Chettinad Masala Powder

Chettinad cuisine is one of the best cuisine of Tamil Nadu, India, with a variety of spices. Chettinad dishes are spicy and pungent with fresh ground masalas. Most of the Chettinad dishes are eaten with rice and rice-based accompaniments such as dosas, appams, idiyappam, and idlis. Nowadays hotels serve most of the non-vegetarian dishes from this cuisine, no meal is complete without a Chettinad dish. 

I have prepared the pillar for the Chettinad cuisine, the great Chettinad masala powder. You can store this powder for up to 2 months in an airtight container. The quantity which I have mentioned below will make a powder of about 50-75grams. This is more than enough for 2 months of cooking. Be sure you don't use any wet spoon to this powder. When you are preparing any Chettinad recipes, this powder will play a vital role in bringing out the exact flavors of Chettinad cuisine. 

Ingredients

• Cinnamon - 2 sticks 
• Green cardamom - 12 nos 
• Star anise - 1 no 
• Cloves -12 nos 
• Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp 
• Black pepper - 3 tsp 
• Cumin seeds - 2 tsp 
• Coriander seeds - 5 tsp 
• Fennel seeds - 4 tsp 
• Mustard - 1 tsp 
• Dry red chilly - 15 nos 

1. Heat a pan, add cinnamon sticks, green cardamom, star anise and cloves. dry toast all these for 2 minutes in low flame
2. Then add all other ingrediants, except the dry red chilies. Roast for another 5 minutes. 
3. Add the dry red chilly and roast for 2minutes. 
   
4. Keep this roasted spices in a plate till it cools down 
5. In a mixer, put the spices and grind into a coarse powder. 
6. After the powder cools down, store it in an airtight container.