Curry leaves powder is a dry chutney powder (a spiced condiment) from Andhra Cuisine. It is eaten as a side in a meal. Mix it with hot steamed rice and ghee. Or serve with idli or sprinkle over dosa and uttapam.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 30 minutes
  • Total time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Andhra

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (35 grams) curry leaves (tightly packed)
  • 1 tablespoon (14 grams) chana dal ((Bengal gram, split skinned chickpeas))
  • 1 tablespoon (14 grams) urad dal ((skinned black gram - whole or split))
  • 1 tablespoon white sesame seeds ((leave out if you don't have))
  • 1 tablespoon dried coconut (or unsweetened shredded coconut (omit for longer shelf life))
  • 3 to 4 dried red chilies (or as needed)
  • ¾ to 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (/ jeera)
  • 1 to 3 garlic cloves
  • 1 teaspoon (5 ml) Oil (or as needed to fry the curry leaves)
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt (or as needed)
  • 1½ cups rice
  • 2 to 2½ tablespoon curry leaves podi
  • salt (as needed)
  • ¼ cup roasted peanuts (or cashews as needed)
  • 2 tablespoons oil (or as needed)
  • 1 tablespoons lemon juice (or as needed (optional))

Method

How to make Curry Leaves Powder

  1. Clean and wash curry leaves in lot of water few times and dry them on a clean cotton cloth. You can even leave it for few hours to overnight, until they are moisture-free. (I have shared an alternate method to clean the leaves in the stepwise instructions in the post)
  2. Dry roast chana dal and urad dal until golden. When they are half roasted, add red chilies and fry until golden. (takes me 7 mins)
  3. Reduce the heat to low and add cumin, coconut and sesame seeds. Fry them until the seeds begin to sizzle. Remove and cool completely.
  4. On Stovetop: To the same pan, add oil and heat. Fry curry leaves until they turn crisp. (takes me 7 mins) Add the garlic to the hot pan and stir for a minute. Turn off and cool them.
  5. In Oven: Spread the curry leaves on 2 trays and place them in the oven in the middle and lower levels of your oven. Turn on the oven at 60 C (140 F) for 10 to 12 mins. The leaves turn crisp. This method doesn't need oil. Adjust the time as needed and remove them in time as they burn faster. The lower tray takes a little longer. So move it to the middle rack after 10 mins. You can add the garlic during the last 1 to 2 minutes to remove any moisture on the surface.
  6. Powder them together along with salt in a grinder/blender. Store curry leaves powder in an air tight glass jar and use as needed for idli, dosa, upma, oats or rice.
  7. To make curry leaves rice, cook 1 ½ cups rice and cool it completely. Add some roasted crushed peanuts, 2 to 2.5 tbsp curry leaves powder, little more salt and extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil or hot ghee.
  8. Mix the rice. Adjust the quantity of podi and oil as needed.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.