Mixed Lentil Chutney Powder (Milagaipodi)

This is a coarse chutney powder made of dals (lentils) and to be found in most Palakkad Iyer and Tamil kitchens. It is popularly known among the Indian general public as “gun powder” because of its level of spice from red chillies (milagai) in it. Home-made versions are less spicy and when mixed with oil is great to eat with dosas and more especially with idlis.
Usually, Milagapodi is made with urad dal and chana dal in a 2 or 3: 1 ratio.
In the version I make at home, I have incorporated a wider variety of dals. This gives a different but nice and nutty taste to the powder. I would like to believe this is healthier (though adding oil ensures health goes out of the window and calories come in)!

(Clockwise from the left side of the red chillies: Skinned whole urad dal, whole urad dal, split moong dal, whole moong dal, whole masoor dal, split chana dal, split tuvar dal and the powder is asafetida)

Ingredients:
1 cup urad dal (use ½ white and ½ black skinned varieties if possible)
¼ cup chana dal
¼ cup whole moong (dal is also ok)
¼ cup whole masoor (dal is ok)
2tbsp white sesame seed
8 -10 red chillies or according to taste
½ tsp asafetida powder
salt to taste

Method:
Dry roast the sesame seeds till they start popping. Keep aside. Similarly, dry roast all the dals, separately, till light brown. While the last dal to be roasted is almost done add the chillies and asafetida. Allow to cool. Dry grind all the ingredients together with salt to a somewhat coarse powder. Store in airtight glass or steel containers.

To serve, take a large spoon of the chutney powder and add spoonfuls of oil, as required. Mix to a thickish flowing consistency.
The ultimate combination would be idlis with milagaipodi. For me personally, if milagaipodi is available (and it always is in my home), then I would definitely give sambhar and chutneys a miss. My daughter totally agrees with me here. In fact, she almost always adds a bit of sugar to the milagaipodi and oil which my husband refers to as Akshaya’s “concrete”!!! He prefers his idlis and dosas with chutney or sambhar, though.
Traditionally, we use either sesame seed (gingelly) oil or “varutha ennai” (fried oil - direct translation) for Milagapodi. Varutha ennai is oil left over from frying pappads or other food and is never reused for frying. It has an interesting flavour. Regular cooking oil is just fine, too.