Free Imagine Things

In my earlier posts I have mentioned that I have used this Andhra style Dhaniyaalu podi which I learnt from swapna's mom, she told me in Telugu in what do say as eye measurments (kann alathe), I mean to say not precise measurements !!, I still do not find that taste of which she did, I have asked swapna to get the exact measurements so I would get that real authentic taste, If any of my Andhra friends or readers do know about this powder and would like to send the recipe to me I would love to hear from you!, I will try out your recipe and post it in my blog as an other version of this. Hope you people like this and enjoy this powder as I do.
This powder according to swapna's mum can be eaten with hot Rice with a dollop of Ghee and can be used as a palya pudi as we do in Karnataka, to all the dry curries !, and also tastes very well with the famous Pappu of Andhra this can be used instead of Chilli powder, which I have already used in some of my pappu's!!.
Coming back to the recipe.....

Ingredients: 1 Cup Coriander Seeds (Dhania seeds) 5-8 Red Chilles (Guntur-Badgi chillies) 4 to 5 tbsp of Urad dal 10-12 pods of Garlic with skin 1 -2 flakes of Tamarind METHOD: In a wok heat a tsp of oil and fry all the Ingredients above except for Garlic until they turn golden brown in colour, or until there is a nice aroma coming out of it! When it is cool Grind it in a mixie to a coarse powder then add Garlic and give a pulse so that it doesn't become too mushy otherwise the powder becomes like a paste. This above mixture can be used for the Dry curries and the pappu or can be used instead of Sambhar powder. VARIATION: IF YOU WANT TO MIX IT WITH RICE AND EAT You can fry 2 Sprigs of curry leaves and 2 to 3 sprigs of Coriander leaves with the frying Ingredients and when grinding add salt as required, which gives a lovely smell and taste to the Dhaniyalu podi, which can be eaten with hot rice and ghee. This powder can also be given convalascent mothers as the first morsel in their food with Ghee and hot .

This is one of the Uttara kannada variety podi or pudi which goes very well with Rice and even with dosa, idli, chapati and rottis , This time when i went to India I brought it with me, I bought it on the route to Ghati Subramanya, where the farmers were selling them on the road, so I can say these are organic Ucchellu!!. I have tried my best to take a photograph of this kind of Til, I do not know if it has got any clarity in it, which shows the difference between the black til & Ucchellu. I have used this in one another of my recipe in vegetable gravies which i have cooked with Brinjal. Right lets get back to the recipe then....
UCCHELLU PUDI






















METHOD I
Ingredients:

• 1oo gms or 1 cup ucchellu (a kind of black Til)
• 15 to 20 gms or 1/4 cup Chenna Dal
• 4-4 Red chillies (Guntur-Badgi)
• 3 to 4 flakes or marble sized Tamarind
• a piece of Jaggery
• oil to roast
• 1 to 1/2 tsp of salt or salt as required

METHOD:

1. First of all clean the Til or Ucchellu seeds and dry in the sun for some time then fry them a little until they are quite warm
2. Then with little oil roast chenna dal, red chillies and Tamarind
3. when they are cool with required quantity of salt grind them in the mixer to a fine powder consistency in the last round add scrapped jaggery and give a final grind.
4. mix together and now it is finally ready to serve, put it in a air tight container for a long shelf life.

• 1 cup of Ucchellu
• 1/4 cup peanuts
• a pinch of asafoetida
• 2 tbsp of dry coconut or copra or dessicated coconut
• a marble sized tamarind
• salt to taste
• 1 tbsp Urad dal
• 4-4 Red chillies (Guntur-Badgi)
• oil to roast
• a little piece of jaggery

1. Clean the Til and roast it in as you roast the til seeds
2. With a tsp of oil roast urad dal, chillies and tamarind and keep aside
3. Dry roast the peanuts or if u get roasted peanuts u can use them or you can also use the roasted & salted peanuts too, but just be careful when adding salt as peanuts already have salt in them !!!.
4. After roasting the peanuts dehusk them and remove all the outer covering. Now it is ready to use.
5. Grind all the ingredients into a fine powder again as usual in the last round add the scrapped jaggery, mix well together and store it in a air tight container for a long shelf life.

