Curry Leaf Podi (Karuveppilai / Karivepaku Powder)
Dry-roasted curry leaves ground with urad dal, chana dal, and dry red chilli into a coarse South Indian podi for idli, dosa, and ghee rice.
Equipment
- Kadhai or skillet
- Dry mixer jar
Ingredients
For the podi
- 1 cup fresh curry leaves packed, thick stems removed
- 2 tablespoons urad dal
- 1 tablespoon chana dal
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 4 dry red chillies stalks removed
- 1/4 teaspoon hing
- 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1 teaspoon white sesame seeds optional
- 2 garlic cloves optional, for Andhra-style karivepaku podi
Instructions
Roast and cool
- Wash the curry leaves and pick off thick woody stems. Spread them on a clean towel until they feel dry. Damp leaves will clump later.
- Dry roast urad dal and chana dal on medium heat 3 to 4 minutes, stirring, until they smell nutty and turn pale gold. Tip onto a plate.
- In the same pan, roast coriander seeds, cumin, dry red chillies, and sesame if using, 30 to 45 seconds, until the coriander darkens a shade. Add hing in the last 5 seconds. Tip onto the same plate.
- Roast the curry leaves on medium 4 to 6 minutes, stirring, until they rustle and shatter when pinched. They should stay green-olive, not brown-black. If using garlic, add the cloves for the last minute so they dry out, not burn.
- Cool everything on the plate 10 to 15 minutes. The plate should feel room temperature. Do not grind warm.
Grind
- Grind to a coarse powder with the salt. Pulse. You want grit, not dust. Taste. Add a pinch of salt or a tiny pinch of jaggery only if the leaf tastes sharp, not if the roast went bitter.
Notes
Cool fully. Warm leaves release steam in the jar and the powder sets into a clump by day two.
If the podi tastes bitter, the leaves or dals went too dark. Start the roast over. Extra salt or jaggery will not save a burnt batch.
Skip garlic for a Tamil-style karuveppilai podi. Add the 2 cloves if you want Andhra karivepaku podi.
Store in a clean, completely dry jar at room temperature for 3 to 4 weeks. Refrigerate only if your kitchen is humid, and let the jar come to room temp before opening so moisture does not collect on the powder.
A 1-cup leaf batch is a week's breakfast jar. Double only if you will dry the leaves in two pans. A crowded pan steams.
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