Homemade Masala Powder - Kuzhambu Masala Powder - Sambar masala powder - Priyavijaykitchen Recipe 29

  

This homemade Masala powder, I use to call it as “Amma Masal Podi”, since my mom used to prepare and give it to me whenever I am in need of it. This masala powder is a versatile powder which you can use it for almost all curries, gravies and poriyal varieties, even for non-veg recipes as well. Any dish either veg or non-veg cooked using this powder will be outstanding. In simple words I could say, my right hand in my kitchen.

Although making masala powder at home will take time and need more effort, it’s worth taking. Though we get readymade masala powders for all however they add preservatives, chemicals which is not at all good for health. Hence taking effort and preparing masala powder at home is 100 times worth.

The measurements given below is for bulk preparation. The pictures below are taken in my hometown when my mom was preparing masala powder in bulk for me and my 2 sisters. Since my mom stays in a very dry place Sivakasi it will be easy for her to sundry the ingredient, making this as an excuse and getting escape from preparing it.

Since most of us live in apartments we don’t find space to sundry the ingredients, so in this post I will be listing out the measurements for small quantities as well. 

My mom used to specify the measurements in terms of how much Red chilies we use. Here we have used ½ kg of Red chilies. This will yield masala powder which will last long for around 6 months for a family of 4 members.

Note : If you sundry the ingredients properly then the powder will last long for more than 6 months if not may be around 2 months.

Click here to check out the Health benefits of each ingredients used in this recipe

Video Link :

Below is the you tube link for this recipe.

                        

Homemade Masala Powder

     .............................Have a Quick look.................................
 Ingredients Needed:

Measurements for Bulk Preparation:
• Whole Dried Turmeric – 250g
• Dry Red Chili – 500g 
• Coriander seeds – 500g 
• Cumin seeds – 200g
• Fenugreek – 25g
  
• Mustard seeds – 25g
• Pepper Corns – 10g
• Toor Dal – 150g
• Urad Dal -150g
• Rice – 150g
• Whole Asafoetida stones – 25g
Measurements for Small quantities:
• Turmeric Powder – 50g
• Dry Red Chili – 100g
• Coriander seeds – 100g
• Cumin seeds – 40g
• Fenugreek – 1tsp
• Mustard seeds – 1tsp
• Pepper Corns – 1tsp
• Toor Dal – 30g
• Urad Dal -30g
• Rice – 30g
• Asafoetida powder – 1tsp

 Preparation:

• Whole dried turmeric – Place the turmeric fingers in a plate and sundry till turmeric is crisp.
• Dry Red Chili – It is recommended to sun dry red chilies for at least 2 to 3 days until they are super crispy. 
• Cumin Seeds – Spread cumin seeds in a plate and sundry it until they are crispy.
• Pepper corns – It is optional you either sundry or dry roast it. I prefer dry roasting which gives nice aroma to the masala powder. Dry roast until it start to crackle and splutter.
• Coriander Seeds – Dry roast till raw smell of it goes off. 
• Fenugreek – Once pan is heated add fenugreek seeds and dry roast until it turns golden brown.
• Mustard Seeds – Dry roast until mustard seeds starts crackling and splutter. 
• Toor Dal – Dry roast until they are golden brown.
• Urad Dal – Dry roast until they are golden brown.
• Rice – Dry roast until they are golden brown and also rice will start crackle.
• Whole Asafoetida stones – Dry roast until it crackle.

 Method:

• Method is very simple, mix all the ingredients together and ground them in the food mill thoroughly to a very fine powder.
• Then spread the grounded powder in a wide spread plate or spread it in a newspaper. Allow it to cool completely. Doing so will allow you to use the powder for long time.

Preparation Time	Cooking Time	Serves
15 mins	20 mins	3 - 4

Author : Mano Priya Vijay

Ingredients Needed
Measurements for Bulk Preparation:
Whole Dried Turmeric – 250g
Dry Red Chili – 500g
Coriander seeds – 500g
Cumin seeds – 200g
Fenugreek – 25g
Mustard seeds – 25g
Pepper Corns – 10g
Toor Dal – 150g
Urad Dal -150g
Rice – 150g
Whole Asafoetida stones – 25g

Measurements for Small Quantities:

Turmeric Powder – 50g

Dry Red Chili – 100g

Coriander seeds – 100g

Cumin seeds – 40g

Fenugreek – 1 tsp

Mustard seeds – 1tsp

Pepper Corns – 1tsp

Toor Dal – 30g

Urad Dal - 30g

Rice – 30g

Asafoetida powder – 1tsp

Preparation:

For homemade masala powder, preparation work will be more! Once your ingredients are ready then its simple, ground it in the food mill then store it in an airtight box. Before I start let me tell you here I have used total of 11 ingredients out of which 8 ingredients needs to be dry roasted while other 3 ingredients just sun drying is enough.

First let’s see the ingredients needed to be sun dried.

Sun-drying:

1. Whole dried turmeric – Also known as Virali Manjal in Tamil, Dried Turmeric Fingers in English. 

Place the turmeric fingers in a plate or newspaper and sundry till turmeric is crisp. [Tip: You should be able to break it.] (Since we are using dried turmeric fingers it will be easy for you to dry)

Note : If you need masala powder to be reddish color then use only 250g of turmeric otherwise use 300g.

