Kootu Powder

Kootu is a South Indian dish. Its basically a Lentil curry with Groundnuts and vegetables. It can be taken along with rice as well as chapathi. Its got a peppery hot flavour which goes great during winter. The basic ingredient for making kootu is kootu powder.

Following ingredients are required for making Kootu powder.

Channa dhal 1/2 cup
Urad dhal 1/4 cup
Jeera 2 tsp
Coriander seeds 2 Tbsp
Red chilli 3
Pepper 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon 1" piece
Poppy seeds 1 tsp

Method
Fry all the ingredients except poppy seeds until golden brown and until you start getting a good aroma. Take the pan off the heat and add the poppy seeds. Transfer the contents into another plate as there are chances of the ingredients getting burned if they stay longer inside the hot pan. Let the mixture cool,then grind it to a powder.

Store it in a air tight container.

You can prepare 3 to 4 preparations of Kootu with this powder. Quantity of the ingredients can be doubled or trippled to make more powder. This powder can be stored for months in an air tight container at room temperature.
Have a look at Mixed Vegetable kootu.