Karuveppilai Podi
Spice powder with curry leaves, roasted lentils, red chillies and spices
Ingredients
- 4 cups curry leaves tightly packed
- ½ cup whole urad dal
- 10-12 dry red chillies
- 1 tsp asafoetida / hing
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp cumin seeds / jeera
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Wash the curry leaves well and let it rest in the colander/sieve for 15 minutes. Then spread on a newspaper or cotton cloth and let it dry completely.
- In a pan, dry roast the curry leaves until they turn crisp, taking care not to burn them. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
- In the same pan, roast the urad dal on medium flame until golden. Transfer to the plate.Then fry the red chillies until crisp and set aside.
- Dry roast the pepper and jeera until nice aroma comes. Lastly add hing and fry for few seconds. Transfer to the plate. Allow everything to cool.
- Grind the dal, red chillies, pepper, jeera, asafoetida and salt coarsely. Then add the curry leaves and grind to a powder. Let the powder cool a little and then transfer to an air tight container.
Notes
- You can roast the curry leaves in microwave oven too. Spread them on a plate and microwave for 2-3 minutes or until crisp.
- Make sure that the curry leaves are completely dry and there is no moisture.
- Adjust the amount of red chillies according to your spice preference.
- Grind the powder to fine or little coarse as per your preference.