Podi Varieties

Podi Varieties

Podi or Spicy readymix powders are always life savers on busy days and give a great helping hand when we feel lazy for cooking.

Here I have given some spicy podi varieties which I have learnt from my mother, mother-in-law and other elders of my family and friends all these years. I hope this post will be helpful for many young office going mothers and others. I will update the page as and when, I learn new podi varieties.

Kariveppilai Podi / Curry Leaves Powder

Kothumalli Podi / Coriander leaves Powder

Idli Milagai Podi / Idli Chilli Powder

Sambar Podi / Sambar Powder

Thengai Podi / Spicy Coconut Powder

Paruppu Podi / Dhall Powder

Angayapodi / Angaya Powder

Vazhakkai Podi / Raw Banana Powder

Kothavarangai Podi / Cluster Beans Powder

Ellu Podi / Sesame Powder

Dear Friends! Will be updating this post as and when I learn new Podi varieties! Live a healthy life! Take Care! Bye!

Ellu Podi

Ellu podi or Spicy Sesame seeds Powder

Ellu Podi or Sesame seeds powder is very healthy and everyone likes to prepare Ellu Sadham for Kanu Mattu Pongal and Aadi Padhinettam Perukku.

Benefits of Sesame Seeds:

The many health benefits of sesame seeds are due to its nutritional content, including vitamins, minerals, natural oils, and organic compounds which consist of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorous, manganese, copper, zinc, fiber, thiamin, vitamin B6, folate, protein, and tryptophan.

Nutrients:

• Dietary Fibre - 47% 
• Protein - 35% 
• Calorie - 29% 
• Carbohydrate - 8% 

Vitamins:

• Thiamin - 53% 
• Vit B6 - 40% 
• Folate - 24% 
• Niacin - 23% 

Minerals:

• Copper - 204% 
• Manganese - 123% 
• Calcium - 98% 
• Magnesium - 88% 

Health Benefits:

• Helps to prevent Diabetes 
• Reduces risk of Cancer 
• Aids in improving Bone health 
• Rich in anti inflammatory properties 
• Facilitates digestion and prevents constipation 
• Boosts Oral health, Cellular growth and Metabolic function 
• Helps to reduce the risk of Cardiovascular disease and Hypertension 
• Reduces premature ageing and strengthens muscle tissue and hair 
• Beneficial in protecting DNA from effects of radiation caused by Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy 
• Caution: Excessive consumption may cause irritation in Stomach and Colon 

Here I give the method for Ellu Podi.

Ingredients

• Ellu or Sesame seeds (black) - 3 tbsp
• Black gram - 1 tbsp
• Red chilli - 1 tbsp
• Asafoetida powder - 1 pinch
• Curry Leaves - 2 strands
• Salt - as required

Method

Soak sesame seeds in water for 20 minutes and clean for impurities. Filter it and dip dry in a tamarind extractor.

Dry roast (without oil) sesame seeds, black gram, red chilli, asafoetida powder, curry leaves and salt separately and spread in a plate. Allow it to cool.

Dry ground the roasted ingredients to a coarse powder.

 

 

Store it in a clean dry airtight container. 

Serve with hot rice with gingelly oil.

Bye friends. Will meet you with yet another healthy dish. Till then, keep smiling.

Kothavarangai Podi or Cluster Beans Powder

Kothavarangai Podi or Cluster Beans Powder.

Containing just 15 Kcal per 100 grams, this particular veggie is lower in calories yet a powerhouse of nutrition, abundant with proteins, minerals and vitamins along with dietary fibre. The mixture of higher protein as well as fibre together with low calories and fat provides heart health advantages.

The following are a few health advantages of Cluster Beans:

Full of Nutrients
Guar Beans usually are wealthy method of obtaining proteins, soluble fibre too, along with these, it includes numerous important Vitamins, namely Vitamin K, Vitamin C, Vitamin A, foliates, and abundant with carbohydrates, and has minerals namely, phosphorous, calcium, iron, potassium along with absolutely no cholesterol and fats.
Have low glycaemic index
Guar Beans or even Cluster Beans Benefits includes low calories also it have got reduced glycaemic index.
Great for Diabetics
Because of the existence of glyconutrients, cluster beans helps you to control glucose levels therefore helps prevent diabetic issues, whilst the existence of rich water soluble dietary fibre, it assists to digestion of food as well as enhances digestive system, and also reduces bowel problems.
Beneficial for the cardio health
The diet that includes cluster beans has additionally been established to become a heart healthy food. Mostly related to the dietary fibre constituents of the vegetable, it really is beneficial in decreasing the amount of blood cholesterol. Safeguard for heart associated illnesses is additionally made sure through the potassium, fibre and foliate contained in this particular vegetable.
Make Bone Strong
Guar Beans or even Cluster Beans Benefits existence of phosphorous and calcium, it fortifies bones as well as enhances bone health.
Better Blood Circulation
The presence of iron enhances haemoglobin content within RBC’s and enhances oxygen consumption capacity of the blood, therefore enhances better blood circulation.
Recommended during pregnancy
Ingesting the cluster beans have been proven extremely good for women that are pregnant since it is an abundant method to obtain folic acid. As a result it comprises for the lack of folic acid which could be a reason for numerous birth problems as well as issues in pregnancy. The cluster beans will also help in satisfying the iron and calcium deficiencies in expecting ladies.
Manage Blood pressure
Guar Beans or even Cluster Beans Benefits have got hypolipidemic as well as hypoglycaemic qualities; it really is regarded as among the finest veggie food source both for diabetic and also high blood pressure sufferers.
Stimulates bowel movement
The cluster beans are recognized to be a super laxative; they’ve got the powerful capacity for hollowing out the bowel and therefore leading to better working of the stomach and also over all body, together with avoiding bowel problems. In extraordinary instances, it may also be utilized to clear the poisonous or even dangerous material accrued within the bowel.
Calms the brain
The cluster beans have got particular hypoglycaemic qualities which will make them helpful for soothing the brain nerves. Due to this particular reason, they’re also suggested to sufferers struggling with irritated levels of anxiety and tension. Because of the Vitamin K contained in the cluster beans, it tones up your bones as well as helps with apposite maturity of the foetus.