When I was writing this Recipe I was quite feeling hungry as i had not had my breakfast and I thought what am I going to eat, Just then I remembered this song from an old Kannada film, The song was like this I do not remember the name of the film but used to remember the first two lines of it all the time I keep murmuring it now & then ! The song is - '' Raagi rotti ucchellu chutney thandiv nan magne, moogina matta jadidu malago kalnan magane.......'' it means I have brought Raagi Rotti and Ucchellu Chutney eat till u fill up to the nose and sleep well....I think that fellow was an useless idiot character, I do not think i have seen the film its a long time ago so must ask my hubby about this tonight when he is back and find out what it is !! well, I just decided I am going to eat the same thing and here is palate of Ragi Rotti and Ucchellu chutney pudi.

Hoping you would also make and enjoy this uttara karnataka dish and eat it.

This Gojju I ate in my friend Vatsala's house, They are kind of far relatives for me, Her Mom-in-law and my Atte (father's eldest sister) were very good friends, They also come from Hassan district, she is a very good cook, Once when I went to see her, she had Ubbu roti & Menthyad gojju, After I tried it I just loved it so much, I learnt from her to make it, I think I have altered it a little but, as always First taste is the best taste you can ever get.....I really do not make as she makes but my children say I have done it very well!!! (as they have not tasted her cooking!!).
MENTHYADA GOJJU (FENUGREEK GRAVY)
















Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp of Fenugreek/methi/menthya seeds
• 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
• 5-5 Red chillies (Guntur-Badgi)
• a pinch of asafoetida
• 5 to 6 or gooseberry sized Tamarind
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• 2 to 3 tbsp of oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds

METHOD:

1. Fry fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds & red chillies in a wok and keep aside to cool, fry fenugreek seeds until they are golden brown in colour do not allow it go black in colour.
2. Soak tamarind in 1/2 a tumbler of warm water and extract thick juice out of it, filter & keep it aside.
3. Take a deep bottomed wok, heat oil and a tsp of mustard seeds when it splutters add curry leaves & the extracted Tamarind juice and allow it boil in a low flame for a few minutes.
4. Meanwhile nicely powder the fried ingredients in a mixie and make it into a paste with very little water .
5. When the juice boils for few minutes and the above paste and mix well together with required quantity of salt & asafoetida and leave it on the stove for few more minutes.
6. If you want you can add a little bit of jaggery it is optional and now it is ready to serve.
7. It goes very well with chapatis, rottis and with rice too!!.

From my childhood I always loved to eat Rice mixed with chutni pudi, Molaga pudi, Gojjus & Rice varieties like chitranna, pulav, mixed vegetable rice etc., My daddy always used to tease me about this, The best thing i remember as a child when ever my mom made Fresh Rasam Powder Daddy used to mix it with Rice & oil and give us all a nice big ball of it & we all loved it so much!! My mouth is watering when I am thinking about those days, we always had a dinner together however late my dad came from his office!!.
After I got married in my in-laws house as they are from Tamilnadu, they used to eat lot of these Rice mix & eat dishes, my mom-in-law used to prepare paruppu podi most of the times, then I started learning lot of other pudis which were not only yummy but good for health!!
well, I am going to start with peanut powder from shivu's mom, actually I have not done so well as she does, first is always the best I think, even though everybody is liking it & it is getting over and I think I need to do it once more in 2 days that too, the way my eldest is consuming !!!!,
Here is the Recipe...
PEANUT POWDER

















Ingredients:

• 1 tumbler split roasted skin peeled Groundnuts
• 10-12 pods of garlic
• 1/4 bunch or 6-7 sprigs of fresh coriander leaves
• 5-5 Red chillies (guntur- badgi)
• 1 tbsp or salt as desired
• 1 tsp oil
• 1/4 tumbler dry copra or dessicated coconut
• 3-4 flakes or small gooseberry sized tamarind
• 1 sprig curry leaves (optional)

METHOD:

1. First of all take a pan or wok dry roast Ground nuts until nice aroma starts coming out of them or when the skin starts peeling off.
2. Take out them from the wok & keep it aside to cool
3. Next in the same pan or wok take a tsp of oil, heat then add the garlic pods & fry them until they start changing colour to it add the coriander leaves & fry them till they look like whithering away.
4. With that fry the Red chillies too & fry Tamarind too in it.
5. Once all of them are nicely fried take them out & allow it cool
6. Meanwhile take the roasted peanuts and remove the husk from them & remove the small node like portion from the top of the nuts when you split open them.
7. Take one tumbler of peanuts in measure & mix with all the other ingredients & dry powder in the mixie coarsely.
8. put them in a jar & it may last up to 10-15 days.
9. It is now ready to be served with plain rice & a dollop of ghee in it!

Not only people of Tamilnadu but people from Andra also have Rice mix & eat podis in their first course of their meal.