Spicy Powders from Indian Cuisine-5

My other posts on the topic are here...

http://spiceomylife.blogspot.com/search/label/Spicy%20Powders

Well here are some more....

1. Dry Coconut Powder  (ఎండు కొబ్బరి పొడి ): 

It is known as Khopra in Hindi and Endu Kobbari in Telugu. The coconut fruit  is left to mature completely on the tree. Once it is done, the water inside it disappears. It is then dried as a whole after removing the outer coir and hard shell or after breaking into halves. It is either sold as a whole or in halves. The whole ones are used in some ceremonies and also for carving designs and presented in marriages to grooms party by the Brides side in Karnataka. They are very beautifully made.

Any way in general the halved kernels are sold in the stores. We use that for cooking .

This powder is great with Dosas and Idlis. Of coarse you can eat it with steamed/boiled  rice. This can also be sprinkled on curries in addition to other spices. This is very easy to make.  While selecting dry coconut, take care to taste them a little bit. Sometimes they taste very stale or oily. It is better to make this powder in small quantities rather than making huge quantities and storing for a long time  to retain the fresh taste.

Ingredients:

Dry Coconut Kernels (halves) 2

Dry Red Chillies  2-3

Cumin seeds 2 tsps

sugar 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Method:

• Grate the coconut. Slightly roast it with out oil or fat for few minutes until it gives off nice smell.
• Roast dry chillies too for it is easier to powder them. Adjust the quantity according to your taste. Grind it to a fine powder.
• Coarsely grind the cumin.
• Mix all well and store in air tight jar or bottle.

2. Coconut and Groundnut Powder:

Ingredients:

Dry Coconut Kernels (halves) 2

Ground nuts or peanuts    200gms

Dry Red Chillies  5-6

Cumin seeds 2 tsps

Sugar 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Method:

• Grate the coconut. Slightly roast it with out oil or fat for few minutes until it gives off nice smell.
• Roast peanuts well and cool them. You may remove the husk. But it is tastier and nutritious with the husk.
• Roast dry chillies too. Adjust the quantity according to your taste. 
• Grind peanuts and chillies to a powder.
• Coarsely grind the cumin.
• Mix all ingredients well and store in air tight jar or bottle.
• This can be served with, Idly, Upma, Dosa and Rice.

NOTE: The easier way out with Coconut is to cut it into small pieces and put them in the food processor. It gets grated into a fine powder saving time and energy.

Still many more spicy powder recipes....Keep a watch......