When you’re visiting the market to purchase the cluster beans, make certain that the beans usually are not too ripe. They must be gentle as well as soft. The more mature it will likely be the harder and much less delicious it will become. It is because it might be woodier as it grows old. Ensure that the beans don’t have any dark spots or even stains onto it, since it is a sign of the beans becoming old.

Here I'm presenting a very old recipe but still tastes great and very healthy dish. I made my son to eat this veggie in this method only. Why don't you give a try?


Ingredients

Kothavarangai - 1/4 kg
Thoor Dhall - 1 tbsp
Red chilli - 5  to 6 nos
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Tamarind - a very small quantity
Asafoetida powder - 1 pinch
Curry leaves - 2 strands
Coconut grated - 1/2 cup
Salt - As required
Oil - 3 to 4 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp

 

Method

Chop Kothavarangai. Make a curry by adding required salt. Keep aside. Allow it to cool.

Roast Thoor dhall, Red chilli, Pepper, Tamarind, Curry leaves and asafoetida powder with 1 tsp oil till golden brown. Now add coconut and roast for few minutes.  Allow it to cool.

Dry grind the roasted ingreadients in a mixer grinder with salt to a coarse powder.

Mix the boiled kothavangai with the ground powder in a mixing bowl. Add salt if required.

 

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and Curry leaves. Add the above mixture and fry of few minutes. Switch off the flame. Add little coconut oil to the mixture to enhance the taste.

This powder is to be taken with hot rice and ghee. Any vegetable Raitha, or Ginder pachadi will be a nice combination.

Have a nice day. Will meet you all with another healthy dish shortly. Till then take care.

Vazhaikkai Podi

Vazhaikkai Podi

Vazhaikkai or Raw Banana


Bananas contain three natural sugars – sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fibre. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy.

Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world’s leading athletes.
But energy isn’t the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

• Depression: Bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.
• Anaemia: High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of haemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anaemia.
• Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure.
• Brain Power:  Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.
• Constipation: High in fibre, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.
• Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.
• Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.
• Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.
• Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.
• Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system. To avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.
• Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.
• Temperature control: Many other cultures see bananas as a “cooling” fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand, for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.
• Smoking & Tobacco Use: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6 and B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.
• Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body’s water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with
• the help of a high-potassium banana snack.
• Strokes:  Eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%!

So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around.


Here I'm presenting a traditional yet very delicious and healthy dish which I learnt from my Mother-in-Law. Vazhakkai Podi made with Raw Banana.

Vazhaikkai Podi

Ingredients

Vazhaikkai - 2 nos
Thoor Dhall - 1 tbsp
Red chilli - 5  to 6 nos
Asafoetida powder - 1 pinch
Curry leaves - 2 strands
Salt - As required
Oil - 3 to 4 tsp

 

Method

Cut vazhaikkai into two halves. Pressure cook with skin upto 3 whistles. Allow it to cool and remove the skin. Grate the pulp in a carrot grater and keep aside.

 

 

Roast Thoor dhall, Red chilli, Curry leaves and asafoetida powder with 1 tsp oil till golden brown. Allow it to cool.

Dry grind the roasted ingreadients in a mixer grinder with salt to a coarse powder.

 

Mix the grated Vazhakkai pulp with the ground powder in a mixing bowl.

Season with Mustard seeds and Cuury leaves.

This powder is to be taken with hot rice and ghee. Any vegetable Raitha, or Ginger pachadi will be a nice combination.

Have a nice day. Will meet you all with another healthy dish shortly. Till then take care.

