Biriyani Masala (Powder)

Biriyani is one of the famous rice dishes of Southern India. Rice mixed with either vegetables or meat that is cooked in a rich array of spices make a meal by itself. This is one of those recipes which is a little elaborate to make but well worth the time and effort. All of a sudden, I wanted to eat it. I made this masala and ended up making the biriyani also. But, I shared it with my neighbors and didn't have any left by the time I decided to take pictures. So, that will follow soon when I make it again.

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Three Years Back -  Easiest Lemonade
Adapted barely from Vahrehvah Chef
Ingredients: 
Mace / Japathri - 1/4 tsp (not powder)
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Bay Leaf - 3 whole
Black Cumin / Shah Jeera - 1 tsp
Kasoori Methi - 1/2 tsp
Black Cardamom - 4
Cinnamon Sticks - 4 of length 2"
Cloves - 10 - 12
Coriander - 3 TBSP (whole)
Cumin - 1 1/2 TBSP
Green Cardamom - 10
Black Pepper corns - 10 - 12
Red Chilli Powder - 1 TBSP

Method:
Grind all the whole spices together in a coffee grinder or a dry grinder into as fine as you can get. Mix in the turmeric powder and red chilli powder. Mix well. Store in an air tight container and use within 3 months.

Use this powder as the masala. You will need about 4 tsp of this powder for every cup of rice you use in your biriyani.

This post is written for weekend cooking post that I write with Srivalli  and  Vaishali, 

Enjoy.

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Rasam Powder / Saarina Pudi / Menasina Pudi

This is something that is staple in every Southern Indian household. Each family has its own recipe and differ in taste. This is my mother's recipe. Many women that I know of who live in U.S are privileged to get this powder from home every time they visit home or through someone. Not me though. It has been few years since I used this powder made by my mother since she is not able to move around and do anything let alone make this powder for me. But, I can smell the same powder every time I open the box of this powder to make rasam or any other dish that uses this powder. And this recipe is something I will never ever change even if the other person's recipe gives a better Saaru or rasam than mine. Some of my friends who have tasted my rasam ask me for the recipe long time back but I kept on postponing this post.

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Ingredients: 
Coriander seeds - 4 cups
Fenugreek seeds - 1 cup
Cumin Seeds - 1 cup
Black mustard seeds - 1/3 cup
Black Pepper corns - 1/2 cup
Curry leaves - About 1 cup (you can use more if you want without affecting the end product)
Turmeric - 2 TBSP or few dried roots
Asafoetida/Hing - 1 TBSP (See Notes)
Red chillies - 14 cups loosely packed (See Notes)
Oil - 1 tsp

Method:
Method 1:
Dry roast coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, black mustard seeds, black pepper corns separately one by one. Combine them after they are roasted. When they are still hot, add turmeric to it if using the powdered form. If using the dried roots, you can roast it with any of the spice. Dry roast curry leaves and add it to the mixture. Take the oil in the pan and at very low heat, roast the red chillies. This is the slowest process of the entire recipe. Take care not to burn and blacken them. When the red chillies are roasted, add them to the mixture. When all of them have cooled down a bit, take them in blender jar in batches and grind them to fine powder. Sieve through the fine mesh sieve and grind the coarse ones again to get a fine powder. Add hing and mix well and store in an air tight container.

Method 2:
Take a very large rimmed baking sheet. Spread all the ingredients mentioned except oil, turmeric and hing. Spread so that the contents are in single layer. Place in the oven that is preheated to 200 F. Keep it for an hour and a half stirring every 30 minutes. Remove and make sure all the ingredients are toasted. If not, keep for 30 more minutes. Let it cool and then grind into powder adding turmeric and hing.

To Use:
For every cup of dal (uncooked measure), use about 2 - 3 tsp of this powder depending on how strong you like your rasam. Amount of tamarind needed also depends on how much you have used. That recipe in a different post will follow soon.

