2

Every family has its own unique spice blends and treasured recipes for them. Every South-Indian family has its own version of sambar and rasam powders. I previously recorded my in-law's rasam powder spice blend. In today's post, I am recording one of my grandmother's (and mother's) version of rasam powder. My grandmother's sister sent us a home-made batch of rasam powder, which we have been enjoying in our rasams and broths.

Here is the recipe.

Thengai Podi / Coconut Spice Mix

My mother-in-law prepares this wonderful spice blend with dessicated coconut from the garden. She recently sent a package of this spice blend for us, and I wanted to record the recipe before other things took over. This is my husband's favorite spice blend to mix with steamed rice!

Although this recipe calls for dessicated coconut, you can also use store bought coconut flakes (unsweetened) and roast them well. Shelf-life might be reduced a bit, but store in the fridge in an air-tight container to extend shelf life as much as possible. 

Milagai Podi / Idli & Dosa Podi / Chilli Spice Blend

Milagai podi (chilli spice powder) is used as an accompaniment to idlis, dosas, adais, and other South-Indian crepes. A teaspoon of milagai podi is mixed with some sesame oil to make a slightly thin paste. Pieces of idli/dosa are then dipped into it for a spicy, flavorful bite. It is freshly made at home, with each household having its own slightly unique twist to their recipe. But the basic ingredients are the same. For example, my grandma adds some jaggery to make it more flavorful and palatable for us kids (well, we were kids at least back then). I need to ask my mom for her recipe and record it here sometime.

This recipe is my mother-in-law's. Milagai podi is slightly coarse in texture. It gives a nice crunch, especially when it is had with idli.

Paruppu Podi / Lentil Spice Blend

Paruppu podi is a Tam-Brahm (Tamizh Brahmin) specialty. It defines minimalism by way of its humble ingredients and simple preparation. When mixed with fresh steaming rice and ghee or sesame oil, it offers a wonderfully comforting and delicious meal. It is what all of us resort to when a quick and flavorful meal needs to be conjured up without any cooking involved. But it is in no way a compromise to have paruppu podi rice. The smell of  spiced roasted lentils hitting warm rice and ghee is one of those unique scent-memories for us Tam-Brahms!

My mother-in-law had sent her recipe to me a few years ago, and I am finally digging it out from my pile of back-log. Here it is! 

Rasam powder

I have been taking my stash of spice-mixes for granted. And then, one fine day, when I was scraping at the bottom of the rasam-powder-bottle, I nonchalantly walked over to the fridge and opened the freezer to retrieve a nicely packed  bag of home-made rasam-powder. Except this time, my hands groped at nothing... no more bags labeled "rasam powder" showed itself. Horror of horrors! I had actually run out of home-made rasam powder! But before I let myself panic, I just called my resourceful mother-in-law and noted down the recipe to make some rasam-powder at home. 

And here is the actual recipe!

Ingredients:

1. Coriander seeds / Dhania - 250 grams
2. Dried red chillies -  100 grams
3. Cumin seeds / jeera - 50 grams
4. Black pepper corns - 50 grams
5. Bengal gram dhal / Kadala paruppu - 50 grams
6. Turmeric - 50 grams

Dry roast each spice separately until they roast a little and emit their essential oils and flavors. Grind, mix, and store in an airtight container!

This makes a big bottle of rasam-powder. Just to approximate, I equated 50 grams to 1/4 cup.

Some families don't really use separate spice-mixes for sambar and rasam. One versatile powder is used for sambar, rasam, and other dishes that take curry powder. But, I think the addition of cumin and pepper in rasam powder makes a delicious difference in the way your rasam turns out. 

Sambar Powder

Sambar is a classic lentil-based gravy that features in almost every meal in every South-Indian home. It should have been the second recipe on this blog, but I have been putting it off for a long time now. I'm preparing a fairly long and comprehensive post on sambar and its variant recipes, so I'll eventually finish it and have it up.

There is a certain mix of spices that give the sambar its classic flavor. This spice-mix is called the Sambar powder, and it is almost a treasured secret in every family's recipe book. Most of us South-Indians don't buy this powder from the store. Our grandmothers, aunts, and mothers prepare this every year (or every other year) and the recipe is handed down to us as almost a rite of passage. Since I've started to try out masala powders and spice mixes, I wanted to record sambar and rasam powder recipes on this space as well.

My mother-in-law gave me the sambar powder recipe that came from her family (and my father-in-law's). It's quite precious, so I thank her for sharing it with me!

Since the powder is usually made in huge quantities, note the proportions of the ingredients and try out a small batch - substitute the kilos with cups or tablespoon equivalents.

