
Sundal Podi Recipe – Sundal Masala Powder with video. Make-ahead spice powder mix that can be stored for long time to make masala Sundal varieties.
In South India, especially Tamilnadu Sundal is synonymous to Navratri festival. Every single day a variety of Sundal is made to be offered to God as neivedhyam. It is also offered to visitors to come to visit our homes along with tamboolam.
Sundal is like a stir fry that is usually made with a legume, tempered and finished off with fresh grated coconut.
Though it is tasty and healthy on its own, it sort of becomes boring when you keep repeating the same process by swapping only the legume each day. This is where the Sundal podi comes in as a saviour.
Think of this Sundal powder as garam masala powder that is added at last to enhance the aroma and flavour.
Sundal powder acts the same way. It also gives more volume to regular Sundal and makes it more interesting and not so boring than the regular Sundal varieties.
Like in every other spice powder blend, each household have their own method of making this powder. Here I’m sharing my way of making Sundal podi.

Important notes:
- I have added white sesame seeds as it gives good flavour.
- You can totally skip it or use black sesame seeds also it that is what is available on hand. Just keep in mind that the colour of the powder will be darker a bit.
- You can also use tur dal along with urad dal, but we do not use it at home.
- If you do not have Kashmiri red chillies, you can regular chillies.
- Kashmiri chillies give a good ruby red colour to the powder.
- Adjust the quantity of chillies based on your heat preference.
- You can also use asafoetida to the powder, but I don’t as we usually add it while tempering.
Is adding salt necessary?
Just a pinch or 2 salt is added and even if you double or triple the recipe the same needs to be added.
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Salt here is not added for the taste but to lock in the freshness of the powder when stored for a longer time.
As sesame seeds are added, the salt acts as a natural preservative as well. You can totally skip it if you are going to use the powder within a week or 10 days.

How else can the podi be used?
The dals and coriander seeds acts as a coating and makes any vegetable to become crunchy when shallow fried for a period of time over low flame.
So you can use them to make delicious vegetable roasts. You can sprinkle this powder generously while preparing roasts of baby potato, brinjal, colacassia, yam, green plantains, regular potatoes, cauliflower and even mushrooms.
After the veggies are cooked and done fully, simmer the flame, sprinkle this powder and roast for an extra 5 to 7 mins before taking off.
This powder can also be used to toss mini button idlis, idiyappam, ammini kozhukattai etc.,
Sundal Podi Recipe video tutorial:
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Sundal Podi Recipe card below:

Sundal Podi – Sundal Masala Powder
Ingredients
- Coriander seeds – 1 tbsp
- Chana dal – 1/4 cup
- Urad dal – 1 tbsp
- Whole dry red chillies – 6
- Kashmiri red chillies – 4
- White sesame seeds – 2 tsp
- Salt – 1 to 2 pinch optional
Instructions
- Heat a pan and when it gets hot, add coriander seeds and over medium flame dry roast till it gets fragrant. Transfer to a plate.
- Add chana dal and dry roast till it changes colour and you see spots on them. Do not let it burn. Transfer to the same plate.
- Add urad dal, dry red chillies, Kashmiri red chillies and dry roast till dal changes to golden brown. Transfer to the same plate.
- Simmer the flame completely. Add sesame seeds to the hot pan and roast till it starts to pop. Immediately transfer to the same plate.
- Let it cool completely to room temperature. Transfer to a mixer jar or coffee grinder and grind to a coarse powder.
- Add salt and pulse once or twice to distribute evenly before removing the jar. You can also add it to the powder after grinding and mix well. Adding salt is optional and you can skip this step completely.
- Transfer to a jar and use when required.
- Sundal podi can be stored at room temperature for a month and remains fresh upto 3 to 4 months when refrigerated.
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