Basics - Sambar Powder

I have just discovered the joys of freshly ground spice powders.  And it has been a few months now since I stopped buying the readymade ones.  The sambar powder here is from Meenakshi Ammal's Samaithu Paar - which in her English version has been quite simply translated to Cook and See.  The book was gifted by my father in law 30 years ago, when he moved into our home.  I guess he thought he would introduce tamil cuisine to me subtly through this book.  The ploy worked.  The book is now dog-eared and some pages are close to tatters.

I generally make only small quantities of the recipe that will last me for a fortnight.  And if you are not the sort to weigh ingredients use a tablespoon ( 15 gms) and teaspoon ( 5 gms) as a measure.

Dry Red chilies - 350 gms ( you could even substitute this with good quality chilie powder)
Coriander seeds - 350 gms
Pepper pods - 45 gms
Turmeric - 25 gms
Bengal gram dal (Channa) 60 gms
Red gram dal (Tuvar) - 150 gms

Dry roast ingredients individually if you are making large quantities. Till you get  the lovely aroma of the ingredients.  Cool and then grind to fine powder.

Proceed to make the sambar!