Idli milagai podi means comfort food in Tamilnadu. During school days, 50% of all the school lunch boxes were packed with sesame oil coated idlis drenched in different kinds of idli podi. It is the best lunch box friendly food our moms knew those days. Slightly crunchy and spicy, idli is the perfect vehicle for podi. My brother was a big time picky eater when he was young. He would never have chutney, sambar or anything wet on the side with idli or dosa. The only thing you can give him was idli podi and it holds true to this day. So our house had gallons of idli podi at all times of the year. This is a very easy recipe to do. Hope you like it. There are countless types of idli milagai podi one can make and this is the most popular one that’s made with roasted lentils.
Here is the video of making idli podi / Idli milagai podi Recipe.
Here is how to make Idli milagai podi Recipe
The key to a good idli milagai podi is the crunch when you bite. You can achieve that texture only by slow roasting making sure that the lentils turn golden. Low heat is key. Here is how to do it.
Heat a pan and add in a teaspoon of vegetable oil and add quarter cup of chana dal (kadalai paruppu). Roast the chana dal in low flame until golden brown. Keep sauteing to avoid burning. Have patience and roast slow until the aroma comes and the dal turns color. Remove from the pan once the dal is golden. Set aside on a plate to cool.
In the same pan add in a teaspoon of vegetable oil and add half cup of whole white urad dal. Use unpolished urad dal. Roast the lentil until it smells nutty and the dal turns color. It should be really golden in colour. Always roast on low flame. That is the key. Remove from the pan once the dal is golden. Set aside on a plate to cool.
Place the pan back again on the stove and add in a teaspoon of vegetable oil and half cup of white sesame seeds. Fry on low flame till golden. Keep sauteing and spread the seeds on the pan evenly so the seeds doesn’t burn. Sesame seeds burn fast. So roast on low flame until it starts to pop. Remove the seeds from the pan and set aside on a plate to cool.
Dry roast red chillies on the same pan until you can smell them. Remove the chillies from the pan and set aside on a plate to cool.
Add in the cooled and roasted lentils, sesame seeds and red chillies to the mixie. Add in the salt, asafoetida (perungayam/hing) and jaggery.
Grind the ingredients to the consistency you like. You can grind it fine, slightly coarse or to a coarse powder. I like the slight crunch of the podi that comes from the lentils. So I ground slightly to a coarse powder. Just ever so slightly coarse.
A note on grinding:
If you want a fine idli podi / powder – grind all the ingredients except sesame seeds to a fine powder. Add the sesame seeds on top of the ground powder and pulse several times. Grinding the sesame seeds for a long time will make the oils ooze out. So a word of caution on that.
You can store this idli milagai podi / idli molaga podi at room temperature for upto 15-20 days. If you are going to need it for a longer time, then store the podi in zip tote bags in the freezer. It stays fresh for upto 4-5 months in the freezer.
Mix the chutney powder either with sesame oil (nallennai) or ghee. Serve with idli, dosa, paniyaram varieties.
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Idli podi – Idli milagai podi Recipe
Traditional Recipe for idli milagai podi using dal. Idli and podi is comfort food in Tamilnadu.
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: 1.5 cups podi (25 servings) 1x
Ingredients
- 3 teaspoon vegetable oil or peanut oil
- 1/4 cup split chana dal
- 1/2 cup whole white urad dal
- 1/2 cup white sesame seeds
- 10 dried red chillies
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon jaggery
- 1/4 teaspoon asafoetida (hing)
Instructions
- Heat a pan and add in a teaspoon of vegetable oil and add quarter cup of chana dal (kadalai paruppu). Roast the chana dal in low flame until golden brown. Set aside on a plate to cool.
- In the same pan add in a teaspoon of vegetable oil and add half cup of whole white urad dal. Roast the lentil until it smells nutty and the dal turns color. Remove from the pan once the dal is golden. Set aside on a plate to cool.
- Add in a teaspoon of vegetable oil and half cup of white sesame seeds. Fry on low flame till golden. Set aside on a plate to cool.
- Dry roast red chillies on the same pan until you can smell them. Remove the chillies from the pan and set aside on a plate to cool.
- Add in the cooled and roasted lentils, sesame seeds and red chillies to the mixie. Add in the salt, asafoetida (perungayam/hing) and jaggery.
- Grind the ingredients to the consistency you like. You can grind it fine, slightly coarse or to a coarse powder.
- Enjoy with idlis!
Notes
Mix the chutney powder either with sesame oil (nallennai) or ghee.
Serve with idli or dosa.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Chutney Powders
- Cuisine: Tamilnadu
Can we add toor dal also
If you like the flavour, You can.
It tastes awesome. All are having extra Dosa and ildy. Thanks a lot.
But while grinding it tends to get oily. Maybe due to sesame seeds. So I have to cook it for a bit then again grind it
Any fix for that pls
Not cook. Cool it a bit. Typo
If you want a fine idli podi / powder – grind all the ingredients except sesame seeds to a fine powder. Add the sesame seeds on top of the ground powder and pulse several times. Grinding the sesame seeds for a long time will make the oils ooze out. So a word of caution on that.
Thank you. It worked like a charm. 😄😄
Thank you!
Is hing essential? Can I skip it?
You can skip if you dont like it.
Very nice recipe… I will dfntly try
I had only black sesame seeds handy.. Halfed the mentioned quantity and substituted for white sesame and it turned out super yummy..
It had slightly bitter taste and but came close to Madurai Murugan Idly shop’s podi which is my favorite 😍
Thanks for the share..
Thanks for this recipe, Suguna. I’ve made your molagapodi recipe multiple times and it has yielded consistent results. Thanks!
can garlic be added
Dear Suguna,
Accidental discovery. Instead of kadalai paruppu I tried with pottu kadalai while making molagaipodi because my stock of kadalai paruppu got over. It also tasted awesome.
Thanks for the recipe.
Hemalatha
Hi Suguna | Kannamma
Kudos for the awesome recipe… my favorite one… for which I was in search from a longtime…Even though it is very simple one…
Can we use black sesame seeds
Yes you can but the color will differ.
This is a great recipe! Next time, Ill do the grinding in batches – some of the sesame turned into tahini! But thank you, this is perfect.
I am sorry Amba. Pulse several times. Grinding for long time will bring the oils out!
Thanks for sharing this recipe. It was delicious.
Superb podi. I stay alone in Dubai. Your recipe is very handy and I made it with ease today. I should thank you.
Thank you Sowri Rajan. Glad you like it!
We don’t add chenna dal.This recipe sounds delicious.I am going to try it.Thank you.Thank you for all the lovely, authentic recipes.
regards
geetha
Thanks Geetha. Hope you like it.
Hi kannamma,
can we add curry levs to tis pidi?if so cn we add drctly r need to dry roast n add while grinding?
Sure you can add curry leaves. You will need to dry roast and then add.
Thank you so much Suguna for this recipes
My pleasure Emily!