Idli podi-spiced dal powder for Idli/Dosa

Nothing tastes better with idli or dosa than a nice and tasty homemade idli podi(idli milagai podi).Soft idli dipped in idli podi and gingelly oil tastes like heaven and is suitable for a packed lunch anywhere.In my house I really get alarmed when this idli podi gets over as my son likes idli or dosa only with this idli podi. The measurement I ve posted gives nearly 3/4 kg of idli podi and assures you a minimum of month and a half supply.

Ingredients:

White urad dal- 1 1/4 cup

Gram dal-1 1/2 cup

Red chillies-1 1/2 cup loosely packed ( increase if you want more spicy.My chillies were medium hot.)

Hing-5 tsp

White sesame seeds- 80 grams

Jaggery-1 tbsp(optional)

Salt-to taste

Procedure:

1.Dry roast urad dal and gram dal separately until they are golden brown.

2.Then roast the red chillies separately till they become puffed up and darkens in color.

3.Now heat the empty Kadai in high flame and then add white sesame seeds.

Keep stirring as they start spluttering.

4.switch off the flame as the sesame seeds starts turning in to light brown and transfer it to a plate immediately.

5. Once all the roasted items cools down, grind the dals and red chillies along with hing and salt in a mixie to a coarse powder.

6.Now add sesame seeds and jaggery and whip it till the sesame seeds are broken down and gets mixed well with the powder.

7. Transfer it into an airtight container and enjoy it with idli,dosa or upma.

Tips:

* Roasting the dals separately ensures they get evenly roasted as they differ in size.

*Make sure the kadai is really hot before you roast sesame seeds. Otherwise they will not splutter.

* Add sesame seeds only at the end when grinding the powder or else it will release the oil and the idli podi will not be a dry powder.

*You can also use black urad dal and black sesame seeds in the same ratio .Only the color of the idli podi will differ.

* Adding jaggery is optional.In my house everyone likes a tint of sweetness so I add it.

*You can also grind it to a smooth powder if you don't like it to be coarse.