Karivepaku Podi

Andhra curry leaf powder, whole sprigs roasted brittle and ground with lentils, chilli, and tamarind

Origin: Andhra Pradesh & Telangana, India

From the journey of Curry Leaf.

This is the dish in which the curry leaf stops being an aromatic and becomes the ingredient. Podi means powder, and the Telugu kitchen keeps a shelf of them: dry, coarse, intensely savoury blends of roasted lentils, chilli, and one dominant flavouring, mixed with hot rice and a spoonful of ghee or sesame oil and eaten as a meal in themselves. There is a garlic podi, a sesame podi, a curry leaf podi, and a dozen more. They are the food of the household rather than the restaurant, they keep for months, and they are what a Telugu student is sent away with. What distinguishes karivepaku podi is the sheer quantity of leaf. Whole sprigs are dry-roasted, on low heat and with patience, until they are completely brittle and crumble at a touch, and then ground with roasted chana and urad dal, dried chilli, tamarind, and salt into a dark green-black powder. Two or three large bunches disappear into a small jar. Andhra and Telangana use the leaf harder than anywhere else in India, and this is the clearest evidence. Elsewhere a sprig goes into the tempering; here the leaf is bought by the bunch and treated as a vegetable. The roasting is the whole technique. The leaf must lose every trace of moisture or the podi will not keep, and it must not brown or the powder turns bitter. Low heat, constant movement, and about ten minutes.

Ingredients

Leaves

  • 120 g fresh curry leaves, stripped from the stems (about 6 large sprigs)

Dals

  • 4 tbsp chana dal (split Bengal gram)
  • 3 tbsp urad dal (split black gram)

Spices

  • 2 tbsp coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 10 whole dried red chillies, preferably Guntur
  • 0.5 tsp fenugreek seeds

Souring

  • 20 g dried tamarind, torn into pieces

Seasoning

  • 0.5 tsp asafoetida
  • 2 tsp salt, or to taste

Roasting

  • 1 tsp sesame oil

Method

  1. Wash the curry leaves and dry them completely, spreading them on a cloth for an hour or in a very low oven for ten minutes.
  2. Dry-roast the leaves in a wide pan over a low heat, stirring constantly, for eight to ten minutes until they are brittle and crumble between your fingers.
  3. Tip them onto a plate and cool. Wipe the pan.
  4. Add the sesame oil and roast the chana dal until golden, then the urad dal, then the coriander, cumin, fenugreek, and finally the chillies for thirty seconds.
  5. Add the tamarind pieces and the asafoetida to the hot pan for twenty seconds only, then turn everything out to cool.
  6. Cool everything completely to room temperature.
  7. Grind the dals, spices, and tamarind first to a coarse powder, then add the brittle curry leaves and pulse until combined.
  8. Stir in the salt, taste, and adjust the chilli and salt to your liking.
  9. Store in an airtight jar away from light. It keeps for two to three months.

Notes

A hundred and twenty grams of curry leaves is six large sprigs and looks like an absurd quantity. It is correct, and it reduces to very little once roasted. Guntur chillies are the Andhra default and are fierce. Kashmiri chillies give colour without the heat if you want a milder podi. The most common failure is browning the leaves. Keep the heat low and accept that it takes ten minutes. Mix two teaspoons with hot rice and a spoonful of ghee or sesame oil for the classic first course of an Andhra meal. It is also excellent on idli, dosa, and boiled vegetables. A jar of it is the standard thing a Telugu household sends abroad with a departing relative.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

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