Ellu Podi Or Spiced Sesame And Lentils Dry Chutney Powder
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Though this recipe of Ellu Podi or Spiced Sesame and Lentil Dry Chutney has been around for ages as part of the South Indian Cuisine, I fell in love with this spiced dry chutney powder post my marriage on our trips to our hometown – Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu. One of the hotels in Tirunelveli served these along with some piping hot idlis with a generous drizzle of ghee or clarified butter and I was immediately in love with it.
Though this podi or spiced dry chutney powder has similar ingredients to that of the quintessential and famous Gunpowder or Molagapodi, the aroma and the flavor of the black sesame seeds really stands out, making it now a must have list of podis or powders that I grind every month when the stock replenishes.
The spice kick from the red chilies and the flavourful toasted and ground sesame seeds when combined with lentils, lends an amazing aroma enough to make you go for seconds at the breakfast table. Highly recommend to try them with idlis though they go with other breakfast staples too.
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Ingredients
- Black Sesame Seeds Black Til – 1 cup
- Urad Dal or Split Black Lentils or Black Gram – ¾ cup
- Chana Dal or Split chickpeas – ¼ cup
- Whole Red Chilies – 5to 6 nos.
- Hing – a pinch
- Salt
- Sesame Oil for roasting – few drops
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Instructions
- Heat a non-stick pan or small kadhai, add urad dal with a few drops of oil and roast the dal on low heat until brown and then keep aside for cooling.
- In the same pan, add Chana Dal and a few drops of oil, roast the dal on low heat until they turn slightly brown and then keep it aside for cooling.
- Roast the whole red chilies with a drop of oil on low heat until nice and crisp and then keep it aside for cooling.
- Add the black sesame seeds or til to the hot pan and once they start toasting, they will splutter / pop (which takes few seconds only). Keep them aside for cooling.
- Once all the above ingredients have been cooled slightly, add them into a mixer grinder jar along with salt as per taste and some hing.
- Grind the contents into a slightly coarse powder.
- Transfer the contents into an airtight glass container. Stays good for atleast a month.
Notes
Recipe Notes –
- Ideal to sprinkle on hot idlis and drizzle them generously with sesame oil / clarified butter or ghee. You can also use this podi or spiced dry chutney powder to sprinkle on your other South Indian breakfast specials like upma or dosa.
- You may reduce the quantity of red chilies in case you don’t prefer spicy food. I have used pondi red chilies that don’t give out much colour but are extremely spicy.
- I’d recommend not replacing Black sesame seeds with white ones as the flavor and taste will not be the same.
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soft and tasty