South Indian

Idli Podi (Gunpowder)

Name: Idli Podi (Gunpowder)
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: South Indian
Ingredients: 1/2 cup urad dal; 1/4 cup chana dal; 8 dried red chilies; 2 tbsp sesame seeds; 1 sprig curry leaves; 2 tbsp sesame oil; 3/4 tsp salt

Ramya R. @ramya_r

Idli Podi (Gunpowder) is South Indian home cooking, eaten at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. On the plate it is the condiment. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.

20 min Easy Diabetic friendly Low carb Vegetarian Vegan Halal Gluten free Dairy free Pescatarian

Ingredients

Serves

The quantities follow this count.

1/2 cup urad dal
1/4 cup chana dal
8 dried red chilies
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1 sprig curry leaves
2 tbsp sesame oil
3/4 tsp salt

How to cook it

Dry roast the urad dal in a pan over low heat, stirring constantly, until golden and fragrant, then set aside to cool.
Dry roast the chana dal the same way until golden, then roast the dried red chilies and curry leaves briefly until crisp.
Toast the sesame seeds separately in the same pan until fragrant and just starting to pop.
Cool everything completely, then grind with the salt into a coarse, textured powder.
Store in an airtight jar and mix a spoonful with the sesame oil just before serving alongside idli or rice.

Watch how to cook Idli Podi (Gunpowder)

Someone making it start to finish, so you can see what the steps look like.

Serve it with

A South Indian dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Idli Podi (Gunpowder), read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.

The dish at the centre
- Adai (Tamil Nadu Multi-Lentil Dosa)
  
  30 min
What it is eaten with
- Bajra Bhakri (Pearl Millet Flatbread)
  
  35 min
Something cool and fresh
- Fried Vadam
  
  10 min

A course labelled with another kitchen's name comes from a cuisine in the same family, which is where this plate usually borrows it from.

Safe at your table

Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand, so the absences below are as deliberate as the presences. Idli Podi (Gunpowder) carries sesame. It is free of the remaining 9 allergens on that list.

Every tracked allergen in Idli Podi (Gunpowder)
Allergen	In this dish	Cook this instead
Peanuts	No
Tree nuts	No
Dairy	No
Gluten	No
Shellfish	No
Eggs	No
Soy	No
Fish	No
Sesame	Yes	Coconut Chutney
Coconut	No

These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.

What it brings to the plate

Estimated, per serving

Calories: 80 kcal
Protein: 3 g
Carbs: 6 g
Fat: 5 g
Fiber: 2 g
Sugar: 0 g
Sodium: 180 mg
Saturated fat: 1 g

Estimated values. Actual nutrition varies with ingredients, brands, and how you cook.

When to cook it

Idli Podi (Gunpowder) takes about 20 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is easy going. It is eaten at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.