RASAM POWDER

INGREDIENTS:

Coriander seeds - 1 and 1/2 cups Dried Red Chillies - 1/2 cup Toor Dal - 1/2 cup Jeera - 1/2 cup Pepper Corns - 1/2 cup

PREPARATION METHOD:

In a kadai - dry roast toor dal along with red chillies until golden brown,Set aside. Then add coriander seeds and roast till nice aroma comes,set aside.

Then roast pepper corns, allow it to splutter, set aside then add jeera and roast till slightly browned and aroma comes.

Allow all the ingredients to cool down then transfer the contents to a mixer.
Grind it to a semi fine powder. Cool down completely.

Store in a clean dry airtight container and use it whenever you want to make rasam.  

SAMBAR POWDER

INGREDIENTS:

For bulk quantity ( for 6 months use)

Dhania / Coriander seeds – 1/4 kg ( 250gms/1.25cups )
Red chillies – 1/4 kg ( 250gms)
Methi seeds - 50 gms(1/4 cup)
Toor dal – 50 gms(1/4 cup)
Channa dal – 50 gms(1/4 cup)
Turmeric powder – 50 gms (1/4 cup)
Pepper corns – 50 gms (1/4 cup)
Cumin seeds / jeera – 2 tbsp

For small quantity(for 3-4 days)

Red chillies - 12 nos
2.Dhania - 2 tbsp
3.Methi seeds - 1 tsp
4.Toor dal - 1 tsp
5.Channa dal - 1 tsp
6.Pepper corns - 1tsp
7.Jeera - 1/2 tsp
8.Turmeric powder - 2 tsp

 

PREPARATION METHOD:

For bulk quantity:

Sun dry all the ingredients for 4-5 hours till it becomes crispy.Grind in a mill.

Spread in a news paper,cool down completely,mix turmeric powder and store in a box.Use a clean plastic spoon every time.Stays good for 6 months.(If u want this powder to be more flavourful,dry roast methi seeds alone  for 2-3 minutes and grind with other sundried ingredients.Do not dry roast for long time till it turns brown.It may lend a burnt taste.)

For small quantity:

Heat a kadai in high flame for few minutes.Switch off the flame and add the pinched red chillies.Roast for a minute and immediately add all the other ingredients,stir them for few minutes till it gets heated.Leave in the kadai for sometime.All the ingredients will be cooled &crispy.Now grind them in mixie,sieve and store.

GARAM MASALA

INGREDIENTS:

4 tbsps coriander seeds

1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp black peppercorns

1 ½ tsps black cumin seeds (shahjeera)
1 ½ tsps dry ginger
¾ tsp black cardamom (3-4 large pods approx)
¾ tsp cloves
¾ tsp cinnamon (2 X 1” pieces)
¾ tsp crushed bay leaves

PREPARATION METHOD:

Heat a heavy skillet(pan) on a medium flame and gently roast all ingredients (leave cardamom in its pods till later) except the dry ginger, till they turn a few shades darker. Stir occasionally. Do not be tempted to speed up the process by turning up the heat as the spices will burn on the outside and remain raw on the inside.

When the spices are roasted turn off the heat and allow them to cool.

Once cooled, remove the cardamom seeds from their skins and mix them back with all the other roasted spices.

Grind them all together, to a fine powder in a clean, dry coffee grinder.
Store in an air-tight container in a cool, dark place.

CHANA MASALA POWDER

INGREDIENTS:

Dry Pomegranate Seeds (Anardana) - 1 table spoon
Coriander seeds - 3 table spoon.
Cumin seeds - 1 table spoon.
Cardamom seeds - 2 tea spoon.
Black pepper - 2 tea spoon.
Cloves - 1/2 tea spoon.
Cinnamon - 3-4 pieces.
Red chilli powder - 1 tea spoon (8 whole)
Black salt - 1 tea spoon.

PREPARATION METHOD:

Roast dry pomegranate seeds, coriander seeds and cumin seeds on a pan. Let them cool down for a while.

