KOOTU POWDER

INGREDIENTS:

Chana dal	¼ cup
Urad dal	¼ cup
Toor dal	¼ cup
Wheat	2 tbsp
Red chori / Cow peas	1 tbsp
Black peppercorn	1 tbsp
Dry red chili	20 - 25
Coriander seeds	¾ cup
Fenugreek / Methi seeds	3 tbsp
Mustard seeds	3 tbsp
Turmeric powder	1.5 tsp

METHOD:

• Heat a kadai on medium flame and add ¼ cup each of chana dal, urad dal and toor dal. Dry roast the dals till slightly golden brown and transfer to a large plate to cool down.
• Now add 2 tbsp of wheat, 1 tbsp of cowpeas (red chori) to the kadai and roast till both are slightly toasted and brown spots appears. Transfer to the same large plate for cooling down. (If whole wheat isn’t available, broken wheat used for upma can also be used. In that case, roast the cowpeas and broken wheat separately as the roasting time varies. Broken wheat will get roasted faster than red chori and if roasted together the broken wheat will get burnt by the time red chori roasts.)
• Now roast all other ingredients except turmeric powder separately. Roast 1 tbsp black peppercorns till aromatic. Roast 3 tbsp methi seeds until they are aromatic and turn slightly brown. Also roast 3 tbsp mustard seeds till the seeds start spluttering.
• Roast ¾ cup of coriander seeds till the seeds are aromatic and when they can be broken easily by pressing between index finger and thumb. Take care not to burn the coriander seeds otherwise the taste of kootu powder will be spoiled.
• Roast the dry red chili until crisp and lightly brown. The quantity of chilies can be adjusted as per spiciness of chili. If using Kashmiri red chili, 20 -25 chilies can be used. If using spicier red chili, reduce the quantity to 15.
• After roasting each ingredient, transfer to the large plate so that the item is cooled down. Then add the next ingredient to roast. Also take care not to burn the spices and dals otherwise the flavor of kootu powder will be spoilt. While roasting, stir the ingredients using a spatula frequently to ensure even roasting of the ingredient.
• Once the roasted spices and dals have cooled down, transfer to a large mixer-grinder jar. Also add turmeric powder and ground everything into fine powder. If using a smaller jar, grind in batches.
• Wait for few mins, before opening the jar so as to avoid sneezing from the red chili powder. After opening the jar, transfer the ground powder to a fine mesh sieve.
• Sieve the powder through the mesh to large plate or bowl and once again grind the leftover coarse powder into fine powder in the mixer – grinder.
• After grinding the coarser powder, mix it well with the sieved powder. The kootu powder would have heated up while grinding, so let the kootu powder cool down for half hour.
• Then transfer the kootu powder to an air-tight container and use in curries or kootu as per requirement.