Kafir Lime Leaves Podi | Rice Mix Powder | NarthaIlai Podi

Lime leaves podi, known as narthailai podi in tamil, is an aromatic and flavorsome rice mix powder made with fresh lemon leaves and lentils. A dry chutney powder, that can be mixed with rice and served.

Course Condiments, Sides

Cuisine Asian, Indian, South-Indian

Keyword How to make rice mix podi, Lemon leaves podi, lemon paruppu podi, narthailai podi, narthanga elai podi, narthanga elai powder

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 15

Total Time 35

Servings

Calories

Equipment

Indian style mixie or any heavy blender

Ingredients

200 grams Fresh Kafir lime leaves | Lemon leaves
¼ cup dried mint leaves optional
½ cup urad dal
¼ cup chana dal
2 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 tablespoon black peppercorns optional
2 tablespoon white sesame seeds
2 tablespoon flax seeds optional
18-20 nos nos red chilies
½ teaspoon hing/asafoetida
1 teaspoon salt or to taste

Instructions

Wash the fresh kafir lime leaves in water, pick out any leaves with brown spots. Drain the leaves well. Dry them on a kitchen towel for 10-15 minutes.
Next step is to dry the leaves completely. If you have the space, then sun dry them for 2 days. I dont have the space, so i chose to dry them in the microwave.
Take the lime leaves in a microwave safe tray, Microwave high for 3-4 minutes, in 2 minutes interval until they are completely dry. The leaves should be bone dry, when you press them between your fingers they should crackle and go powdery. Keep them aside until use.
In a heavy bottom pan/kadai, add a drop of oil, add chana dal, urad dal and coriander seeds and roast them golden brown. Keep the flame medium and keep stirring to avoid burning.
Midway through the roasting, add black pepercorns, white sesame seeds and flaxseeds. When the flaxseeds starts to pop angrily, add the red chilies to this.
Finally add the dried kafir lime leaves, dried mint leaves and hing. Let it sit on the stove for a minute. Take it off the stove and let this cool down completely.
Once cooled down, take these ingredients in a mixer jar, add salt and grind it to a powder. Let the ground powder cool down to store
Store the narthailai podi in a clean air-tight container on the kitchen counter.
Serve this aromatic narthailai podi with steaming hot rice and a drizzle of gingely oil/ghee.

Video

Notes

The ingredients mentioned optional, can be omitted completely.
The lime leaves can also be sun dried. If sun drying, It needs at least a day or two to dry out completely.