We all know Andhra is famous for Podi’s. Andhra people start their meal with Podi mixed in rice and ghee/sesame oil then, they will move on to dhal, curry and so on.

In 2011, I had a three-month Training Period in an Multi-National company at Chennai. We were 34 candidates in that training but, the Surprise is, all 34 candidates were from different states of India. I remember Only three or five members were From Tamil Nadu.

During the training period, I got the chance to interact with people from different places of India. Because of the tight training schedule we rarely discuss lifestyle stuff, I learned a few things about their culture though. Except one girl rest of them stayed in the rooms/working hostels in Chennai. We cannot cook in the hostel so, mostly we buy food from office canteens and some times from restaurants. Since I am a Tamil girl, it was not difficult for me to adjust to canteen food. But for others, they had a terrible time to adapt to a new taste. Friends from Andhra complain Tamil food, for not having podi in the meal. I remember a girl, her name is Sowjanya, asked how Tamil people eat the entire meal with only one curry.

So coming to the point, My introduction to Andhra food started in my Training period. And then it became closer when a girl from Hyderabad, her name is Asmath Sheik joined my team in 2012 or 2013. At this time I became an employee of that company and gained some experience, which made me move easily with the teammates without any hesitation. We were good friendly team and we had a great time together. We were a good friendly team we had a great time together. My teammates and I went for outings at the weekends we got plenty of time to discuss food and other stuff.

Asmath is also a foodie she missed the Andhra food terribly. She always complains that the Andhra mess in Chennai is not serving the authentic Andhra mess. Once she has taken us to an Andhra mess which she felt serves closer to authentic Andhra food. That was the first time I eat a full Andhra meal. It was an awesome experience, from then my love for Andhra food is growing day by day.

Podi’s are Andhra’s great invention for lazy people like us, still want to have delicious food. It saves my life when I don’t have anything in the fridge or, I am lazy to wash the vessels(yes I never feel lazy to cook but, vessel washing is not my game). Especially, pappulu podi/Paruppu Podi is a simplest and tastiest Andhra podi recipe.

Ingredients for Paruppu Podi:

• 1/2 cup of fried dhal
• 2 medium size dry red chilies
• 4 to 6 small garlic cloves
• 1 to 2 tbsp of grated desiccated coconut.
• 1 tsp of salt
• 2 tbsp of dry curry leaves

Procedure:

1. Dry roast chillies,garlic, coconut, and curry leaves until just warm.
2. Transfer to a plate.Now, dry roast fried dhal until warm and transfer to a separate plate.
3. Let the spices and dhal cool completely.
4. Start grinding the spices with some salt into a fine powder.
5. Add in the dhal to the ground spices and blend everything into a fine powder.
6. Pappulu Podi/Paruppu Podi is ready. Store the leftover Paruppu podi in an airtight Container.

Serve with hot steaming rice and ghee/sesame oil