As much as I love sambhar , being an Andhrite I don’t think any savory south Indian breakfast/tiffin is complete without ginger chutney and Kharapu podi.Well, to be honest , sambhar was made when my mum was in a hurry and always eaten with rice. It was always Kharapu podi and ginger chutney with Idlis/pesarattu and dosa all drizzled with ghee unless we were eating breakfast in a restaurant which was rare. But once I got a the taste of the quintessential sambhar , there was no looking back, The kharapu podi and allam pachadi , was moved to the attic of my mind and stored as a memory. My mum makes an awesome allam pachadi and kharapu podi… I dont think anyone can beat her when it comes to this… and she is very proud of this one thing and can lure my dad to get her anything that she wants by making them for him.
I mentioned it to her that its going to be my 100 post and I made it at home , she said ” Oh ! Do tell your blogger friends that that I can make the best pachadi in town ” Well, she is not modest about this you see!
Coming back to the recipe ,my sambhar hater at home would kill for these two anytime and so I make it a point to make large batches and store them. They taste equally good with rice and are comfort food for me.
If I am using the Kharapu Podi in rice , then I saute a few garlic pods in ghee and just put them in the container of kharapu podi to infuse the garlic flavor , sometimes I eat the garlic too , just to put off company , I am with , if they are not interesting!
Ginger Chutney
1 cup shredded ginger ( half a pound)
1/4 cup jaggery
Lemon sized ball of tamarind
For the tempering
handful of curry leaves
1 tablespoon urad dal(split)
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
4-6 red chillies
1/4 teaspoon asafoetida
Oil and salt to taste
For the 2nd tempering
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon urad dal
A few curry leaves
Peel the ginger and grate in a food processor. Fry it in some ghee , if you want store the chutney for a longer time and if you cannot take the strong taste of ginger . My mum uses it raw if its a small batch.
Cool the ginger and in the meanwhile, do the first tempering by adding ghee/oil and adding urad dal , cumin seeds , mustard seeds , asafoetida , curry leaves and keep aside. Saute the red chillies seperately and keep aside and cool
Take all these ingredients along with salt and tamarind and blend it in the food processor. Remove and do the second tempering again by heating oil and adding urad dal , mustard seeds , red chillies and curry leaves. Store in an airtight container and refrigerate.
Kharapu Podi
1 cup coriander seeds
1/2 cup red chillies
3 tablespoons chana dal
a small key lime sized tamarind ball
salt and Oil
Saute all the ingredients except red chillies in one batch and the red chillies seperately in another batch.
Cool , add the tamarind and grind into a coarse powder using a grinder. Store in an airtight container and refrigerate . It wont lose its flavors fast.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
i thought karapu podi was curry leaves powder
yeah i rem the allam pachadi from my time in hyderabad. i hated it though but the yummy onion chutney made up for it 
July 24th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Nags , it took a lot of coaxing from my mum to eat it , but I developed a liking for it now.. maybe as we get older , we tend to like what we didn’t or maybe its just the fact that its home.. I cant eat allam pachadi in a restaurant either , puts me off completely.
July 25th, 2008 at 12:19 am
heheh…to put off ppl who are not interesting..heheh..I can understand that..but any time you give me garlic, I can have that as such girl!…those are some lovely dishes, I am sure they are the best. Do tell your mom, she is the best!..:)..what a colour it has…
and congrats on the 100th post, its no mean feat!
July 25th, 2008 at 12:40 am
Allam Pachdi with so much of ginger in it is a little difficult for me to ummm digest
but it looks great, maybe I will give it a try.
Congrats on the 100th post!
July 25th, 2008 at 1:46 am
Congrats , dear dee on your 100th post…looking forward to many, many more
July 25th, 2008 at 2:22 am
Dee, congrats on this milestone. I recently did a post on the various combinations of pachadis and podis we had with tiffin, only, unlike you, we didn’t get used to sambar. There was nothing else except that and coconut chutney when we went to hostel, and then I was put off these things after eating them repeatedly!
Like your Mom’s spirit
July 25th, 2008 at 2:31 am
Hey this is totally new dish for me.. looks very yummy
July 25th, 2008 at 2:59 am
Hello Ammalu,
Ur Kharapu Podi is very good,and i tried its very good.This is one of mine favourite in my childhood too.
Just now i have also started a food blog with name fooddamaka(foodlovres),www.fooddamaka.blogspot.com.Kindly have a look at my blog and give suggestions if possible.
with regards
pavani
July 25th, 2008 at 7:25 am
i never heard of kharapu podi… looks yummy…..
July 25th, 2008 at 8:01 am
Congrats on ur 100th post….
July 25th, 2008 at 8:02 am
Congrats on the century!
Love the fiery colour of your chutney and podi.
July 25th, 2008 at 8:07 am
Congrats on ur 100th post, Dee!
And both the chutney and the podi look awesome..the chutney color is just very appetizing!
July 25th, 2008 at 8:14 am
Congrats on ur century! Wish many more to come. The podi and chutney re spicy! Great with idlis!
July 25th, 2008 at 9:20 am
congrats on your 100th post! and both look awesome!
July 25th, 2008 at 9:47 am
mmmm idli and kaaram podi…babayi hotel idlies…..from vijayawada…..congratulations on your milestone….and here’s wishing you many many more
July 25th, 2008 at 10:15 am
congrats on the 100th dee! gotta’ try ur mom’s ginger chutney.
July 25th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
New recipes for me! COngrats on your 100th post!
July 25th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Congratulations…pudi looks very nice.
July 25th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
yes, yes! these two are my fav. too! Congrats on hitting a century! Wish you many more.
July 25th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
If this is the best pachadi in town, I sure want to try it :). Congrats on 100, Dee. Wishing you many more to come.
July 26th, 2008 at 10:52 am
LOL, your mom is funny…
Congrats on the 100th post Dee, those pictures are fab!
July 26th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Congrats on your 100th post Dee. I have not tasted either of them. Will try it definitely. The podi picture is very brownish red, is it because of the lighting or is it the original color?
July 26th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Hey congrats on ur 100th post! Wishing you for 100’s and 100’s more
July 27th, 2008 at 9:51 am
Hey, congrats on your big milestone.
July 27th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Thankyou all for the wonderful comments
@ madhu , the podi is in that colour , because of roasting the red chillies and coriander + the tamarind. It looks like this madhu.. not because of the lighting.
July 28th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
congrats Dee for completing the century
August 1st, 2008 at 7:37 am
Wow!! the allapacchadi looks mouth watering. I think I am going to try it one of these days. I only once made it, it took so long, I never tried again. I can’t imagine making both pacchadi and sambar in the same day.
Congrats on 100 posts on this delicious blog!
August 2nd, 2008 at 11:51 am
Congratulations on your 100th post Dee.