Ingredients:

1. 1/4 Kilo dry red chillies
2. 1/2 Kilo coriander seeds
3. 100 grams Thoor dhal / thuvaram paruppu
4. 100 grams Bengal gram dhal / kadala paruppu
5. 50 grams de-husked Urad dhal / ullatham paruppu
6. 25 grams fenugreek seeds
7. 25 grams black pepper corns
8. 25 grams turmeric (the actual dried root or powder)

Preparation:

1.  Dry roast each ingredient separately. Cool slightly
2. Grind together to a smooth powder.

The ingredients in the powder are pretty much the same across families and communities. But, I think the proportions vary slightly, and there might be a secret ingredient or two causing variations in this classic spice mix.

Garam Masala Powder - Version 1

My simple (and rather obvious) hypothesis is that the success of most North-Indian based curries and gravies lies in the garam masala (or spice-blend) that goes into it. Although there are so many zillions of garam masala (and generic masala) brands in the market, there are probably very few that come close to the authentic blend prepared by expert home-chefs. With life being short, and the number of brands in the market increasing by the week, it’s almost impossible to test all of these to identify the optimal garam masala brand. So, I got into the habit of constantly pestering my North-Indian friends for suggestions and tips.

None of my Punjabi, Bihari or other friends from the north-western part of India use a store-bought masala. Oh no, they don’t. It is as sacrilegious as a madrasi or South-Indian using store-bought sambar powder. It’s close to blasphemy to even consider it. Everyone has their own home-grown, treasured recipe for the masala powder that’s so elusively perfect. And no matter how many times I have prodded, requested, and bugged them for the recipe or even a hint of it, they have all politely shook their heads feigning ignorance, or widened their eyes appalled at the audacity of my request to pry their precious family recipe. It’s understandable. I don’t blame them. But my curiosity doesn’t let me shelve the mystery so soon.

So, after all these years of sniffing different masalas, and experimenting now and then with a different mix, I narrowed down a couple of my favorite store-bought masalas. Then, I read the ingredients at the back of the pack and decided I would just experiment with the measurements and see what I end up with. So, that’s what I did. Of course, I don’t have access to all the exotic spices listed - clove leaves, stone flower etc. But that’s ok - I’m making a trip to the Indian store to comb the spice racks another time. But for now, here is a pretty decent start to prepare a very basic garam masala powder.

Much of the measurements are tuned to suit my preference in the olfactory and taste departments. For instance, I love cardamom - I’m close to obsessed with its aroma. So, to me, cardamom is a major masala note in most good masala powders. Cardamom + clove + fennel is a  favorite blend of mine. So they all feature. But since clove and fennel can easily overpower the delicate cardamom flavor, I have reduced their quantities in ratio to the cardamom. Mustard + Cumin + pepper + coriander is a very classic Indian flavor, so they are present too. In addition, other strong spices such as nutmeg + star anise + cinnamon are also added, but in muted amounts. I find these flavors to be distracting if added in excess. So, according to my half-baked knowledge and random experimentation, here is the formula.

Ingredients:

1. 2 tablespoons cardamom seeds (not the husk/shell, just the seeds)
2. 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
3. 1 teaspoon of cloves
4. 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
5. 2 tablespoons black pepper corns
6. 1 tablespoon cumin
7. 1 tablespoon mustard seeds
8. 1 dry red chilly
9. 2 inch piece of cinnamon
10. 1 star anise (or 2 small ones)
11. 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Preparation:

1. Dry roast all the ingredients together (except the grated nutmeg) for 5-10 minutes until the aromas of the spices begin to assault the kitchen - in a good way
2. Grind the cooled spices along with grated nutmeg to a fine powder.
3. Store in an air-tight jar at room temperature.

Anand and I were pleasantly surprised by the results. However, being a lowly South-Indian, I do not make any claims that this is a lovely clone of the authentic recipe. No, it’s not. But most of the ingredients that make the classic garam masla are present in this (except for stone flower, clove leaves, black cardamom). In my next batch, I will probably experiment with the measurements a little more, add a few black cardamoms and stone-flowers, etc.

But even if this isn’t the authentic spice-blend, this experiment of mine is yet another unequivocal proof that freshly prepared spice-blends make SO much difference! The spices are much sharper, the aromas are stronger, and a little goes a long way to infuse so much depth of flavor to the dishes. So, if there’s anyone who questions the unnecessary need to make home-made masala when it’s easy to pick a couple of store-bought ones, trust me when I say, it makes a worthwhile difference. And besides, this is a fun “science” project!