Thaengaai (Coconut) Podi

Podi, in general, is a spicy powder which can be used as follows:
1.) for seasoning
2.) to mix with rice
3.) as a spicy side to go with idli, dosai, adai and the like

There are different podis for each of the above mentioned categories. Any type of podi that can be mixed with rice is comfort food, according to me. If you stocked up on your podis, you need not worry about cooking on a day when you feel lazy or tired or just don't feel like cooking. You can have rice and podi with some chips or yogurt. It is that simple and easy. I had planned to make thaengaai thogayal (thogayal is a spicy paste that can be had with rice) last weekend but ended up making thaengaai podi instead.

Ingredients (2 - 3 servings when mixed with cooked rice):

Cooking oil - a couple of drops
Grated/powdered coconut - 2 cups (using a measuring cup)
Dried red chillies - 4 to 5 (vary this to suit your taste)
Urad dhal - 1/2 cup (using a measuring cup)
Asafoetida - 1/2 teaspoon
Tamarind - a very small piece
(I don't use tamarind paste in thogayals and podis)
Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. In a small pan, fry the coconut and urad dhal separately in a couple of drops of cooking oil, with constant stirring, until they turn light golden brown in color and set aside. In the same pan, fry red chillies and tamarind separately and cool them.
Note: You need not FRY tamarind. You can sort of heat the tamarind at the very end for a few seconds (just to sort of soften it) when the pan is still hot.
2. Grind the above mixture along with salt and asafoetida to a coarse powder and you have the thaengaai podi.

Note:
The procedure for thaengaai thogayal is the almost the same as above except that you don't have to fry the coconut and you have to grind everything to a coarse paste by adding little water to it. You can store the podi version for a longer time than the thogayal version. I store all the podis in the freezer and they stay fresh for about 6 months.

Like I said before, you can have this with rice and ghee (clarified butter) or a few drops of sesame oil, and it also goes well idli and dosai. I like this with plain curd rice as well :-).