Chintaku Podi - Chinta chiguru podi

The chinta chiguru or the chintaku is a famous item in Andhra for making a podi or a pappu or pachadi.  Most of the kitchens in Andhra are loaded with various podi mixes and pickles which comes handy when we are lazy to cook anything.  Just prepare some plain rice and eat the rice with these powders and pickles along with ghee which is very delicious meal.

Lot of podis are made in Andhra pradesh which include kothimira podi ( coriander leaves podi), pudina podi, curry leaves podi, garlic podi, kandi podi, munagaaku podi ( drumstick leaves powder ). to name a few..  We can make a podi called chintaaku podi or chinta chiguru podi using the tender tamarind leaves which are available only in spring season.   We can also make Chinta chiguru pappu  or chinta chiguru pachadi using these tender tamarind leaves...   Chintaku(Tamarind leaves) podi is really tasty with the natural hint of tangyness it gets from tamarind leaves.We usually store a pack of dried tamarind leaves all through the year and make this podi when ever we want.   In this article we will see how to make Chintaaku Podi....

Ingredients required :

• 1 heaped cup dried tender Tamarind leaves
• 6-8 Red chillies
• 1/3 cup Groundnuts
• 1 tbsp grated dry Coconut
• 1 tbsp white Sesame seeds
• 3-4 Garlic pods with skin(optional)
• 1 tsp Oil
• Salt to taste

Method of making chintaaku podi:

• Use the tender tamarind leaves which are dried in sun until completely dry,might be for 2-3 days consecutively.
• Dry roast groundnuts until the skin turns brown and once they are cool,remove the skin and keep them aside.
• Dry roast sesame seeds and keep them aside.
• Keep the dry coconut in sun for some time or you can even dry roast the grated dry coconut for a minute.
• Heat oil in a kadai/pan and add red chillies and remove them and keep aside.
• In the same kadai add tamarind leaves and fry for 3-4 mins on low flame until they are slightly crisp and keep them aside.Let all these fried ingredients come to room temperature.
• Grind groudnuts,sesame seeds,dry coconut,red chillies and salt to a fine powder.
• Add fried tamarind leaves and grind again to a fine powder.Check the taste and add more salt if required.
• Add garlic pods and run in whipper mode to crush the garlic pods little bit.
• Cool the powder and store it in air tight clean container.

Serve this chintaaku podi with steamed rice and ghee.. You can adjust the red chillies according to your spice levels. The ground nuts quantity also can be increased a bit more if you like the taste.  This chintaaku podi can be stored for upto a month under normal conditions and can be stored upto 3 months if you keep in a refrigerator

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If you want to know more about making andhra style pachallu ( andhra style chutneys ), please visit my blog on Telugu Pachallu...