Notes:
Measurement of red chillies:
My mother would roast everything (spices) and place it in a shallow dish. Use that as a measure to measure the red chillies. 1 measure of spices together - 2 measures of red chillies. If you use half byadagi (kind of red chillies that are not as hot but give a very nice color), you might want to increase this to 2 1/2 times.

Shortcut:
The hardest part of this process is slow roasting of red chillies and grinding them into fine powder. Other spices don't take as much time to become fine powder. So, my sister came up with this proportion and it works with less work. Dry roast all the spices and grind them into fine powder. Mix well and measure the combined powder. Measure equal amount of red chilli powder (by volume) and add it to the spice powder mixture. You will have to boil the rasam for 5 minutes more if using this shortcut.

Enjoy.

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Curry Leaves Powder / Karivapillai Podi

I never ever imagined myself making this powder. Not because I can't but because curry leaves are very expensive here. Growing up, we had a curry leaves tree in our house. Almost all the neighbors would take the curry leaves from that tree for making rasam powder, chutney powder or even for regular cooking. Sometimes I feel my mother's rasam powder was so flavorful and special just because of the generous addition of curry leaves. Now that I live far away from home where we get 4 sprigs of curry leaves for almost a dollar, making a powder using them as the main ingredient is possible only in my dream unless of course my friend gives me a big bag of the curry leaves from her tree. This is very similar to most of the powders which can be mixed with rice and eaten as part of the meal. It all starts with the base of lentils. Instead of asafoetida or hing, you could flavor it with garlic, but I prefer the way my mother made with hing.

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Ingredients:
Curry leaves - 4 cups loosely packed leaves and tender stem only washed, patted dry
Bengal gram dal/Kadale bele / Chana dal - 1/2 cup
Urad dal / Black gram dal / Uddina bele - 1/4 cup
Black pepper corns - 1 TBSP
Cumin seeds - 1 TBSP
Salt - 2 tsp or to taste
Extra hot Red chilli powder - 1 TBSP (or 20 - 30 red chillies) or to taste - See Notes
Hing / Asafoetida - pea size
Tamarind - 1 lemon sized ball

Method:
Heat a large skillet. When hot, add both the lentils (bengal gram dal, urad dal), cumin seeds, pepper corns, hing. Keep stirring at low flame till the lentils are lightly toasted. Add tamarind and the curry leaves. Keep stirring till curry leaves are so dry that they crush into powder when you rub them between fingers. Turn off the heat and add red chilli powder on the warm mixture. Let it cool down completely before powdering them in a spice grinder or a blender. Add salt and mix well. You can serve this with idlis, dosa or simply on hot rice with some ghee or oil.

Notes:
If you want to use red chillies instead of the powder, roast them separately with a tsp of oil. Grind them together with the other roasted ingredients. I didn't have enough red chillies so used powder instead.

Enjoy.

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Sambar Powder / Huli Pudi

In my opinion, Sambar powder/Huli Pudi came into existence because of women starting to work in India. My mother never made this powder. She always roasted and ground the spices and lentils with coconut and made sambar using it. But I did see my aunts making this powder since they were working women and they had to cook and leave the house early in the morning. There was no concept of eating left overs or cooking at the night time and using it the next day in either my home or my relatives' homes. To be honest, I was very surprised when my in-laws didn't mind eating the left overs. After having started my life as the main cook and having a full time job, I do feel this powder saves a lot of time during the week days. So, I keep it handy. Let me warn you though. The recipe varies from one person to another widely. Some people put a lot of other spices but I like to keep them simple. After all, there should be something different between sambar and bisibelebhath or Vangibhath. If you use all the spices here, then those dishes don't make any sense flavor wise.

