The birth story of this dal powder: One of the items in my menu was Dal chutney for rice, when my friends visited us a couple of weeks ago for lunch. I roasted the gram dal and it was ready to be ground with the fresh coconut. I realized later that I had ran out of fresh coconut. Then, I came up with a plan of grinding it with the desiccated coconut, though I was so sure it would not taste like the regular dal chutney. Using my preethi chef pro plus mixie, I powdered the roasted gram dal with the dry coconut. No sooner did I see the powder, than, I thought I could use it as such as 'dal powder' instead of chutney. This is the story. When I told this to my mom, she told me that this powder is very common in many households, especially among kannadigas. She also mentioned it's name in kannada but I forgot now. Whatever it is, It was absolutely new for me. Felt like shouting Eureka. Coming to the recipe, this is a very simple one and yet delicious. My friend suggested that I can use this as Milagai podi for iddli/dosa as well, apart from mixing it with rice. You can also store this for a couple of days in fridge. Comes really handy for busy working moms.
Ingredients:
Gram dal / kadle bele - 1 cup
Kobri or Desiccated coconut - 2 tablespoons
Ginger - 1 inch - peeled and chopped
Red chillies - 2
Green chilli - 1 - chopped
Asafoetida powder - 1 pinch
Curry leaves - a sprig
Salt as required
Oil - a teaspoon for roasting dal
Method:
Roast the gram dal with a teaspoon of oil in low heat. Make sure the dal is roasted
evenly.
Once the dal is roasted, add the following ingredients: Ginger, red and green chillis, and curry leaves and turn off the heat.
Cool the content to room temperature.
Grind the content well with salt and asafoetida powder.
You can mix one spoon of this dal powder with hot white rice and add a dab of ghee to enhance the flavor. Side with curd and/or vadaam.
