Chutney podi/chutney powder

As per my knowledge chutney powder/ chutney podi is more of a South kerala thing and me being from North kerala/malabar  we dont make this at our home. But I have lived 8 long years  in Ernakulam / Kochi , little more than I lived in my home town Kannur, so I was introduced to chammanthi podi/chutney podi by my friends there, especially during 2  years of hostel life ! I was one of the hosteller who  used to go home very less as it was a long 7-8 hr travel in train but other friends who were not too far used to  go home every weekend with all their laundery and come back on a monday morning with some pickles or chutney podi. But those pickles or chutney powder will be all gone in 2-3 days and  the rest of week when the food in hostle becomes too horrible we had to rely on the pickle sachet from local shops !

When I saw this month's cook out in   Kerala kitchen  hosted by Nagalakshmi, I was happy join in and  try this recipe from Edible garden .

Ingredients

Grated coconut - 2 cups

Whole redchillies - 5 -7 numbers ( original recipe calls for 15,but I only used 5 which

                                                      was just the right for our spice level)

Ginger - 2 inch piece(sliced)

Curry leaves - 3 springs

Urad dal - 2 tsp

Black pepper - 1 tsp

Shallots- sliced ( 1/2 tsp)

Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp

Tamarind -a small piece

Salt 

Method

1.In a frying pan add grated coconut, ginger, curryleaves, urad dal, back pepper, shallots and roast until the coconut turns slightly dark  brown colour .

2.Turn off the flame and add tamarind, salt and hing. Mix well and allow it cool down.

3.Once they reach room temperature, grind them into powder and store in an airtight container.

  Serve with rice, idly or dosa !