Gun Powder

[Suvir Saran]

Mallugu Podi (Pepper Powder) is a commonly found condiment in restaurants serving South Indian foods like Dosai and Idlis.

Do you make this powder at home?

Do you make it with ghee or oil?

Where do you buy it? What brand is best?

And how would you spell mallugu podi?

What tales or stories do you know about it?

[indiagirl]

ok, so gunpowder, i think every south indian cuisine has it's own. i've tasted the andhra kind and the tamilian kind and love both although they are different. I have not tasted the andhra one in a while but i just emailed a friend for a recipe so that we can compare.

i have the tamilian kind at home - and the best kind at that. my mom-in-law makes droves it for me (in sesame oil) when she visits and then i freeze it and it lasts forever. i use it just as a chutney with sesame oil and sometimes i toss it in potato curry, mmmm. i've even used it in tofu marinades!

i can post her recipe if you like

the pronounciation - now that is one strange vowel and one of the ways i got accepted into my tamilian husband's family was trying very hard to pronounce it like a good tamilian - i must have succeded at least once!!

i closest phoenetic spelling i think is mulaha but that certainly does not do it justice. say that, specificallyy the ell sound, with a bunch of marbles in your mouth maybe. some cookbooks spell it using some kind of "azhu" spelling which drives me batty.

other tamilian words with that vowel that i love to just say because they make me laugh:

uralakalanga (the second ell is the special one) - potato

valapalam (both special ell's) - banana

no wonder the brits translated mulaha-tanni (pepper water) into mulligatawny!

[Suvir Saran]

Would love the recipe Indiagirl!

Thanks for the great informative post.

[prasad2]

I can give you the Andhra Gunpowder recipe from my mom's kitchen. Excellent with Idli, Uthappam and Dosa.

Prasad

[Monica Bhide]

Welcome Prasad.. do share the recipe. I would love to try it out

[prasad2]

Thanks Monica for welcoming me.

GUNPOWDER.

I literally enjoy this every other morning with South Indian Breakfast.

Whole Coriander Seeds - 1 Cup

Whole Red chillies - 1/2 Cup

Whole Cumin Seed - 1/8 Cup

Roasted Soft Lentil - 1 Cup

Vegetable Oil - 2 Tblspn

Garlic - 10 Cloves

Urad Dal - 1 Tsp

Salt

Roast coriander seeds, red chillies, cumin seeds and the soft lentils, adding 1Tblspn of oil. In a dry blender grind coarsely and add salt. Using your knife blade, flatten garlic cloves. In a seperate pan temper urad dal with garlic and mix it with the powder.

Now, the most important thing before you serve or eat, melt some butter or pure ghee. On your serving make a little well by filling it with ghee and mix and dip your idly or dosa. Hope you enjoy this recipe.

Prasad

[Suvir Saran]

Welcome Prasad! And thanks for sharing the recipe.

[indiagirl]

compare and contrast time, folks.

my mom-in-laws tamilian recipe

milagai podi (her spelling)

1 cup toor dal

1 cup chana dal

1 cup urad dal

1 spoon asafoetida

6 teaspoons sesame seeds

2 handfuls of red chillis - dried

Roast everything without oil to a brown or deep red color. Add 5 teaspoons salt and grind to a rough powder

voila!

so quite different from prasad's recipe (welcome to the board, prasad)

less spices

more lentils

no garlic

i thought i remembered the garlic distinction but did not trust my memory anymore

[Suvir Saran]

compare and contrast time, folks.

my mom-in-laws tamilian recipe

milagai podi (her spelling)

1 cup toor dal

1 cup chana dal

1 cup urad dal

1 spoon asafoetida

6 teaspoons sesame seeds

2 handfuls of red chillis - dried

Roast everything without oil to a brown or deep red color. Add 5 teaspoons salt and grind to a rough powder

voila!

so quite different from prasad's recipe (welcome to the board, prasad)

less spices

more lentils

no garlic

i thought i remembered the garlic distinction but did not trust my memory anymore

I have always had the Tamilian version.

Amongst the Andhra condiments I love their tomato chutney, gongura chutney, curry leaf chutney, red chili chutney, eggplant chutney and their mango pickle.

[indiagirl]

oh dear!!

my husband just told me that the ell sound in mulaha is different from the one in valapalam. the weird azhu substitution is only used for the latter

it's complicated being married into a tamilian family, that's for sure.

