COCONUT IN YET ANOTHER DELICIOUS AVATAR
There's a nip in the air today! Chennai had been raining terribly for the past few days and weather turned better now. The monsoon has set in and I am sure every Chennaite is enjoying the pleasant weather. This is the season when my achi makes the yummy spicy "Thengai Podi" , a condiment with fresh coconut. She makes this in a really bulk quantity for all of us. Since its my favourite for rice, dosa or idly and since I am her most favorite grand daughter, I get few extra packets too! (wink). Everyone in my house knows this and hence nobody really questions her for being partial to me always!
The rattling of the kadai... the sizzling sound of the mustard seeds and urad dhal ... wonderfully synchronizing shredding coconut beats in aruva manai (a South Indian kitchen tool used for chopping vegetables)!!!! a beautiful symphony will be created at the kitchen during its making.This dish brings in a lot of nostalgia to me.
We used to run around the kitchen every now and then to have few spoons of this podi and I remember my achi screaming from the verandah "Don't use wet spoons" "Don't use your hands to take it" "Close the lid airtight". It tastes that tempting and delicious . I am sure anyone will be become an addict to it once it titillates your taste buds.
A simple bowl of really hot steamy rice dressed with a dash of home made ghee and few large spoons of my grandmum's flavorful thengai podi is the perfect food for the season. The simple grated coconut is made more appealing to the palate with ground dry red chillies and urad dhal. The tamarind adds a magical tanginess to the entire dish perfectly. I tried to recreate the magic in my kitchen today and I did manage to be successful :-). The aromas of mixed spices filled the October air and we were waiting to taste it. My podi looked gorgeous and I am sure it tasted like my achi's. It tasted great with Indian prawn curry and pappad.
Ingredients 1 ½ cup fresh grated coconut
6 dry red chillies
3 tablespoon urad dhal
1/2 - 1 tsp asafetida
1 amla (gooseberry) size tamarind
3-4 tsp mustard seeds
2-3 tbs oil
Salt
Method
Dry fry the grated coconut in a heated kadai for 5-10min. Cook them till they become dry. Remove and cool it.
Add little oil to the same kadai and sauté the dry red chilly for 2-3min. Then add the urad dhal and asafetida. Cook for 2-3min. Add the tamarind to it and sauté them for about a min.Remove them and cool it. Combine the dry fried coconuts to it and grind to a dry powder. Don’t add water to grind.Add salt to taste.
Simultaneously,add the remaining oil to the same kadai. Once they get heated up, add the mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add the ground powder to it. Mix thoroughly and adjust salt.
The mouth-watering “thengai podi” is ready. Serve with hot rice and ghee/sesame oil. Enjoy!
Hey, what a yummy recipe. I'm sure I would love it. My list of things I want to make is getting longer , but this one I have to try out.
Thanks for passing by! Good to know you too! :)
thengai pudi recipe is interesting Vij, what captured me more was those lines you have written in your profile. Well written. Thanks for visiting Taste of Mysore.
Hi. This looks yum. Thanks for dropping by my blog. You have a great blog. I have added you to my blog list. Hope you don't mind.
Happy Cooking.
Good to know about your blog, Vij!
Nice recipe, will check more later.. :)
Thengai Podi. delicious. my husbands fav. Would like to try it.
Thanks for dropping by. You have a lovely blog and your thengai podi looks tempting.
its our favrt too. looks yummy. Nice write up in yr profile. u must have a good sense of humour i guess. By the way which part of chennai r u.
hi its our favrt too.
nice write up in your profile. u must have good sense of humour i guess. BTW which part of chennai u r *( i m from Ashok nagar,chennai.)
Thanks for stopping by at my blog dear. Wish you a happy blogging day! By the way Thengai Podi sounds great to me!
I've not tasted this coconut podi.. must be delicious with rice and ghee.
I adore coconut in any avatar,podi sounds delicious:)
Wow wat a mouthwatering podi..sure will love them...
Coconut podi is awesome. My grandma used to make. I am also in chennai , Thiruvanmiyur. Nice blog
Thengai podi is my favorite...yours looks delicious and perfect :-)
coconut powder looks veryyyy good vij
Its been ages since I ever had this, I just wanna sneak in and grab a few spoon fulls :)
nice recipe..thengai podi looks yumm..
Sounds like a lovely podi to have around for those "hungry right now" times
Its my favourite:)
I have an award for you,Pls Accept:)
Thanks a lot for your comment on my blog! I love yours too filled with tasty and yummy recipes...keep going!
Coconut podi is always my favourite.. urs has nice colour and texture...
Looks like a lot of nice textures going on there. Yum.