Pudina Paruppu Podi | Mint - Lentil Spice Mix

Most of you will probably know about my love for spice mixes. Just to make it obvious, I have a whole section dedicated to these magic masalas.

So when the themes for Week 2 in the 24th edition of blogging Marathon, was announced and I saw the theme - Cooking with kitchen electric appliances, I knew I had to use the mixer / blender and prepare some spice mix.

My treasure trove of recipes was where I searched and I found one that I had written down from some book in April,2007.[Yes, I still have the habit of writing the date before actually writing anything!]. I have written a whole collection of recipes that can be prepared with mint leaves and the idea of making a spice mix with mint leaves sounded like - delicious!

I used :

Mint leaves - a bunch / 2 handfuls of leaves
Toor dal- 1/4 cup
Moong dal -1/4 cup
Channa dal - 1/4 cup
Roasted channa dal - a little less than 1/4 cup
Peppercorns - 10 numbers
Red chillies- 2
Ajwain / carom seeds-1 teaspoon
Ginger powder- 1/2 teaspoon.
Salt to taste

Separate the leaves from the stalks and wash the leaves well.Drain in a colander. Spread out the leaves on a kitchen towel till there is no trace of moisture.
Dry roast all the ingredients in a pan except salt and ginger powder till the dals are golden brown in color.
Put in the mint leaves, turn off the heat and continue to roast for a few minutes
Spread it our on a plate to cool.
Grind to a fine powder.

6.Add salt and ginger powder and mix well.Store in an air tight container....

To prepare mint- lentil spice mix rice...

Cook rice so that grains are separate. Drizzle a teaspoon of sesame oil[or any other neutral vegetable oil]. Add a few teaspoon of the mint-lentil powder. Mix well and enjoy with a curry and crispy of your choice.