:P

love gongura. when we moved to hyderabad, i learned how to eat hot food and boy am i addicted now! they have some truly awesome pickles, as suvir pointed out. anf they use garlic in them too which i suspect is a legacy of a south indian state with north indian nawabs as rulers?

what do you think, prasad?

[Suvir Saran]

love gongura. when we moved to hyderabad, i learned how to eat hot food and boy am i addicted now! they have some truly awesome pickles, as suvir pointed out.  and they use garlic in them too which i suspect is a legacy of a south indian state with north indian nawabs as rulers?

what do you think, prasad?

Our family is of Kayastha origin and Kayasthas are a great part of the Hyderabad culture. They are the group that with the Nawab, are responsible for the great Northern-Southern mix in Hyderabadi food culture.

Friends from Hyderabad have always spoken of the great marriage there of Maharashtrian, Tamilian and local Andhra cultures. It is rich for the very diverse food cultures that have left a mark in its heritage.

And many Maharashtrian communities also share with the Andhra communities a love of garlic.

What do you think, Prasad?

[prasad2]

Hello Suvir and Indiagirl and the rest of the forum.

Well, the Gunpowder the Andhra name is Korivikaram. Thanks for the Tamil version of the powder, I am going to try.

Gongura ! Love it with steamed sticky rice with a touch of sesame or peanut oil and sliced red or spanish onion. Try doing a meat dish with gogura pickle. Tastes fantastic, i have tried it in the past.

On the pickles of the south or the so called Andhra pickles, cloves of garlic with skin on, soaks in oils, lemon juice and the rest of the ingredients, gives it a great flavor, believe I always look for those cloves of garlic in the pickles. They taste very good, that soury tangy pickly flavor. This is garlic tasting so good with out roasting it.

i do not believe the garlic influence is from the Nawabs, since Nawabs never hit on Andhra but were in charge of Hyderabad and Secunderabad..

Yes the Kayasthas family are a part of Hyderabad with Nawab's influence. I think the food varies in preperations from Maharashtra to tamilian to Andhra, except on the borders of these States. Even Andhra food, Telengana (A province of Andhra Pradesh) and Nawab food is totally different.

Now, the pickles in Andhra Gongura Patchadi, Avakaya(Awa is mustard seeds and kaya is Mango), Allam patchadi (More of Ginger), Nimmakaya Patchadi (Lime Pickle) and many more.

Pickles of Andhra

[Suvir Saran]

Hello Suvir and Indiagirl and the rest of the forum.

Well, the Gunpowder the Andhra name is Korivikaram. Thanks for the Tamil version of the powder, I am going to try. 

Gongura ! Love it with steamed sticky rice with a touch of sesame or peanut oil and sliced red or spanish onion. Try doing a meat dish with gogura pickle. Tastes fantastic, i have tried it in the past.

On the pickles of the south or the so called Andhra pickles, cloves of garlic with skin on, soaks in oils, lemon juice and the rest of the ingredients, gives it a great flavor, believe I always look for those cloves of garlic in the pickles. They taste very good, that soury tangy pickly flavor. This is garlic tasting so good with out roasting it.

i do not believe the garlic influence is from the Nawabs, since Nawabs never hit on Andhra but were in charge of Hyderabad and Secunderabad..

Yes the Kayasthas family are a part of Hyderabad with Nawab's influence. I think the food varies in preperations from Maharashtra to tamilian to Andhra, except on the borders of these States. Even Andhra food, Telengana (A province of Andhra Pradesh) and Nawab food is totally different.

Now, the pickles in Andhra Gongura Patchadi, Avakaya(Awa is mustard seeds and kaya is Mango), Allam patchadi (More of Ginger), Nimmakaya Patchadi (Lime Pickle) and many more.

Pickles of Andhra

Thanks Prasad! I am glad to hear that there is more to Andhra food than just the influence of the nawabs.

I have always understood that Andhra Pradesh being land locked and having these states around it, it has taken the best of each of them, and added it to their own.

Telengana cuisine is superb. Maybe you will share more insights on that in the thread about Andhra Pickles.

[prasad2]

Defenitely on Andhra pickles will have my mom sit next to me and start putting these recipes together and start sharing. Yum, we never buy pickles, they are always home made.

[BBhasin]

Here is another take on Gunpowder

From my friend's mother in Dehradoon,

Deep fry seperately

Whole dry red chillies till they darken

Sliced garlic till it becomes golden n crisp

sliced onions till they are golden and caramalised.

set them on a paper towel to drain excess oil

crush to a rough powder

add a little salt and

store in a dry airtight jar

great on anything!