Nutty and Salty Gunpowder Spice

Gunpowder spice, also known as idli podi or milagai podi, is not a spice blend but instead a dry chutney found in South India. It’s most often eaten with dosa or steamed rice cakes called idli. Around our house we just call it “fun dip.” I reach for this stuff daily to dunk apple wedges, spicy radishes, and crunchy cucumbers in, or to sprinkle over hard-boiled eggs and roasted potatoes. The toasted lentils and seeds give the gunpowder a nutty and savory flavor, while there’s just enough salt, sugar, and chili to keep you coming back for more. This recipe uses a mix of chana dal and urad dal, which are both hulled and split lentils. Since they are already processed, they readily toast and blitz into a powder. This won’t work with a whole lentil.

There are no measurements for the final seasoning, because how salty, sweet, and spicy you want this gunpowder spice is a personal decision and you need to go on this journey alone. Take your time: Add the salt, sugar, and chili a fat pinch at a time and taste after every addition. You want the chili heat to hit you first, with the sugar rounding out that fire, and enough salt to make everything pop. Serve with raw or cooked vegetables, with fruit, over eggs, on a savory yogurt bowl, in a dosa, or sprinkled on buttered roti.

This recipe was excerpted from ‘Start Here' by Sohla El-Waylly, one of our top cookbooks of 2023. Buy the full book on Amazon.