An entry to Unpolished Pulses - The Basic Idli Podi

An entry to Unpolished Pulses - The Basic Idli Podi

Cultures that eat rice/wheat  as the staple grain came up with ingenious ways to add lentils to their diet - sambar, urad in idli, gram dal in chutneys,  paruppu usili with rasam rice, Paruppu with rice, Puliyodarai with crunchy peanuts and sundal, Dal with roti   - I can go on.  We were masters at making rice + lentil combinations that are super delicious, not just healthy. 

The idli podi, is South India's genius invention as an accompaniment to what we call "Tiffin" dishes  - idli, dosai, upma primarily. Podi pairs best with idli, dosai as a side dish mixed with gingelly oil. However, it is very versatile and also acts like a spice powder. Throw some podi on top of a dosai and drizzle ghee - ghee podi dosai. Temper some Idiyappam or Sevai, throw podi on top - Podi Sevai.  Shred left over idlies, temper them like you would any upma and throw on some podi - makes delicious idli upma. It can even double up as a poriyal powder - stir fry any vegetable with sprinkle podi to spice it up, if you have nothing else in hand.

The husband has podi mixed with curd with dosai (which I cannot wrap my head around, but there are steady fans of this combo).  I like mine with mixed with pure gingelly oil,  as an additional dip alongside the  chutney of the day.  While you can grab your podi from the super market - making it at home amps up the flavour several notches. Nothing like fresh ground podi. I have fond memories of my grandmother grinding podi and call out to me , press some on my tongue to check for salt and spice (I am the official taster it the house and take the job seriously).  

There are many, many recipes for podi just like any other south Indian dish - with geographical and style diversification ;  the Chettinad style, Tambrahm style, Andhra style, Naanjil naatu style ;  Paruppu podi, Ellu podi, Poondu podi, Kollu podi, Karuvepillai podi and so on. 

I like to add unpolished lentils to my podis and dosai batters . Unpolished lentils add extra fibre and nutrition to food. Personally, I add whole urad to idli batters and idli podi - the flavour and taste are much better than using polished urad. 

This basic idli podi recipe is adapted from my favourite youtuber and teacher - Revathi Shanmugam Amma's channel - with my own twists. I add lot more curry leaves and gram dal than she calls for and   whole black urad instead of the polished version.

Ellu Idli Podi:

2 cups    Whole black urad / Muzhu Ulundu

1.25cups Gram dal /Kadalai Paruppu

0.5 cup.   Til / Ellu (get whole black if possible) 

one teaspoon - Hing /Perungayam

One big handful - Curry leaves

Few drops of gingelly oil

1 tablespoon of rock sea salt 

15 - 20 Red chillies (as per your spice levels and size of your chillies. I used 15)




In a wide pan, add a few drops of  gingelly oil -once heated add urad dal and gram dal and fry to till golden brown, slowly stirring them non stop.  I added one tablespoon white urad dal to check for the brown color as it roasts , so I don't burn the dals. This is optional - the gram dal will show you anyway. 

Keep aside in a big plate to cool

In the same pan, add few more drops of oil, fry the hing, keep aside .  Add red chillies and fry for a few minutes , add curry leaves and fry till they turn crisp, add rock sea salt and slightly fry at the end. This heating up of the salt is said to increase the life of the podi.

Finally, add the Ellu seeds to a dry pan with no oil and gently roast till all the seeds pop and the popping ends. It is crucial that you take time and toast the sesame/Ellu seeds well - else your podi will be bitter. You will get a superb aroma as it roasts - and it will start and stop popping - this will take about 5- 7 minutes on a medium flame. Be patient. 

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I have removed the stalks to the chillies here - but you don't have to (wondering why  - I usually keep it on). Grind to a coarse powder.  It helps to bring the chillies first int he mixie and then the dals. Throwing in everything at the same time into the mixie will leave chunks of chilli in the final mix. 

Let it cool completely and store in a glass bottle. 

Enjoy your protein packed podi with the extra goodness of whole urad dal. I promise you will not back to polished dal for your podi again.