Gun Powder Recipe (Paruppu Podi)

Say Hello to this edible Gun Powder, a popular hot and spicy lentil condiment from South India. If you have ever been to a South Indian home or a restaurant, most likely you would have fallen in love with this traditional condiment. Gun Powder is a blanket term used to refer a delicious lentil powder that explodes hot and spicy flavors in your mouth.

My version goes by the name Kandi Podi in Telugu and Paruppu Podi in Tamil and is made with various kinds of lentils, chilies, cumin seeds and garlic. If stored well this gunpowder masala keeps good for 2 to 3 months at room temperature. It is oil-free, gluten-free, 100% plant based and is easily customizable to your preference.

This spicy and hot condiment can spice up any boring meal. It can be served in many ways – mixed with hot rice and ghee, or with any flavored rice dishes. Simply sprinkle on any kind of stir fry or salads to instantly boost the flavors. Sky is the limit! Get creative and eat it with just anything, when you want a spicy blast.

About Gun Powder Recipe

South Indians often stock different kinds of podi (spiced condiments) and pickles to be served on the side with traditional meals. Idli podi, Curry leaves podi, Peanut podi, flaxseed podi and this kandi podi are some which I make on repeat. There are so many more with plenty of delicious flavors like sesame powder and nalla karam which are lesser known.

At home we eat this spicy gun powder with breakfast dishes like upma, semiya, quinoa, Idli, dosa and uttapams. A lot of times we also sprinkle it over boiled eggs and eat them. Any time I find a stir fry or sauteed veggie to be bland, this gun powder comes to my rescue. On the lazy weeknights, we also serve this as a side with a simple lemon rice, curd rice or rasam-rice.

Traditionally this condiment is made with just toor dal, red chilies, cumin seeds, garlic and salt. Kandi is the Telugu name for pigeon peas (whole with skin and skinless split) and podi translates to powder. So toor dal aka pigeon peas is the main ingredient in this gunpowder.

This lentil most often has a slight bitter aftertaste, so the modern versions include chana dal (Bengal gram), moong dal or roasted chana dal (fried gram). I personally prefer to include curry leaves because it aids digestion. This recipe will make the exact same podi you find in Andhra restaurants (if you use the roasted chana dal).

Ingredients & Substitutes

• Lentils – Use a combination of toor dal, moong dal and chana dal for best flavors. However you may substitute one with the other but the flavors change a bit & still tastes good. Using urad dal in this version, will produce somewhat similar to the Idli Podi/ Milagai Podi. If you do not have all of them use only red lentils (split skinned masoor dal). I know red lentils are the least used in South Indian cuisine but they work here.
• Red Chilies – I use Byadgi or Kashmiri red chilies which are medium to low heat here. But for a spicy and more hot flavors, use something like Guntur or other kind of hot chilies. You may substitute the whole chilies with 1 tablespoon red chili powder. For a low heat option, I also deseed the chilies before toasting them.
• Cumin seeds – I prefer to toast my cumin seeds for a nutty flavor and extended shelf life. Traditionally a lot of people add raw cumin seeds but I haven’t tried it in this recipe.
• Garlic – It adds flavor and the traditional version uses raw garlic. But I prefer to toast it to cut down the pungent flavor and to extend shelf life. You may substitute it with sonti/ saunt/ dried ginger but using too much can make your gun powder taste bitter.

If you love different flavor profiles, check out my variation section below. For more podi recipes check out these
Curry Powder
Idli Podi
Curry Leaves Podi
Flaxseed Podi
Peanut Podi
Chai Spice Powder

Photo Guide

How to make Spicy Gun Powder

It is very important to roast the ingredients separately as mentioned below for thorough roasting. Under cooked lentils will leave a bitter and raw flavor in the podi.

Preparation

1. Measure the following ingredients and keep them ready before you begin to dry roast the ingredients.

• 100 grams – ½ cup toor dal (split pigeon peas or use ¼ cup each toor & moong dal/ yellow skinned moong lentils)
• 50 grams – ¼ cup chana dal (Bengal gram or substitute with roasted chana dal/ fried gram)
• 10 dried red chilies (20 grams, I use byadgi, deseed if required)
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds (7 grams) 
• 4 medium garlic cloves (5 grams, peeled)
• 1 to 2 sprig curry leaves (optional, pat dry with kitchen paper to remove moisture)
• ½ to ¾ teaspoon sea salt (adjust to taste, start lower amounts, using too little salt can cut down the shelf life)

2. Add red chilies to a heavy bottom pan and dry roast them on a medium heat, until they begin to smell pungent and become slightly crisp. Do not burn. Remove to a cooling plate.

3. Add toor dal and roast on a medium heat until aromatic and evenly roasted to a golden brown color. Keep stirring non-stop else they won’t cook evenly from inside.

4. It takes about 6 to 7 mins. Here is a close look at the lentils. Do not burn. Transfer to the same plate, away from the chilies.

5. Repeat roasting chana dal the same way.

6. This is how they look. Transfer to the plate.

7. Dry roast curry leaves and garlic for 3 to 4 mins until the leaves turn crisp. Add cumin seeds and toast until aromatic. This should take a minute. Stir in the salt and let cool down completely.

Make Paruppu Podi

8. Grind the chilies, garlic, curry leaves, salt and cumin seeds to a fine powder.

9. If you don’t deseed the chilies, it may not become very fine and it’s alright to proceed.

10. Add the lentils and grind as fine as possible, in intervals, scraping the sides as required.

11. You won’t get a super fine powder due to the lentils, a very little grainy texture is what is preferred here. You need to achieve a balance between the fine and grainy textures.

Cool down completely and store the gunpowder in a air tight steel or glass jar. Serve it as a side in your South Indian meal. It can be mixed with hot rice and ghee and eaten at the start of the meal.

Variations

• You may add pepper corn and cut down chilies a bit. This produces a more peppery flavor.
• Using different kind of chilies produces a gunpowder with different flavor profile. Button chilies, mathania chilies, guntur chilies etc are some you may try out with.
• Adding 2 tablespoons of deep roasted coriander seeds to this will impart a different flavor.
• You may use toor dal (or moong dal), chana dal and white sesame in equal quantities. Make sure the sesame is not gone rancid. With the addition of sesame, the shelf life reduces to 1 month.

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