Chamandhi Podi

C for Chamandhi podi. Chamandhi podi is like Milagai podi which is used as a side dish for Idli/dosa in Tamil Nadu. Keralites prepare this chammandhi podi and use it for idli/dosa but majorly they like it with kanji (porridge). In orphanages and other places where food is given for free in Kerala, Kanji and chammandhi podi is the top in the list.

My mom used to say - in olden days that is around 50 years back, when they travelled to sabari mala in kerala, the aiyappa samis (people who take the 48 days noyambu and travel to this temple are called by this name) used to pack around 300-500 grams of this chammandhi podi it seems. Along with this they also pack nei (ghee) and raw rice. In those days people used to walk to sabari mala. So it used to take 10-20 days to complete the trip. The aiyappa samis also carried an earthen pot. After sundown they will camp somewhere, use the dry woods to make a fire and cook the raw rice in earthen pots. Rice + ghee + chammandhi podi used to be their dinner. My mom has also done one such travel... So chammandhi podi doesnt go bad for about a month. For me it stays for more than a month even without refrigeration.  



There are many different versions of this podi. Some use Coriander seeds, ginger, garlic etc. The recipe I have blogged here has no onion or garlic. I got the basic recipe from my Mom and over time I have made some alterations to it. For this chamandhi podi I used "mootha thenga". I don't know how to exactly translate this in english. "Mootha thenga" is kind of coconut which is highly mature. This coconut will have almost no water inside. It will be starting to become copra (dried coconut) but not yet there. It is not necessary to use this mootha thenga. I used it since mootha thenga will give lot of shelf life to this chamandhi podi.



Grated coconut - 2 cups (1 full coconut)
White urad dal - 1/2 cup
Tamarind - lemon size
Dried red chillies - 20
Asafoetida (hing) - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 1/2 cup
Oil - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste

• In a kadai add 1 spoon of oil. If using non-stick kadai then this one spoon of oil would be sufficient for frying all the items
• Add the urad dal and stir continuously in medium flame until the dal turns light brown. Transfer this into a plate and keep aside.
• Now add the dry red chillies to the same kadai. Fry this until the chillies turn deep red and you get the aroma. Transfer this to the plate.
• Add the curry leaves and fry in low flame. Fry until the leaves turn crisp. Transfer this to a plate.
• Add the tamarind and the hing powder. Switch of the flame and keep stirring for about a minute. The heat of the kadai is sufficient to cook this. Transfer this to the plate.
• Heat the kadai again and add the grated coconut. Keep stirring in medium flame until the coconut starts turning brown. Be careful not to burn the coconut - so keep stirring cautiously. The mootha coconut will let out little oil. This might take around 15 minutes.
• Once the coconut starts turning light brown, switch off the flame and keep stirring for about a minute or two. The coconut would have now turned into a strong brown colour.
• Transfer the coconut to a separate plate. Let all the fried items cool down to room temperature.
• Now in a mixie jar, add the red chillies, urad dal, hing, tamarind, curry leaves and salt. Grind till all the ingredients are powdered well. Finally add the roasted coconut and pulse it for a few seconds.

• Some people also add little jaggery to this powder though I don't . If adding Jaggery, powder it and pulse it at the end along with coconut
• It is important for all the fried ingredients to cool down else the coconut will let out excessive oil while grinding.
• Adjust the red chillies according to your spice level