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Ingredients: 
Chana dal / bengal gram dal / Dehusked split chickpeas - 1 1/2 cups
Coriander seeds / Dhaniya - 3/4 cup
Red chillies - 60 - 70 (approximately 2 cups loosely packed and yes it is not too much)
Fenugreek - 1 TBSP
Cumin - 1 TBSP
Cinnamon - 3 - 4 1" pieces
Oil - 1 TBSP
Optional - dry coconut gratings about 1 cup (I don't add it most of the times)

Method:
Roast all the ingredients on medium flame except dry coconut gratings if using. Keep stirring to make sure the whole mixture gets toasted evenly. When they are golden and nice aroma comes, turn off the heat. Powder when cool with dry coconut gratings if using. Store in an air tight container and use within 3 months. For longer storage, store in a freezer safe container in the freezer. Use about 2 - 3 TBSP of powder or as per taste for every cup of toor dal to make sambar.

Notes:
You get better color if you use part Byadagi chillies which give a bright red color.

Enjoy.

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Peanut and Sesame Chutney Powder

Chutney powder is as staple in Southern Indian homes as peanut butter in western homes. I cannot say how important it is. Mainly because lot of our breakfast items depend on the side dish chutney or kurma. In case one is busy to make any of those, little bit of this powder mixed with few drops of oil makes a perfect side dish. For some reason, I like it without putting oil. This powder is so versatile that you can mix it with hot rice, top it with some ghee or oil and mix and eat. There are many versions of this and this is the third version on this blog. The other chutney powder recipes can be read here and here.

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Ingredients:
Roasted peanuts - 2 cups (See Notes)
Sesame seeds - 1 cup
Dalia / Roasted dal / Hurigardale - 1 cup
Grated dry coconut - 1 1/2 cups (Kobbari/Copra)
Garlic - 10 cloves to 1 head depending on how strong your love is towards Garlic
Cumin - 1 TBSP
Red chilli powder - 4 TBSP or as per taste
Jaggery - 1/4 cup powdered (or use brown sugar)
Salt - to taste

Method:
In a skillet, take sesame seeds and cumin, add garlic cloves to it that are peeled and start toasting till sesame seeds are golden and you hear a few popping sound. Remove from heat and set aside in a bowl. To the same skillet, add grated dry coconut and toast till golden. Take care not to burn. Add this to the sesame seeds. To the same bowl, add red chilli powder when the coconut and sesame are still warm. Top it with powdered jaggery. Let the mixture come to room temperature. When it has cooled down, take it in a blender or food processor or mixie. Add already roasted peanuts, dalia (also called chutney dal) to it and start blending to make powder. You might see few sesame seeds that remain whole, but that is alright. It need not be very fine powder. It can be a bit coarse too. Add salt to taste and store in an air tight container and use within 3 months.

Notes:
If you are using raw peanuts, roast them and hull them and then proceed. I buy already roasted, hulled split peanuts.

Enjoy.

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Lentil powder to flavor veggie stir fries and rice dishes

I am notorious for making different rice dishes as quick one pot meals. Cook some rice, use some frozen veggies, mix them together with some spices. If you have this kind of powder ready, you can make a one pot meal in a jiffy. I have a distant relative who, when called is always late or they might not even show up. I never cook anything for them when they say they are coming. When they pull up their car on the drive way, I start to cook the rice. Always have frozen veggies in the freezer. I just mix them up and add some kind of spice powder to make an one pot meal.
My mother always used Vangibhath powder to flavor the rice if she is making some rice dish with vegetables. I do that too sometimes. But, that powder has many spices that are aromatic and strong that can interfere with the flavors of some vegetables. When I saw the recipe for this powder in a book, I was intrigued since it had moong dal in it. I have not seen any powder with moong dal in it. It is usually chana dal and urad dal. I tweaked the recipe and here is what I came up with. A very flavorful lentil powder that you can use to make plain stir fries more interesting.

