Idli milagai podi or simply Idli podi, or as we call in our home as ulutham paruppu milagai podi is a staple south Indian condiment made with roasted lentils and red chillies as main ingredients. It is spicy, flavourful with asafoetida and goes well with soft idli and crispy dosas. This is a traditional recipe that I learnt from my mom. Let's see how to make it with step by step pictures and video.
Idli podi comes handy in busy mornings for south Indian breakfasts. You can even pack it smeared over idli or dosa for lunch box.
Check out my idli dosa batter recipe and my healthier version Flax seeds idli podi recipe in this website.
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About Idli Podi
Idli podi is mixed with ghee or sesame oil even coconut oil, used as an accompaniment for Idli and dosas. This is the traditional recipe which I learnt from my mother. In my in-laws side also same, except some few changes. This is so very different from store bought powder. Aromatic, flavorful, spicy and tasty powder a lot different from the store bought one.
Myself and people at home love it coarsely ground. Especially this particular one is best when ground coarse. Depending on the red chilli's spice level, the taste of podi also changes. Choose the bright red coloured long red chilli variety for bright red colour podi. No the dark brownish red colour chilli.
Idli Milagai Podi Ingredients
Here are the simple ingredients from your pantry, needed to make Idli podi.
- Urad dal - I use whole, white ulutham paruppu. (Black gram, without skin)
- Chana dal - Bengal gram - For flavour, texture and taste.
- Red chillies - I use long dry red chillies for spice
- Asafetida - Main flavour in the podi, with urad dal, it's smell turns so authentic
- Sesame seeds - For flavour
- Coconut - Optional, but adds flavour
- Raw rice - For texture, but it is optional too
- Oil - for roasting
- Salt as needed
Please check my recipe card below for quantities.
Step by step Images
- Heat a pan with oil firstly and add all the ingredients except salt and coconut (if adding). Roast them until deep golden in colour in low to medium heat. Do not roast in high flame.
- Then, transfer to a plate for cooling down. Let it cool down completely.
3. After that, once completely cooled, in a mixie jar, add red chilli and salt firstly and grind to a powder.
Then add all the rest of the ingredients and powder slightly coarse or fine, as you prefer. We like it in coarse texture. (We call it Nara nara nu in Tamil)
Enjoy idli milagai podi with idli the best, with a generous drizzle of sesame oil or ghee.
Substitutions & Variations
There are so many small variations, you can do for this south Indian staple. Each one gives a unique taste and flavour.
- Add a sprig of curry leaves like my mother in law always does.
- Skip coconut for longer shelf life.
- Use black urad dal with skin (split ulutham paruppu) for authentic, traditional way. This is how my mom and mom in law always do earlier, but now we all have switched to whole urad dal.
- Add more sesame seeds, like double the quantity for more nutty flavour. You can use black variety too.
- Add 2 cloves of garlic while roasting for a garlicky twist.
- Add ½ teaspoon of jaggery to this for a balanced taste.
Top tips
- For deep reddish colour, use mild chilli variety, increase the number. You can also use Kashmiri variety or byadgi chilli for this results.
- Grind red chilli and salt firstly for reddish colour. Also using oil while roasting turns the colour deep. If you powder finely, then the colour will be pale as the dals are turning to almost flour.
- Make sure to roast in medium flame for best results.
- Add asafoetida generously for best flavour in this authentic idli podi.
My notes
I mostly skip coconut as I will be lazy to add also for me it extends the shelf life of idli podi
I like to add asafoetida both in roasted form as well as raw, as both lends different flavour.
I personally like my podi simple with minimum ingredients. So I do not add curry leaves or coconut mostly.
Serving suggestion
Use sesame oil while serving, generously. This is my personal preference and better flavour than ghee as I feel ghee suppress the flavour of Idli milagai podi. You can also use coconut oil. These can be used as alternate to sesame oil, when you get bored.
Shelf life
Stays good for a month comfortably in the room temperature. It stays good even more than that when handled with dry hands. But if you are in doubt, after one month, keep inside in the refrigerator. Coconut reduces shelf life, yet roasting well without moisture helps.
