Tamarind Leaves Powder / Chinta Chiguru Podi

I always like  the spice powders which is being served in Andhra restaurants. At home, without a dollop of ghee and Dal powder my weekend meal never ends. I always have Paruppu podi, Idly podi orCurry leaves podi at home to fulfill my craving. Sometimes, it is handy and helpful when you feel lazy to cook curries or gravies. 

Fine, When I came across this powder from Prathibha’s place, immediately bookmarked it.  We get plenty of tamarind leaves at our native and during my mom’s last visit here, I asked her to bring fresh, tender tamarind leaves and dried them here to prepare this powder. I prepared it in the night time and I served it for lunch on the following day. You don’t believe it, the husband who is not fond of any spice powder also liked it and took some extra spoons while eating lunch. Also, I told the recipe to my mom and asked her to prepare it as she gets tamarind leaves in large quantities there.

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Makes: 1 cup

Ingredients:

Tamarind leaves – 1 and 1/2 cups
Ground nuts / Peanuts – 1/3 cup
White sesame seeds – 1 tablespoon
Grated coconut – 1 tablespoon, fresh/dry
Dry red chillies – 6-8 nos
Oil – 1 teaspoon
Garlic cloves – 3-4 nos
Salt – to taste

Method:

1) Wash the tamarind leaves well and dry it in sun or under sunshade till it became crispy and dry.
2) Take a pan, dry roast the peanuts till the skin of it turns brown. Transfer to a plate.

3) In the same pan, dry roast sesame seeds. Transfer to the plate where we kept peanuts.
4) Dry roast the dry red chillies and then the grated coconut till it turns dry and slightly brown. Transfer to the plate.

5) Add a teaspoon of oil and add tamarind leaves. Fry till the leaves turns in its colour and became more crisp. Transfer to a plate and allow it to cool.

6) When it is cooling, peel the skin of the garlic and remove the skin of peanuts by rubbing it in between your hands.

7) When all the ingredients are cooled to room temperature, dry grind them to a fine powder.

8) Towards the end of grinding, add salt and garlic. Grind for a minute or till the garlic cloves crushes well.
9) Taste the salt and add more if required.
10) Cool the powder to room temperature. Store it in a dry, air tight container. Store it in refrigerator for longer shelf life.

Notes:

1) Use only tender, fresh tamarind leaves. The dark green leaves and very tender leaves are not suitable for this powder. Dry them well before use.
2) Make sure the grated fresh coconut is moisture free after roasting, otherwise, simply go for dry coconut for long shelf life of the powder.