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Ingredients: 
Chana dal / Dehusked, split chickpea - 1 cup
Urad dal / Dehusked, split blackgram - 1 cup
Moong dal / Dehusked, split mung beans - 1 cup
Coriander Seeds - 1/2 cup
Red chillies (whole) - 2 cups
Asafoetida - Pea size or about 1/2 tsp if using powder (optional - See Notes)
Turmeric - 2 tsp

Method:
In a skillet, dry roast each dal/lentil separately until golden. Set aside. In the same pan, dry roast coriander seeds until they smell toasty and start popping here and there. Set aside. Roast the red chillies. Don't let them blacken. The entire roasting needs to be done by frequent and constant stirring. They brown pretty fast and the burned smell is not a nice one. When cool enough to handle, powder all of them together along with asafoetida and turmeric in a dry grinder or a mixie. It need not make very smooth powder. A little coarse powder would do just fine. I actually sifted the powder through a medium holed sifter. Mix well and store in an air tight container. Use within 4 months.

To use:
You could use this powder to flavor the stir fries or the rice dish with veggies. If using it for flavoring the stir fry, use about 1 TBSP for every 4 cups of veggies. When vegetables are cooked, add this powder and mix. Use more if you feel it is not strong enough. For flavoring the rice, for every cup of uncooked rice, when mixing with other vegetables, use about 2 - 3 TBSP of this powder. You could either use lime or lemon to give the tang to the dish or skip it if you have used tomatoes as part of the veggies.

Notes:
If you are among those people who add garlic to everything, omit asfoetida. Garlic and Asafoetida/hing do not go together. You could however make this without and add garlic or hing to whatever dish you make separately. We don't use garlic for everything so I added hing.

Enjoy.

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How to make Garam Masala

Let's say you are making coffee for a group of 10 people. You ask them how they take their coffee, there will be at least 5 different answers.
Same goes with the recipe of Garam Masala. There are many different recipes for this varying in some of the additional spices depending on which state of India the recipe came from. What I have listed is the basic Garam Masala recipe. It is so easy that I don't see why people should buy the packet of already powdered one. I really don't.

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Adapted from - 660 Curries
Ingredients:
Dried Bay leaves - 4
Coriander Seeds - 2 TBSP
Black Pepper corns - 1 TBSP
Cumin Seeds - 1 TBSP
Black Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Green Cardamom - 6
Black Cardamom - 2
Cinnamon Sticks - 2 sticks (3")

Method:
Powder all the ingredients in a spice blender or mortar and pestle. Mix well and store in an air tight container and use within 3 months. Makes about 1/3 cup or 6 TBSP.

See, I told you it is so simple especially if you have a spice grinder.

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Chutney Powder (Version 1)

If ketchup and mustard are a staple in every American home, Chutney Powder is a staple in every South Indian Home. It can be stored for months, can be mixed with a bit of oil or yogurt to serve as a side dish with rice pancakes or dosa, idli (steamed rice cakes) or with some ghee on hot rice. My mother  makes the best chutney powder of all (don't we all say that about our mother?). But she uses a lot of dry coconut or copra in it which makes it so tasty. I can't get very good quality copra here and my reserve of copra from India had come to an end. So, I tweaked the recipe, but used garlic instead of the more traditional hing and came with a different version altogether. Since curry leaves are not so easy to come by here, I used cilantro instead.

I promise you all that the moment I get more copra, I will post my mother's version of Chutney Powder.
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Ingredients:
Bengal gram dal / Kadale bele - 1 cup
Black gram dal / Uddina bele - 1 cup
Roasted peanuts - 1 cup
Tamarind - 1 big lemon size
Cilantro - 1 cup chopped
Garlic - 1 whole head peeled
Salt - to taste
Red Chilli powder - 2 tsp or to taste (See Notes)

Method:
In a skillet, dry roast black gram dal. When it is half done, add garlic and cilantro. Keep toasting till the black gram dal gets golden and the garlic gets toasted but not dry and burnt. Set aside. Next take bengal gram dal in the skillet and roast along with tamarind till the bengal gram dal is golden. When done, to the same skillet, add roasted peanuts (See Notes) and let it be on low heat for a minute or two. Turn off the heat and add red chilli powder to the pot. (See Notes)

When all the toasted ingredients have cooled down, take them little by little in a blender or a dry grinder and powder them. It need not be a fine powder. It can be a coarse powder. Mix them all and add salt to taste and mix. Store in air tight container and use within 2 months. Serve with rice, dosa, idli along with some oil if desired.

