Coconut is known as thengai in Tamil.Thenga Milagai podi is a variety of idli podi with thenga. Usually dry coconut is used to make this podi. But fresh coconut too can be used.

It’s very easy to make , yummy and very handy to have in the kitchen. It can be served with idli, dosa, steamed rice. You can even use it to spice up dry vegetable curries.

Ingredients

Dry coconut – 2 medium sized

Urad dal ( black gram/ ulundhu) – 1+1/4th cup

Chana dal ( Bengal gram/ kadala paruppu) – 1+1/2 cups

Red chillies – 1+1/2 – 2 cups

Salt to taste

Grated jaggery – 1 tbsp

Tamarind – very little

Hing ( asafoetida/ perungayam) – 1/2 tsp

Method

Chop the dry coconut and grind it to a coarse powder.

Dry roast the coconut powder for few mins till you get a nice aroma.

Dry roast urad dal and chana dal separately till it turns golden.

Dry roast the red chillies till it becomes crisp.

Cool everything. Remove the stems from the red chillies and grind it to a coarse powder first. Then add both the dals and tamarind and grind coarsely.

Now add the coconut, salt to taste, jaggery and hing and grind everything to a slightly coarse powder. If you prefer a smooth texture, you can grind it to a smooth powder.

I prefer a slightly coarse texture as it gives a yummy crunch to the texture.

Let it cool after grinding and store it in an airtight container.

Serve the thenga milagai podi with idli / dosa or steamed rice drizzled with sesame oil:)