 

2. Dry Red Chili – It is recommended to sun dry red chilies for at least 2 to 3 days until they are super crispy. [Tip: You should be able to break it easily.] Spread the chilies in a wide spread plate or in a newspaper. [Tip: Don’t remove the stalk of the chilies.]

3. Cumin Seeds – Spread cumin seeds in a plate and sundry it until they are crispy.

Dry-Roasting:

You have to dry roast total of 8 ingredients. [Note: Please note that all the ingredients should be dry roasted in a really very low flame and stirring constantly, do not raise the flame and burnt the ingredients.] For roasting use a heavy bottom pan or kadai and also each ingredients should be roasted separately and very carefully. 

You could think for mere roasting why we should be more careful … Is it so? Yes you should be double careful as each ingredients will take different time to reach its roasting point and more over the time difference between the exact roasting point and the burning point will be less than a minute. So we should be extra cautious! Here I will show you pics of each ingredients before and after roasting so that you can compare yourself. 

Note: 1: It’s better to sun dry all ingredients before you dry roast it. Doing so will keep your powder fresh for a very long time.

Note 2: Once you roast each ingredients place it in a separate plate and let it cool for 10 to 15 minutes not more than that because it will lose its crispiness.

1. Pepper corns – It is optional you either sundry or dry roast it. I prefer dry roasting which gives nice aroma to the masala powder. Dry roast until it start to crackle and splutter.

 

2. Coriander Seeds – Dry roast till raw smell of goes off. Here I have used ½ kg so I roasted in set of 2 batches (it depends upon the size of the pan you are using for dry roasting)

 

3. Fenugreek – Once pan is heated add fenugreek seeds and dry roast until it turns golden brown. [Note: Don’t stop when they are just light brown, roast until they are very brown in color but make sure you do not burnt it]

 

4. Mustard Seeds – Dry roast until mustard seeds starts crackling and splutter. 

5. Toor Dal – Dry roast until they are golden brown.

 

6. Urad Dal – Dry roast until they are golden brown.

 

7. Rice – Dry roast until they are golden brown and also rice will start crackle.

8. Whole Asafoetida stones – Last ingredients to be roasted, why I am saying to dry roast last is that we need to dry roast until it crackle which will make the pan little burnt. Since I used asafoetida stones it took time for me to dry roast without burning. [Tip: If you don’t find asafetida stones, you can use powder but have to be more careful while roasting it will get burnt quickly.] 

 

 Method:

Method is very simple, mix all the ingredients together and ground them in the food mill thoroughly to a very fine powder.

Note: Make sure you grind it as soon as you finish roasting and sundried the ingredients.

Then spread the grounded powder in a wide spread plate or spread it in a newspaper. Allow it to cool completely. Doing so will allow you to use the powder for long time.

Note: Do not store immediately, it must be cooled down before bottling as the grounded powder will be hot which will leave moisture if you bottled it immediately.

Health benefits of each Ingredients used in this recipe:

In Tamil there is a saying “Unavae Marunthu, Marunthae Unavu” means “Food is Medicine, Medicine is Food”. In respect to the saying, each and every food we intake in our day to day life has lots of health benefits excluding junk foods and tin packed foods, of course they contain preservatives which is unhealthy.

In Indian cuisines, we use lot of ingredients in our making of recipes, which benefits us in many ways. We use them not only for their flavor and taste but for its nutritional and medicinal value as well. If we look deeper into the traditional way of cooking, all the ingredients used in each recipes are well balanced both nutritionally and medicinally.

Each ingredients have many many health benefits but without knowing their health benefits we are using them daily. Let us know at least their important health benefits before we use and eat.

Here I have listed the health benefits of each ingredients I used in the recipe.

Ingredient 1:
Turmeric – also known as Manjal in Tamil and Malayalam, Pasupu in Telugu, Arashina in Kannada, Haldi in Hindi. In India, turmeric is consider to be most auspicious in house rituals. Turmeric medicinal value are numerous, the best antiseptic/antibiotic available in our kitchen racks. It plays a major role in Ayurveda treatment, used in skin treatment (We the south Indians use turmeric daily during our shower making our skin free from pimples, clears acne scars, makes skin flawless and glowing ), rich in antioxidants, cure cough (taking warm milk with turmeric and crushed pepper corns clears of your throat), prevents blood clots.

Ingredient 2:
Red Chili/ Red Chili Powder – also known as Sigappu Milagai in Tamil, Erra Mirapa Kayalu in Telugu, Vattal Mulaku in Malayalam, Molaku in Kannada, Lal Mirch in Hindi. Most widely used spices is Red chilies. They are used in recipes, for pickles, for chutneys etc., Fresh Red and Green Chilies are rich in Vitamin C, antioxidants, also good source of Vitamin A and E. If used more then you will be turn up with watery eyes and burning tongue and stomach. 

