Nothing can beat the aroma of freshly ground spices. These enhance the taste level of any dish by a few notches. Secondly, you are aware what ingredients are going into your spice mix.
Since I love making Tamarind Rice aka Puliodarai with left over rice, it helps to have a bottle of Puliodharai Podi in my pantry. Do try out this recipe and make lip smacking Puliodarai.
Check out Puliodharai Recipe
I am part of a blogger group on Facebook
"Shhh Cooking Secretly Challenge".
This is a fun group, where every month a theme is given by one member...then all the members are divided into groups of two. Now these two partners give each other two secret ingredients based on the theme. Then each member prepares a dish using these two secret ingredients and posts the pic on the group without naming the dish. Others are asked to guess the ingredients. It's so much fun. You are challenged to create something new. You interact with so many members and make some wonderful friends.
This month's theme "Homemade Spice Mixture " was proposed by Jayashree Trao. She blogs at Evergreen Dishes. Jayashree not only is a good blogger, she also writes articles and poems. Some of her poems have been published also..
I have bookmarked her Masoor Dal Dosa
My partner for this month is Priya Iyer who blogs at The Photowali. She has a large collection of both Indian and International dishes. Do check out her Som Tam Salad
Priya gave me the secret ingredients Pepper and Turmeric. So I made Puliodharai Podi. While she rustled up Gojju Podi using Asafoetida and Sesame seeds as secret ingredients.
Ingredients
Coriander seeds 2 tbsp
Fenugreek Seeds 1 tbsp
Peppercorn 1 tbsp
Cumin Seeds 1 tbsp
Sesame seeds 1/2 cup
Turmeric Powder 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli Powder 1 tsp
Method
Dry roast sesame seeds and keep them aside.
Now dry roast coriander seeds, Fenugreek seeds, peppercorns and Cumin seeds.
Once cool, grind the spices .
Once the powder is almost fine add sesame seeds , turmeric powder,red chilli powder and grind further to get a fine powder.
Store in a glass bottle. Stays fresh for 2 months.