Thengai podi recipe / Spiced coconut powder

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Thengai podi is one of the staples of a Tamil brahmins pantry. When mixed with hot rice and a dollop of ghee, it makes a perfect comfort meal.

Thengai podi:

Thengai podi is a spiced coconut powder. The main ingredients of this spiced coconut powder are lentils and fresh coconut along with red chillies. These ingredients are easily available in most Indian homes. The preparation of the powder is very simple. I make a batch of podis regularly.  The podi’s that I make are this thengai podi, Paruppu podi, Murunga keerai podi and curry leaves podi. These podi’s are saviours when we are not able to cook the regular sambar and rasam. Just mix with hot rice and ghee and have with a roasted appalam. Lunch is sorted easily.

Ingredients used to prepare spiced coconut powder:

There are many variations of making this spiced coconut powder. The one I have learnt from my mother uses 2 types of lentils. I use Bengal gram dal and black gram dal in equal quantities, Some recipes use only ulantham paruppu or black gram dal as the lentil base. Some recipes use even flax seeds to make a variation as this flax seed thengai podi. For spicing up the podi we use red chillies. If you want a brighter coloured podi then use half byadige chilli and half Guntur chilli. Byadige chilli gives you the lovely bright colour while the Guntur chilly will give you the necessary spiciness of chillies. The hero in the ingredients would be the coconut. Fresh coconut gives you the best-flavoured thengai podi.

Preparation of Thengai podi:

To prepare any dish I would always prefer to keep the ingredients assembled on the counter top. This would save a lot of time hunting for the ingredients later. Now let us see how we prepare this flavourful coconut podi.

• Dry roast both the Bengal gram dal and black gram dal in a pan till it starts to brown lightly. Keep it aside.
• Add 1 tsp of oil and roast the red chillies till it plumps up well. Pour this on the roasted dal.
• Next, add 1 tsp oil again and now carefully roast the grated coconut. Make sure you do not burn the coconut. Roast it on low flame till all the moisture is removed.
• Add tamarind to the pan and roast it for 1 minute
• Now when it has cooled completely, transfer all the ingredients to the jar of the mixer.
• Add salt and asafoetida
• Grind it in pulses till you get a smooth powder
• Store it in an airtight container preferably in the refrigerator if storing for a long time
• Sprinkle on top of hot steamed rice with a dollop of ghee and enjoy this flavourful podi.