Ingredient 3:
Coriander Seeds – also known as Kothamalli in Tamil & Malayalam, Dhaniyalu in Telugu, Kottambari Beeja in Kannada, Dhania in Hindi. Coriander seeds are widely used in Indian cuisines as an important spices in most of the curries prepared. It is rich in iron hence cures anemia, potassium, helps in weight loss, controls blood sugar, cholesterol, improves digestion, reduces heavy menstrual flow.

Ingredient 4:
Cumin Seeds – also known as Jeerakam in Tamil and Malayalam, Jeelakara in Telugu, Jeerige in Kannada, Jeera in Hindi. My Ayurveda doctor advise me to drink a glass of Jeera water on an empty stomach early in the morning which is a natural remedy for various health problems. It is a very good source of Iron thus helps to treat anaemia and boosts immunity. Drinking a glass of jeera water during menstrual cycle helps in reducing the stomach pain. During my pregnancy, doctor advised to take jeera water daily which improves digestion.

Ingredient 5:
Fenugreek seeds – also known as Vendhayam in Tamil, Menthulu in Telugu, Menthe in Kannada, Uluva in Malayalam, Methi Dana in Hindi. Fenugreek, the common household spice is most widely used in medicinal treatments. Fenugreek which has bitter taste, when cooked gives good aroma and flavor to the dish. It can taken by mouth to reduce body heat, treats skin infections, induces insulin productions, stimulates breast milk production, reduces menstrual cramps, helps to maintain healthy hair (treats dandruff) (Tip: Massage with fenugreek paste (soak and grind) for 30 minutes to get rid of dandruff)

Ingredient 6:
Mustard seeds – also known as Kadugu in Tamil and Malayalam, Avalu in Telugu, Rai in Hindi. Mustard seeds are most probably used by all people all over the world in some or other form either via seeds or by oil or as sauce used in their recipes. We south Indian people use it as whole seeds. They are mostly used for seasoning the dishes. It is a high nutritious seeds rich in calcium, protein, manganese, iron, zinc, omega 3 fatty acids and dietary fiber. Mustard oil helps in Hair growth, hair loss, hydrates skin, and acts as a natural scrubber. 

Ingredient 7:
Pepper Corns – also known as Milagu in Tamil & Malayalaym, Miriyaalu in Telugu, Menasina Kalu in Kannada, Kalimirchi in Hindi. Pepper which is a flavor enhancer are used both as spices as well as for medicinal treatments. It has antibacterial properties, hence used for preserving foods, helps in digestion, for treating cold and cough, helps to keep digestive system healthy, suppresses fat accumulation inturn helps in weight loss, helps to treat dandruff. Tip: 1. Add a teaspoon of pepper powder and a teaspoon of turmeric powder to warm milk and drink before going to bed relieves cold and cough. 2. For treating dandruff, apply curd mixed with a teaspoon of pepper powder to the hair, leave it for 30 minutes and wash the hair in the plain water. Do not use shampoo.

Ingredient 8:
Toor Dal – also known as Thuvaram paruppu in Tamil, Kandipappu in Telugu, Thogari Bele in Kannada, Tuvara Parippu in Malayalam, Arhar ki Dal in Hindi. Toor dal is also known as Split pigeon peas, are very commonly used in Indian Cuisines. It is the main ingredient for the most famous south Indian dish Sambar. It is a staple food in India consumed along with rice and roties. Though there are variety of dals available, each dal has its own health benefits. Toor dal is rich in protein and carbohydrates, it helps to maintain blood pressure, good source of folic acid which is must for pregnant ladies, they are cholesterol free and are rich in dietary fiber thus improves digestion and prevent digestion. 

Ingredient 9:
Urad dal – also known as Black gram in English, Ulundhu in Tamil, Uddulu in Telugu, Uddu in Kannada, Uzhunnu in Malayalam, Urad in Hindi. Like other dal varieties, urad dal is rich in fiber, helps in strengthening your back bone (South Indian culture is to give dishes made out of black gram for girl children once they attain puberty to strengthen their bones), helps in iron deficiency, reduces risk of heart disease, helps to stabilize blood sugar levels, prevent constipation.  

Ingredient 10:
Rice – also known as Arisi in Tamil & Malayalam, Akki in Kannda, Chawal in Hindi. Rich in Carbohydrates thus acts as a fuel for the body, provides instant energy. South Indian meals are incomplete without Rice . Great source of vitamins & minerals thus improves our body metabolism, since it is low in sodium it is good for hypertension paitents, promotes healthy heart, it prevents constipation as they contain fiber as well.  

Ingredient 11:
Asafoetida – also known as Perungaayam in Tamil, Inguva in Telugu, Hingu in Kannada, Kaayam in Malayalam, Hing in Hindi. Asafoetida have distinct flavor and aroma. It is a key ingredient in Indian cuisines used mostly in curries and dal. It has very high medicinal value apart from its health benefits. It is mainly used in home remedies for stomach upset & intestinal gas. Whenever we prepare dal, we use to season it with asafetida in order to balance the gaseous effort dal produce. It’s a natural cure for asthma and bronchitis, relieves menstrual pain, cures ear aches, heals insects bites.