Dry til chutney or ellu podi is a common accompaniment on the side of a home-style thali. This dry condiment is a melange of lentils and sesame seeds with spices. Make some of this vegan, gluten-free ellu podi to complement your meals.

Molagapodi or the dry chutney that is used with dosa or idly comes in many flavours like garlic chutney podi and dhaniya podi. This adds a lot of variety to the same breakfasts that we make day after day or the simple home-style lunch. Also, it is one with a fantastic shelf life, thereby a boon to providing some relief to busy mornings. Here is another one that is handy, ellu podi.

Black and white sesame seeds

Sesame seeds are one of the tiniest ingredients that are common in the Indian kitchen. In fact, it is one of the hardest to harvest due to its size too. In the Asian markets, both black and white seeds are available. Both varieties of oil-rich seeds are rich in iron and calcium. Black sesame seeds are explored for their ability to reduce oxidative stress.

Hulled and unhulled sesame seeds

The polishing process at times removes the edible outer coating of the sesame seeds. This is the Hulled sesame seeds. If the outer coat is intact, it is unhulled. Nutritionally they are not very different. In addition, both hulled and unhulled seeds are equally edible roasted or raw. The hulled ones are brighter white and the unhulled white sesame seeds are slightly browned.

Ingredients for this til chutney

Sesame seeds- for this recipe I have used unhulled white sesame seeds. You can use black ones too and the podi looks much darker in colour. Upon roasting the sesame seeds have pop slightly and release the oils. upon grinding if the til chutney looks too oily roast some more of the lentils and adjust to form a dry powder.

Black gram dal- Urad dal or ulundu parippu is the base of most molagapodis. The skinned version is roasted and powdered. If using black sesame seeds, you can use the skinned black ones too. Roast well till they turn golden or aromatic.

Chickpea Dal-Bengal gram or kadala parippu is roasted separately and powdered with the urad dal. These two form the lentil base for most molagapodis. Roasted till slightly deeper brown the dal is crunchy and easy to powder.

Curry leaves- you can’t miss out on the karivepelai to give the classic ellu podi aroma. Add a handful if you have one. Dried ones will work well too, slightly roast before powdering.

Red chillies: depending on the spice levels you prefer can use a couple of different varieties here. The bydige or Kashmir red chilli adds a deep red colour without adding all that heat. Whereas the Guntur varieties give lighter red colour with a lot more pungent heat packed in. The ellu podi in the picture has bydige as I am not a huge fan of the heat.

Salt: Seasoning with salt is an absolute must to flavour and keep a good shelf life for the powder.

Hot tip:

On the first day, the salt doesn’t flavour well as the fresh ground chillies take over the flavour. However, taste test the next day to adjust the salt levels as by now the lentils will start absorbing the flavours and the pungent heat is slightly toned down.

Steps to make the dry til chutney

Roasting: dry and slow roasting of each ingredient ensures that the lentils are cooked and also that they can be powdered well. The sesame seeds crackle when roasted releasing the oil needed to bring the powder together. Each ingredient has a different time to roast, so have to be done separately.
Grinding: A spice mill or a coffee grinder can powder the spice mix. Powder the lentils and seasoning separately and then mix them well together. At times the sesame seeds will become mushy upon grinding as they release a lot of oil. Add a tablespoon or two of the lentil mix and grind further to reduce the stickiness.

Storing the ellu molagapodi

The til chutney will become rancid if exposed to air much faster. If you are making a batch store it in an airtight bottle on the countertop for about 15 days.  Use a dry spoon to serve it. If keeping for a bigger batch keep it in the fridge to slow down the loss of flavour.

