Sambar Powder/ Homemade Sambar Podi

Sambar is a quintessential dish in any South Indian household. Sambar to me is almost always the arachutvitta sambar. It is very rarely that I prepare the Podi potta Sambar, so I usually get a packet of sambar podi from the market or sometimes even use my Rasam Podi as a substitute. I had a couple of requests to post Sambar Podi recipe. So here is a recipe, which I got from one of my aunts who is a great cook herself. This sambar podi is very easy to prepare, very aromatic and the Sambar turns out very delicious.

There are many variations of the sambar podi in the net. I have seen most recipes using cumin, black pepper. This recipe makes use of only 5 ingredients. I always prefer to make it in smaller batches so that the podi is fresh and fragrant.

What you’ll need

1. Coriander Seeds – 1 cup
2. Red Chillies – 3 cup
3. Channa Dal/Bengal gram dal – ½ cup
4. Fenugreek Seeds – ¼ cup
5. Turmeric stick/virali manjal – 2 sticks

Method

1. Dry roast the red chillies till they turn crisp.
2. Roast the channa dal till it turns golden.
3. Roast the fenugreek seeds till they start popping.
4. Roast the coriander seeds till a nice aroma comes.
5. Finally roast the turmeric for 1 or 2 minutes.
6. Roughly powder the turmeric using a mortar and pestle.
7. Cool all the ingredients and grind to a fine powder in the mixie.
8. Transfer to a plate and spread it. Cool completely and transfer to bottle.

Note:

1. If you don’t get whole turmeric you can replace it with about 4 tbsp of turmeric powder.
2. No need to roast the turmeric powder.
3. Take care not to burn the ingredients while roasting.
4. Roast on medium flame and keep stirring to avoid burning.
5. Always use dry spoon.