FAQ
One of the common questions I get from my readers and followers friends, should we wash the dals?
No we do not need to wash it. Please source good quality, organic brands and it is prepared without human hand touch. These days, the packaging and preparations are advanced and hygienically packed. Washing will reduce the shelf life as well as the whole taste, texture. Even if you dry it.
We do not wash semolina, flours etc. same way 🙂 Do we wash dry red chilli for tadka? No right? So just use a good quality dal.
Check out my latest idli podi reel in Instagram (Shot video)
Recipe card
Idli Milagai Podi Recipe | South Indian Idli Podi
Ingredients
- ½ cup Urad dal Ulutham paruppu
- ¼ cup Chana dal
- 20 Red chillies Mild spice
- ¼ teaspoon Asafoetida
- 1 teaspoon Sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon Coconut (optional)
- 1 teaspoon Raw rice optional
- 2 teaspoon Oil
- Salt
Instructions
- Heat a pan with 2 tsp Oil firstly and add all the ingredients except salt and coconut (if adding). ½ cup Urad dal, ¼ cup Chana dal , 20 Red chillies , ¼ tsp Asafoetida, 1 tsp Sesame seeds, 1 tsp Raw rice
- Roast them until deep golden in colour in low to medium heat. Do not roast in high flame.
- If using 1 tbsp Coconut, roast it dry until all moisture is gone and turns deep golden in colour.
- Then, transfer to a plate for cooling down. Let it cool down completely.
- After that, once completely cooled, in a mixie jar, add red chilli and Salt firstly and grind to a powder.
- Then add all the rest of the ingredients and powder slightly coarse or fine, as you prefer.
Video
Notes
- The colour will be brighter only if you use chilli as mentioned.
- Mine is mild spice. I choose bright red long red chilli variety.
- If powdered into more fine powder, colour may tend to become pale.
- Always grind red chillies frist. Then add the dal to get a coarse perfect texture.
- My Mother in law adds a sprig of curry leaves while roasting and grind it along for a great flavor.
- Asafoetida is the main flavoring ingredient to give the authentic flavor in this.
- If adding powder asafoetida, add lastly while roasting.
LG says
I love Nei Podi dosai..Podi looks yumm Raji.
srikars kitchen says
wow.. looks yummy & colourful dear... adding coconut new 2 me... thxs for sharing me.. i made same method but without coconut..dahi kadhi looks delicious...
notyet100 says
nice colour of dahi kadhi..looks delicious,...
Happy cook says
I would love to have the doas with idli podi spread like that.
Hey i too have those chinese bowl, bought from a chinese super market here.
Daily Meals says
Podi looks yummy...
Kitchen Flavours says
Yummylicious, mouth watering recipes. Iam droooooooooooooling over.
jeyashrisuresh says
podi onion othapam is a all time favourie in our family.kadi looks great. adding coconut in podi is new to me.pic tempting.
Cham says
I love ur pattiram 🙂 Kadi and podi are really tasty....
Mahimaa's kitchen says
first time here. i love all your recipes.. they are just my kinda food. molagai podi looks red and wonderful..perfect with dosa.
Sagari says
mouth watering dosa raks
Gita's Kitchen says
The dosa looks so mouthwatering, Dahi kadhi is new to me, I should try your yummy recipe soon 🙂
Uma says
ooh, love that crispy dosa with that karam podi on top! I make this idli podi the same way you did! Kadi looks great too! Perfect with rice.
Purva Desai says
Is Gun powder same as Idli podi....In Mumbai we get such podis by name of gun powder and my hubby really enjoys it with idli..
Malar Gandhi says
Double the treat. Its an awesome click raje...dosa, podi, nei...dude you are making me to go nostalgic, everytime...
Vandana Rajesh says
yummy kadhi and of course the podi. Podi is a sure part of our morning breakfast.
Jaishree says
Molagai podi looks red and perfect with dosa.dahi kadhi looks delicious...
Priya says
Wow am drooling over the crispy podi dosa...lovely n delicious..dahi kadhi looks simply superb..i want the complete plate u served..