Serving ideas for the til chutney

With lunch thali- The dry til chutney can replace the thogayal in the classic south Indian thali meal. It provides a lovely pickle kind of side to add flavour to the dishes.
With idly and dosa- Just like using molagapodi, Ellu podi can be used to dip the idlis and dosas to have. You can add a touch of oil to make a paste that can be smeared on the idlies.
Make a thogayal- Add two or three tbsp of warm water to about the same quantity of til chutney powder and let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes. This will form a thick soft chutney. Further you can dilute it with water if needed.
In variety rice- Just like we make pickle masala rice, sprinkle the chutney podi on the stirfrying leftover rice and make a delightful ellu rice. You can add a tempering of mustard seeds and garnish with coriander leaves to make it more flavourful.
In parathas- Add a tablespoon of til chutney to the atta before kneading it and mix well. This gives a unique flavour to the paratha when cooked, yet cannot be seen much.
Add to sandwiches and wraps– Use the til chutney in your rolls, wraps and sandwiches as this dry spice mix will add flavour without going soggy. Add cooked and drained beans, herbs, or a basic salad to the wrap to make it filling. Smear a bit of the paste-like ellu podi on the slices of bread and make a basic tomato-cucumber sandwich, it tastes amazing.

Collaborations

The dry til chutney recipe is added to the A_Z collection of recipes for the Alphabet T. Sesame seeds are Til in Hindi and this long-stay chutney is what I chose to showcase.

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Once we had gotten through some soup recipes last week, the taste buds needed a  gentle wake-up. Yet we are not up to the stage where stronger curries and foods can take over and run as a usual week. That will need a bit more time and getting back up to. Meanwhile, we have some veggies in the fridge that need to be used up. Here is a very easy shalgam ke baaji recipe made with fresh turnips. This dry turnip curry is vegan, gluten-free and free of nuts and coconut. Try out the shalgam ke baaji with fresh rotis and salad.

Understanding Turnips

There were two turnips I picked up with my grocery list. Turnips or neep are tap root vegetables with pale white skin or a green /pink top. They resemble beetroot in shape. Both the leaves and the bulbous root are edible. A fresh batch of spring turnips is delicious as salads similar to radishes. However, as the season progresses, I prefer cooking them to bring out the sweet flavour. To use the root, peel them and separate them from the greens. Chop up into pieces or wedges and proceed with your recipe.

What do turnips taste like?

Though the turnips look a lot like white beetroot, they taste a lot closer to radishes. Raw turnips have a characteristic crunch and a mustard green-like flavour. This flavour vanishes upon cooking replacing it with a mellow sweet flavour. 

Turnips in Indian cooking

Turnips are not alien to Indian cuisine and are called shalgam. Typically this is grown in colder regions where you will find it more popular in cuisine than in the hot humid regions. Turnips in curry, stirfry or grated as a salad. Today’s recipe is a semi-dry preparation called shalgam ke baaji.

Masalas and ingredients for this baaji

Shalgam/ turnips- Fresh turnip roots that are peeled and diced are the ones that are needed to make this turnip dry curry. A peeler will work to get the peel off n then dice the flesh. You can use the turnip greens in this recipe. Wash and clean the leaves. Strip them off the stalk and chop them to add along with the diced root.

Onion- a small bit of onion sauteed adds so much flavour to this dish. I have used half a small white onion. If you have shallots, use that for extra flavour.

Spices – two levels of flavour are created in this simple recipe. One at first by tempering the fenugreek seeds and the carom seeds. For the second layer of flavour, salt, turmeric powder, roasted cumin powder and curry powder ( like Ken’s) is all you need. This curry powder can be sambhar powder, rasam powder, garam masala or Kitchen king masala.

 The recipe card below gives the step-by-step details to make this recipe. Pin it onto your board from here for later use. 

Putting together a meal

Shalgam ke baaji on a cooler night with a couple of phulkas sounds like home. Leftovers find themselves comfortably hidden in a curry bun or a sandwich for lunch the next day. These are the easiest ways I have tried with the turnip dry curry. As we were unwell, we had it with payaru kanji.

Meal prep and saving the leftovers.

Usually, I prep and chop the turnips on the weekend to help my day at work. The prepared baaji will stay well for 3 to 4 days in the fridge. I have never frozen this shalgam ki baaji. If you have success with this please let us know in the comments.

Stay connected

Shalgham ki baaji is a very basic side dish recipe, best enjoyed warm. When you make this, write a comment with a rating. Share this recipe with friends and family who may also enjoy some turnips.

We have added this post to the A-Z recipe challenge,  ingredients in Hindi. Shalgam or turnips are one among the many ingredients which start with S. 

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