Peanut Chutney Powder for Idli and Dosa

Chutney and Sambar makes a good combination with the South Indian Breakfast items like Idli, Dosa and Uthappa etc. There is also another add-on which is generally called as Gun Powder in English and Milagu Podi in Tamil that goes swimmingly well with idlis and dosas. You can make many varieties of this powder. The recipe below is for peanut chutney powder/podi. We can also add this to any stir fried vegetable to enhance its taste.This Peanut Chutney Powder can be had without Oil or Ghee.

Ingredients:

Peanuts – 2 cups

Chana Dal- 1 cup

Byadgi Red Chilli – ½ cup

Chopped Garlic Cloves – 1 tbsp

Curry Leaves – handful

Asafoetida – 2 small pieces

Gur (Jaggery) – 2 tbsp or to suit taste

Tamarind – small goose berry sized ball

Salt – to taste

Method:

Dry roast Peanuts in a pan till the skin peels off or brown dots appear on the skin. Transfer to a bowl or plate and keep aside.

Dry roast the Chana Dal also in the same pan till the Dal turns golden brown. Transfer to another bowl.

Heat a tsp of Oil in the pan. Roast the Asafoetida pieces in it for few seconds. Add Garlic to it and roast for a few more seconds.

Add the Red Chillies. Add a tsp of Oil, if required. Roast the Chillies. (Do not burn them). Add the Tamarind also. Transfer to the bowl.

Fry the Curry Leaves till they become crispy.

When the Peanuts become cool, crush and rub so that the skin peels off. Discard the skin. This step is optional. We can use the Peanuts with the skin also.

Take all these roasted ingredients and also Salt and Jaggery in a mixer.

Pulse Grind them to a coarse powder. Do not grind them to a fine powder.

Transfer this powder to a bowl, allow it to cool and then store in an air tight container. It stays fresh for months together.

Serve with Idli, Dosa etc with or without Oil or Ghee.

Note:

If you use very spicy chilli, reduce the number of Chillies.

You can also use combination of Spicy Chilli and Kashmiri Chilli to get the color.