Mix all the masala well in a plate and put them in a grinder. Grind all the masala well in a grinder into powdered form. Chana Masala powder is ready.

Store the masala in an air-tight container and use whenever you make Chole or Channa recipe at home.

Take 2 tea spoon channa masala powder to make 100 gms chole recipe.

CURRY MASALA

INGREDIENTS:

Coriander Seeds - 1/2 cup or less
Cumin Seeds- 2 tbsp
Fennel seeds- 3 tbsp
Pepper Corns- 1 tsp
Black Mustard seeds- 1 tbsp
Dry Red Chili- 5no.s
Methi seeds/Fenugreek seeds-1/4 tsp
Curry leaves- 15-20 leaves
Ground Turmeric/Turmeric Powder- 2 tsp
Ground Ginger/Ginger Powder-1 tsp
Cinnamon- 3" stick 2 no.s
Clove-10 no.s

PREPARATION METHOD:

Heat a pan, dry roast all the ingredients one by one separately for 4-5 minutes or till aroma comes.

Coriander seeds,methi seeds,mustard seeds will pop lightly when u roast them, so roast until the popping sound stops.

Roast Everything in medium heat, do not stir the spices frequently, just toss them gently.

I did not roast turmeric n ginger powder, simply added it while grinding.

Allow the mixture to cool for a while n then blend it to a fine powder.

If u want, can sieve it and store it in air tight container.

CHICKEN/MUTTON MASALA

INGREDIENTS:

Coriander Powder (Malli) – 1 tbsp
Turmeric Powder (Manjal) – 1/2 tsp
Chilly Powder (Mulaku) – 2 tsp
Black Pepper Powder (Kurumulaku) – 1 tsp
Fenugreek (Methi) – 1/4 tsp (optional)
Cumin (Jeerakam) – 1 tsp
Fennel Seeds (PerumJeerakam) – 1 tbsp
Cloves (Grambu) – 8 to 10
Green Cardamom (Elakka) – 2
Cinnamon (Pattai) – 2″ long piece
Star Anise (Thakkolam) – 1
Nutmeg Powdered (Jathikka) – 1/4 tsp (optional)
Mace (Jathipoo) – 1 (optional)

PREPARATION METHOD:

First, dry roast the powders lightly, followed by the whole spices. Dry roasting increases the shelf life of the masala powder.

Allow it to cool and then grind all the above ingredients to make a powder.

You will get around 5 tbsp of spice powder with the above measurements. Increase the proportions accordingly.

You can store this masala powder for a few days in an airtight container.

FISH FRY MASALA

INGREDIENTS:

Cumin seeds / Jeera - 2 grams (1 spoon)
Fennel seeds / Sombu - 2 grams (1 spoon)
Coriander seeds / Dhania seeds - 6 grams (2 spoons)
Peppercorns / Milagu - 2 grams (1 spoon)
Dry red chillies / Kaaindha Sivappu Milagai - 6 to 8
Turmeric powder - 1/4 spoon
Salt - 2 grams (Optional)

PREPARATION METHOD:

Take a pan and place on flame, now add all the above said ingredients (except salt) and dry roast just for 30 seconds. 

Remove from pan and set aside until it cools down to room temperature.

Now add all the ingredients to a blender (see that the blender jar is dry) and grind well into powder, add turmeric powder,  salt (optional) and grind again. 

Sieve the ground spice mixture to get the fine powder. Grind the rest again. Only if the powder is fine it will stick to the fish pieces. 

Store or use!!

AMCHUR POWDER

INGREDIENTS:

Raw mango-1/2kg

PREPARATION METHOD:

Wash, peel and slice the mangoes into thin slices and place them on a plastic sheet.
Dry the mango slices under the hot sunlight until it becomes crisp and moisture free. One or two days of hot sunlight is enough for drying them.  
 Crush the dried chips and grind into a fine powder. Store in a clean airtight container.