AnuSriram says
Podi looks so colourful and hot!
Gita's Kitchen says
Thank you veyr much for the comment dear... I have not tried it with plaintain but I think it would work well too....
Laavanya says
My grandmother also makes really good idli podi and is a bit coarse. yours looks perfect! The kadhi looks great.. thanks for the step-by step pics Sangeetha.
Yasmeen says
Spicy podi,looks very tempting on crisp dosa.I also add onion pakoda to my dahi kadhi.
indosungod says
The idli podi looks fantastic. Idli or dosai with podi is an all time favorite.
I have one question about the kadhi. Does boiling the curd mixed with besan make it break? Yours looks perfect. I always have this nagging doubt.
vidhas says
Looks yummy. My mom in law makes so good.
DEESHA says
wow ... I love that dosa picture .. its making me hungry
sangeetaskitchen says
hi indosungod,
Regarding your doubt in kadhi, when the kadhi comes at the boiling stage it looks its breaking but you have keep stirring it continuously and keep the gas in slow and allow it to boil for 10-15 mins.
rekhas kitchen says
wow podi dosai mmmm very crisp and mouthwatering superb and Inever use tomato with kadhi nice will try next time
nageswari says
hi,i/2 cup measurement is exactly USA cup measurement?
RAKS KITCHEN says
Hi Nageswari,
My 1/2 cup holds 125 ml of liquid.. Not sure about US cup measurements...
nageswari says
hi
thanks to replay.i am asking like in every recipe you said like only cup.can i take as 1 cup = 125 ml for all recipies ?
RAKS KITCHEN says
If i have mentioned 1 cup(that holds 250 ml) and 6 red chillies in a recipe, for example,if you take 1/2 cup(that holds 125ml) then you have to reduce the red chillies according to that,hope you will keep that in mind...you can take it but adjust other ingredient quantity as needed too ... 🙂
Ashish Negi says
Wow, that looks really nice. Love the chutney part.
Aishwarya Sampath says
Hi raks, I have been visiting your website for 6months now and your pictures for the dishes really tempt me to cook . Thanks for your efforts. I have a quick question. I made dahi kadi yesterday and on adding besan+curd mixture to the tomatoes, my kadi started to thicken and it never rose as shown in your pcitures. Not sure what went wrong. Appreciate if you could help.
RAKS KITCHEN says
Thanks Aishwarya :)It could be that the besan was more, next time try to reduce the besan.
Aishwarya Sampath says
Okay sure will try it this way next time.
singh anjali says
Hi , I love visiting your blog...its got simple and delicious recipes.I would really appreciate if you pay a visit to mine too.It is anjalisfoodkaleidoscope.
Sailaja Angara says
i made this podi and all my family members especially my MIL like it very much
Ramya says
Thank you so much for this podi recipe. This was what we would most look forward to while eating at a restaurant. And now we get to have it at home!
kusum says
Idli podi me chana dal kitni dalni hai, ple. Write.
Raks anand says
1 fist full = 3 tblsp
kusum says
Thanks, Raks.
Padmashree shrikant rao says
Hi,
what kind of red chilli do u use? because in the variety I use it turns black
Raks anand says
Roast in low flame. I use long red chilli
Renuka Ambbarees says
Have to roast coconut separately for idli podi? ? And Podi dosa pic click is awesome. ...
Raks anand says
You can roast grated coconut separately right? Dry roast
Renuka Ambbarees says
Okay. ...will try to prepare this recipe soon
Preethi Vijayakumar says
Tried this idli podi and it came out awesome. Thank you so much!!!
nivedita says
Well what can I say you are my life saver...whatever be the dish your recipes rock and I got to prepare the idli podi with your recipe which tastes just like my mom's...No amount of thank you's will suffice so am sending loads and loads of hugs and loves:-*:)
Archana says
Hi, thanks for recipe. Can we oven roast the urad and chana dal instead of dry roasting on the cook top? If so, can you please share the temperature time and process. Find it really hard to stand and roast on the flame. Thanks Archana
Raks Anand says
Even I want to try for a while now, will sure update when I try.