Ellipaya Karam ~ Garlic Dry Chilies Powder

Ellipayalu, ellipayalu, ellipayalu!! I could not think or go past ellipayalu for 'E'. Ellipayalu or elligaddalu are garlic. If you are following my blog regularly you would know how liberal I am with it’s usage!

Before going any further, let me warn you, today's post is loaded with pictures, a total of 8. There are times when I struggle to get a decent picture for a post and then there are times like today where I have tons (exaggeration) to share. I took the pictures for this post this past weekend and after sorting them, I felt I did not get a single picture that featured ellipaya karam as the star of the photo. So yesterday I took another set of photos, resulting in flood of photos to for today. The first 4 pictures are from yesterday's shoot and the rest are from the weekend. Pardon me for loading the post with so many pictures.

Ok, now back to 'E' for Ellipayalu. One of my favorite condiments also happens be a garlic based condiment, ellipaya Karam or ellipaya miram. Ellipaya is garlic and karam or miram is spicy. There are n number of ways to make ellipaya karam but the basic version is mixing together chili powder (mirapodi or karapodi), salt and crushed garlic. The most favorite condiment with this humble bulb is crushed ellipayalu with chili powder, salt and butter which goes very well with roasted corn on the cob. Since roasting corn on the cob is a messy job in mordern kitchens, I usually boil the cob or roast the kernels. Ellipaya karam with steaming rice & dollop of ghee is also a simple comfort food in winters. Another version of ellipaya karam is with coconut which I already posted here.

When looking for dishes with E, most of my searches were for recipes with ellipayalu and I even considered concocting a pickle recipe with garlic cloves. Then I found a video for ellipaya karam which is different from how I usually prepare and is a good home remedy for sore throat.

When I first made this karam I was unsure of the taste. Karam was very spicy and had a very strong garlic flavor. I let it sit for few days and did not even take pictures as I was not totally happy with the out come of the recipe. When I tasted it 3-4 days later, I started liking it. I also started adding a bit to curries and marinades. This is a versatile powder that can be eaten with rice and can also be added to curries and marinades to enhance the spice levels and flavor of the dish.

As I mentioned, I was unsure if I wanted to share this recipe. The first day I made the karam, my stomach was on fire. I added a bit too much of garlic and red chilies. However, as the video claimed it is a perfect home remedy for sore throat and to clear congested sinuses. Couple of days later the flavor of garlic blended into to the karam. It was not as strong as it was on first day and I started liking it. Though I made the karam almost 3-4 weeks ago, I clicked the pictures only this past weekend.

One of the ingredients for the karam is flax seeds. Since I didn't have any on hand, I didn't use. Since the karam was too spicy, I divided the karam into two bowls and add ½ teaspoon each of roasted chana dal, urad dal and moong dal powders to one bowl. This reduced the spice a bit but to be honest, I could not decide which one I liked the most. For milder heat, use flax seeds or substitute it with mixture of dals and for an extra spicy karam, just leave out the flax seeds and the extra 1 teaspoon each of dal mixtures.

Here are a few ingredients and dishes that start with letter ‘E’.
Spices:
Endu Mirapakayalu - Dry Red Chilies
Fruit:
Eethakaya - Wild Date Fruit
Elakkaya - Wood Apple / Elephant Apple
Other Ingredients:
Endu Royyalu - Dried Prawns
Dishes:
Elakkaya pachadi, endu royyala koora (curry with dried prawns)

Source: here
Preparation: 10 - 15 minutes plus time to cool roasted ingredients

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp. Senagapappu ~ Chana Dal
• 1 tbsp. Minapappu ~ Urad Dal
• 1 tbsp. Pesarapappu ~ Moong Dal
• 1 tsp. Flax Seeds (I skipped it. Can substitute ⅓ teaspoon each of chana, moong and urad dal)
• ½ tsp. Miriyalu ~ Black Peppercorns
• ½ tsp. Jilakara ~ Jeera ~ Cumin Seeds
• 8 - 10 medium - long Endu Mirapakayalu ~ Dry Red Chilies (adjust to taste)
• 35 - 40 Karivepaku ~ Curry Leaves
• ½ tsp. Pasupu ~ Turmeric Powder
• 1 tbsp. Salt (adjust to taste)
• 8 - 10 medium to large Ellipayalu ~ Garlic Cloves, approximately 2 - 3 tbsp.)

Preparation:

• Break chilies into two pieces and keep aside.
• Dry roast chana dal, urad dal and moong dal separately until light brown and let cool.
• Dry roast flax seeds if using.
• Dry roast black peppercorns and keep aside.
• Roast cumin and let cool.
• Dry roast red chilies keeping aside the chili seeds. Once the chilies are almost roasted, add chili seeds and roast. Turn off the heat and add curry leaves to the same pan. Curry leaves will dry up to the heat. Let cool completely.
• Take dals, flax seeds if using, peppercorns, cumin seeds in a coffee grinder or a mixie and grind to powder.
• Add dry chilies, curry leaves, turmeric powder, salt and grind again to powder.
• Add garlic cloves and grind again to blend all the ingredients.
• If one does not have a Indian mixie like me, powder dry ingredients in a spice grinder, crush garlic separately and mix dry powder to garlic and mix well. Or crush garlic in a wet/dry grinder, added dry powder mix and run it again to mix together garlic and dry powder.
• Transfer to an airtight container. This powder stays fresh for almost a month at room temperature.
• Serve rice powder with steaming rice with a dollop of ghee or oil.

Note:

• Adjust red chilies to taste. For a milder karam, add 8 chilies and more for a spicy karam. The same with garlic. For a more garlic flavor, add more garlic.
• If the karam is spicy for your taste buds, dry roast mixed dals (chana, moong & urad), grind to powder and mix it with the karam. If the karam is not spicy enough, dry roast a red chili or two, powder it with or without garlic and mix it to the karam. Spices levels can be adjust to taste even after preparing the karam.
• Though this karam is meant to be eaten with steaming rice and dollop of ghee~clarified butter or oil, adding it to curries can enhance the flavor. I added one teaspoon of it to chicken shorva and sprinkled some on beans stir fry few minutes before taking it off the flame. I have also added some of the karam to grilled chicken and fish marinades.

Events: This post also goes to A-Z Challenge for day 5, letter 'E'.

So far in this A-Z Journey Through Telangana Cuisine,
A for Attu Tunukala Koora
B for Biyyapattlu
C for Chegodi
D for Dondakaya Barada