Paruppu Podi / Dhall Powder

Paruppu Podi or Dhall Powder

Paruppu podi is a readymix dhall powder which comes handy to everyone when we don't find time to cook or when we don't have any veggies available, or on a lazy day. We can have it with rice and a raitha as side-dish will do the lunch on that day. We ladies prepare it as per our taste and have our own method to prepare it. Here I'm giving the method which I follow how I learnt from my Amma and Mother-in-law.

Paruppu Podi

Ingredients

Red Gram Dhall - 1 cup
Black Gram Dhall - 1 cup
Bengal Gram Dhall - 1 cip
Red Chilli - 6 or 7 numbers
Asafoetida Powder - 1 tsp
Salt - as required

Method

Roast Red gram, Black gram and Bengal gram to golden brown separately without oil.

Mix roasted dhalls and spread on a big plate and allow it to cool for a while.

Roast red chilli in low flame. Switch off the flame and add salt and asafoetida powder and mix it to roasted dhall.

Dry grind this mixture to a coarse powder.

Store in clean, dry air-tight container.

Serve with hot rice and jingelly oil.



Paruppu Podi

Bye friends! Will meet you soon with another healthy and delicious dish! Live a healthy life.

Angayapodi

Angayapodi

Hi friends, I am posting the recipe for Angaya Podi. It is mainly used as part of "Pathiyam" for a new mother after delivery of baby. "Angayam" - "Arogiya Kayam" means "healthy body" - It balances vatham & pitham level in our body, cures indigestion & stomach upset. Ingredients added in this podi have their medicinal value. Abdominal organ gets relief from toxins when adding this podi in our meal. It can be used as regular as paruppu podi.

Angaya Podi

Ingredients

Dried Turkey Berry (Sundakkai vathal) - 1 cup
Dry Neem Flowers (Veppampoo) - 1 cup
Dry Sun Berry (Manathakali vathal) -1 cup
Red gram dal (Thoor dhall) - 1 cup
Dry ginger powder (Sukku) - 1/4 tsp
Pepper-1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Red chilli - 3 or 4
Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaf - 4 to 5 strands
Salt - as required
Oil - 2 to 3 tsp

Sukku

Sukku Podi

Sundakkai Vathal

Manathakkali Vathal

Veppam Poo

Method

Heat oil in a pan. Roast Sundaikkai vathal, Manathakkali vathal & Dry Neem flowers to dark brown. Roast these separately one after another and spread on a plate and allow it to cool.

Roast other ingredients without oil to golden brown one after another separately in low flame.

Spread all the roasted ingredients on a plate and allow it to cool.

Mix everything & dry grind it to a coarse powder.

Check for salt and adjust as per your taste.

 

Store in a clean, dry, air-tight container.

Serve with hot rice and ghee or jingelly oil.

Angaya Podi

Have a happy and healthy life. I will meet you all with another healthy recipe. Till then, Bye.

Thengai Podi / Spicy Coconut Powder

Thengai Podi or Spicy Coconut powder

Coconut, well-known for its health benefits and we Indians, especially South Indians use it almost in all our recipes. Considered one of the most treasured foods of all time, coconut products — including coconut flesh, coconut water, coconut oil, and coconut cream — each deliver superb health benefits.

Because of its strong antioxidant properties and health benefits, the coconuts can be used to:

• Lower cholesterol

• Improve digestion

• Ward off wrinkles

• Stabilize glucose levels

• Fight off viruses

• Build cells

• Regulate hormones

• Increase thyroid production

• Lose weight

• Increase metabolism

• Fight infections

• Stave off memory loss

• Kill bacteria

• And more!

Here I'm giving a very delicious recipe - Thengai Podi or Spicy Coconut Powder. We prepare it our houses in our very own methods or the way we like. I'm giving the traditional method without onion and garlic as we like to have it in all days.

Ingredients

Coconut (grated) - 2 cups
Black gram dhall - 1/4 cup
Red Chilli - 6 to 7
Tamarind - 1 small amla size
Asafoetida powder - 1 tsp
Crystal Salt - as required
Oil - 1 or 2 tsp


Method

Remove impurities such as seeds, skin and unwanted fibres from tamarind. Tear it into small pieces and keep ready.

Heat oil on a frying pan. Roast black gram dhall till golden brown.

Add red chillis and continue roasting.

Fry for few minutes, remove the pan from flame. Add tamarind pieces, salt and asafoetida powder. Mix well and fry for few seconds in that heat itself.

Spread the roasted dhall-chilli mixture on a plate and allow it to cool.

Heat oil on the same pan and start roasting coconut in low flame. Stirr continuously, otherwise it will catch in the bottom. Roast it till golden brown and switch off the flame.

Dry grind the roasted things in a clean dry mixer grinder coarsely. First grind dhall-chilli mixture and then add roasted coconut and grind to a coarse powder.

After adding coconut, don't grind much.

Store it in a clean, dry air-tight container.

If stored in refridgerator, it will last upto one month. 

Serve with hot rice and jingelly oil. It can be used as a side dish for Idli and Dosa also.

Will meet you all with another healthy recipe. Bye.