Curry Leaves Powder

Traditionally we Keralites or Keralans ( wonder who suggested this word!!) don't use much of podis in our every day eating like the people from Andhra. No no! this is not biasing just a FYI note. My primitive and college years at Chennai and Thanjavur opened up a whole new experience in the world of food. Oh yes I love my food and more so when its a very different cuisine that I haven't had before.

With a bruised leg (ah, that does not stop me from entering the kitchen anyways) and mom to my aid, I make sure that I borrow some of her recipes and tricks and tips.

Now that I had ordered in some 200 gms of Curry leaves assuming I could store it for long and was doubtful about my decision, I wanted to do something different from the usual stuff like using it in home made hair oils, or for seasoning buttermilk and dishes. That's when it hit me that I had heard about Curry Leaves powder. I was apprehensive at first but when the final product came into being I was totally amazed. I made this with mom's side by side instruction.

Ingredients
Curry Leaves            - 1 cup
Urad Dal                   - 1/2 cup
Dry Red Chillies       - 3 or 4 depending on how spicy you want it
Coconut  Shredded  - 5 to 6 tsp
Cumin Seeds            - 1/2 to3/4 tsp
Coriander Seeds       - 1/2 to 3/4 tsp
Salt                           -  as per your taste.
Asafoetida                - 1/4 tsp


My way of making
1. In a wok dry fry the curry leaves separately until they are crisp enough that they should powder when placed between your palms. Please don't burn your hands doing this. The aroma that fills your kitchen is sure to keep you going till the leaves turn powder.
2. Separately dry fry the Urad dal, Cumin seeds and Coriander seeds. Once it turns red, add coconut and dry fry everything together. This may take some time since coconut when dry fried tends to ooze out some oil and moisture, so keep stirring on low flame for about 10 to 15 mts. Oops don't miss adding the salt and asafoetida.
3. Switch off when done, add the roasted curry leaves to the mix and let cool.
4. Once cool, grind them in the food processor or your mixer to a coarse powder.
5. You could use this mixture for seasoning your thorans or use it as a mix for your afternoon's steaming rice.

Notes
1. You could avoid all the spices and make the simple curry leaf powder with some salt, that could be used in place of curry leaves for side dishes and mainly in the seasoning of buttermilk.
2. Alternatively you could add more spices like sesame seeds, fenugreek seeds and more varieties of dal's and make it more tasty and yummy.
3. When mixing with rice you could add some ghee or oil to enhance the flavour.
4. Shelf life of the powder reduces if moisture exists.
5. For more info visit here