Molagapodi/ Gun powder
Everytime I blog a family recipe, I am happy I am blogging :). I am pretty sure I have mentioned this umpteen times but one of the reasons I want to blog is also because I want to document my tried & tested recipes and my family recipes (I want to make certain things exactly the way my mil does or mom does) and molagapodi recipe has been high on that chart considering my co-sister Malathy also wanted it. South Indians.. Tamilians.. Tam Brahms.. probably can relate to the importance molagapodi holds in our life. If you don’t have ‘thottukka’ for anything, just ‘thottuko’ molagapodi :). In my 31 years of life, I have seen molagapodi being used in the following places (I have had most of these combos as well) – for dosa, idli (standard ones), all dosa variants, idli variants (also pretty standard), chapathi, upma (not so standard), thayir sadham (no exaggeration here & definitely not a standard), egg fried rice (did anyone just say fried rice is chinese?? hell no, it’s authentic tam brahm with this twist :)), bread (D loves this one & so did my dad). I clearly remember chatting with my friend Surya one day telling about how Adya doesn’t seem to like most food stuff (this was a year back). She promptly assured me to wait till they can start having molagapodi & vetha kozhambu and no kidding, she was absolutely right. Adya simply loves molagapodi & can have it with anything. We make a less spicy version for him though. He just like any other person in my life can have molagapodi by itself and doesn’t consider it a ‘thottuka’ item at all :). It’s main dish as far as he is concerned :D.
The photo below is something I love because it depicts my life with Adya :). All my kitchen & photography experiments happen around Adya. He is fully aware of what exactly I do when it comes to the setup I do before clicking pics & he loves to be a part of it and ofcourse, meddle with it. Below spatula was kept next to the molagapodi. Adya promptly took it & started playing around with it :). Scroll down below to see if he managed to do any further damage :D.
- 1.5 tsp sesame seeds
- 2/3 cup urad dal
- 2/3 cup channa dal
- 2 cups red chillies
- 2 tsp asafodita
- 1 tsp jaggery
- gooseberry size tamarind
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp refined oil
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Heat a pan & dry roast the sesame seeds till they start to brown. Transfer it onto a big plate & keep it aside.
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In the same pan, heat 1 tsp of oil & roast the channa & urad dal till they brown. Transfer this onto the same plate (as sesame seeds) and let it cool down.
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In the same pan, heat 1 tsp of oil & roast the red chillies till they start to brown (blacken to be precise :)). Turn off the heat & let the chillies cool down.
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Once the chillies have cooled down, add the roasted dal, sesame seeds, asafodita, salt & powdered jaggery.
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Grind in a mixer until it becomes a smooth powder.
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Transfer to an airtight container & enjoy!
- Our molagapodi is very spicy. If you want it medium spicy, you can put either 1 or 1.5 cups dried red chillies.
Stepwise pictures
Heat a pan & dry roast the sesame seeds till it starts to brown. Transfer it to a plate. Set it aside.
In the same pan, add 1 tsp oil. Once heated, roast the channa & urad dal.
Keep stirring so that the dal doesn’t get burnt.
Roast till they turn golden brown. Turn off the heat & transfer this onto the plate (I just take a big plate & add this on to the sesame seeds).
In the same pan, add 1 tsp oil & roast the dry red chillies.
Roast till they start to brown (blacken rather). Turn off the heat.
Once the chillies cool down, add the sesame seeds & roasted dal. Also add salt, asafodita, tamarind & powdered jaggery.
Grind it to a smooth powder.
Store in an airtight container & enjoy OR you may just play around with it like Adya did :), your choice really 😀