Notes:
You could use raw peanuts but then you will have to roast them and use. You could use red chillies instead of using chilli powder. You will need about 30 - 40 red chillies depending on how hot you need this powder to be. If using red chillies, roast them with one of the dals. You could try this with walnuts instead of peanuts too. Or almonds for that matter. They not only give you a different version, but will also make it healthier since they are so rich in omega fatty acids and protein.

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Vangibhath powder

I was talking to one of my friends S. (It is funny that I have more than one friend whose name starts with S)
Anyway, we were talking about how people depend on their mother/MIL for spice powders for every day cooking. I was talking about what happens when you can't get it from India and you need it badly?
Only two solutions, one you should make it yourself or rely on the brands like MTR powders that we get in Indian store. That is what prompted me to write this up. Usually I don't write down these things since everyone follow their mother's recipe for these if at all they make it themselves.

I couldn't get the names of some of the spices in hindi. I have attached the pictures of those two spices.

Ingredients:
Bengal gram dal/Kadale bele - 1 cup
Urad dal / Uddina bele - 1/2 cup
Coriander seeds / Dhaniya/Kottambari beeja - 1/4 cup
Red chillies - 25 - 30 depending on how spicy you prefer
Byadagi red chillies (for color) - 10
Cloves/Lavanga - 20
Cinnamon sticks / Chakke - 3 pieces of 1"
Marathi moggu/ Caper -  8 (See picture of this spice)
Star Anise/Annans Hoovu - 2 (see picture of this spice)

Method:
In a large skillet, combine all the ingredients and keep roasting till dals have got a nice golden color. Do not leave this on the stove and walkaway. When done, let them cool. Grind into powder in a mixie. This powder need not be very finely ground. Little bit of coarse texture is just fine. Store it in an airtight container. Use in making vangi bhath or any other kind of rice.

Now to the picture of Marathi Moggu..

Picture of Star Anise..

Check back for a nice rice recipe which uses this powder to come up soon.
You have a recipe that is different from this one for vangi bhath powder? Do you want to share it? Send me an email or leave a comment.

Enjoy!!

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Peanut Garlic Chutney Powder / Shenga Chutney Pudi

One of my friends who is from north karnataka introduced me to this. As usual, I just asked her what the ingredients are and came up with my own proportions. It is one of the powder we use regularly at home since it doesn't need lot of time to make it. Here is how I make it..

Ingredients:

• Roasted peanuts - 2 cups (I buy already roasted and skinned peanuts)
• Dalia or hurigadale - 1 cup
• Garlic - 10 pods or more if you are a garlic lover
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Red chilli powder - 1 tsp or more to taste
• Sugar - 1 TBSP
• Curry leaves - a few 

Method:
In a mixie jar / blender jar / dry grinder, take the peanuts, dalia, garlic, cumin, salt, red chilli powder, curry leaves and start pulsing till you get fine crumb like powder. If you are doing it in batches, add couple of garlic cloves to each batch so that it doesn't get too oily for the batch you added garlic in. Check for the salt, chilli powder and adjust if necessary. Add Sugar and mix well and store in an airtight container. It stays at room temperature for 3 months without any problems. If you want to store for longer, refrigerate it. This goes well with idli, dosa or good with some rice.

Variations:
You can eliminate garlic and use hing instead if you do not like garlic. Can omit cumin too if you do not like cumin.
If you like a wet powder, decrease or totally eliminate dalia/hurigadale.

Happy Cooking!! Pin It