Veppampoo podi or Neem flower powder is the best way to include Neem flower in our diet. It is widely used in Indian cooking and has a lot of medicinal properties. It has a bitter taste. Its good to use fresh neem flowers in cooking. They are so small and it is a tedious job to collect them. We have a Neem tree in our home. My mom spread a clean cloth under the tree and leave it. The flowers that fall are collected on the cloth. She then patiently removes all the dust particles.
If we are going to use it immediately, then you can proceed in using it. But if you want to collect and store it for a long time, then sun dry it. My mom Sun dries these neem flowers and store it in a bottle. They stay for a long time. We can use this dried ones to make any recipe. Some of the recipes made with Neem flowers / veppampoo are Veppampoo rasam, Veppampoo thogayal, Veppampoo podi. It is also used in making the famous Pachadi on Tamil New Year.
Here I am making this recipe for A to Z recipe Challenge where the bloggers choose an ingredient with an alphabet and make a recipe out of this. This month it is letter ‘N’ and I choose Neem flower as an ingredient.
Please Check my other podi recipes
Dosai milagai podi / idli podi
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Veppampoo Podi / Neem flower powder
Equipment
- Mixie
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Channa dal - 2 tbsp
- 4 tbsp Toor dal - 4 tbsp
- 2 tbsp Urad dal - 2 tbsp
- 8 nos Bedigi chilli - 8 nos
- 1/3rd cup Neem flower / Veppampoo - 1/3 rd cup
- 1/4th cup Dried curry leaves - 1/4 th cup
- As req Salt - As req
Instructions
- Take a pan and add channa dal. Keep it in medium flame and roast it until they are golden brown. Once they turn golden brown, transfer it to a plate.
- In the same pan, add toor dal and roast it until golden brown and transfer to a plate.
- Then add urad dal and roast it in the same like we roasted the other two dal.
- Add red chilli (bedigi) and slightly roast it in low flame.
- Then add the dried neem flower and slightly heat it. There is no need to roast well.
- Now all the ingredients to be roasted are done.
- Along with this take dried curry leaves and the required amount of salt for this powder.
- Allow al the ingredients to cool and grind them to a fine powder.
- Veppampoo podi / Neem flower powder is ready.
- We can serve this with idli, dosai or with hot rice and a dollop of ghee.
Video
Notes
- If you are using fresh curry leaves, you have to sun dry or roast it to get rid of the moisture.
- I have used Bedigi chilli that gives beautiful colour to the powder but less spicy. So if using guntur chilli or any other spicy chilli, use less numbers.
Dried Neem flower
INSTRUCTIONS
- Take a pan and add channa dal. Keep it in medium flame and roast it until they are golden brown. Once they turn golden brown, transfer it to a plate.
- In the same pan, add toor dal and roast it until golden brown and transfer to a plate.
- Then add urad dal and roast it in the same way like we roasted the other two dal.
- Add red chilli (bedigi) and slightly roast it in low flame.
- Then add the dried neem flower and slightly heat it. There is no need to roast well.
- Now all the ingredients to be roasted are done.
- Along with this take dried curry leaves and the required amount of salt for this powder.
- Allow all the ingredients to cool and grind them to a fine powder.
- Veppampoo podi / Neem flower powder is ready.
- We can serve this with idli, dosai or with hot rice and a dollop of ghee.
Note
If you are using fresh curry leaves, you have to sun dry or roast it inorder to get rid of the moisture.
I have used Bedigi chilli that gives beautiful colour to the powder but less spicy. So if using guntur chilli or any other spicy chilli, use less numbers.
This recipe is a part of A to Z challenge, a challenge initiated by bloggers Jolly Makkar and Vidya Narayan on Facebook Group, wherein a group of bloggers come together and we choose key ingredients alphabetically to cook and post a dish every month. This month alphabet is ‘N’, so my contribution for this month is Neem flower Powder.
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OMG .. this is very healthy. How I wish I could get the Neem flowers to make this podi. It will taste so good with plain rice and ghee,
This is such a simple yet healthy recipe, Niranjana. Vepam Poo has so many health benefits that we tend to overlook in avoiding its bitter taste. A podi like this helps us include this bitter herb in our food easily.
Neem flower podi sounds so simple to make yet healthy and tasty. I can imagine the heavenly taste when served with rice and a dollop of ghee.
Thank you so much
That is surely an interesting ingredient to choose, and how healthy! Neem is always known for its goodness and contribution to health, and the podi looks so good…
Thank you Rafeeda 🙂
Such a classic recipe, delicious and healthy. I’d love to have this podi with rice and ghee.
Thank you Priya.. Same here, love with hot rice & ghee or gingelley oil.
Wow much needed recipe for this pandemic time. Loved your click and presentation. I would love to have it with hot steamed rice and ghee.
Thank you so much Sujatha di
Vepampoo podi looks very inviting and aromatic, niranjana ! we are huge fans of any podi , so am sure to make this soon -bookmarked !
This is such a healthy podi with neem flowers. Idli podi is always staple in our home. I would like to try this version sometime.
Do try it out sometime, you will like it
Podi is a great way to mask the taste of vepampoo especially for kids. A spoonfull of this podi with any breakfast dish or rice is absolutely delicious. Loved the recipe Niranjana.
Thanks a ton Vidya. Btw, nowadays whenever I make any type of podi or thogayal, I think about you. I know you are a grt fan of these. Interesting is you have made thogayal for the theme
An interesting recipe Niranjana, I’ve never used neem flowers in any of my cooking. Making a podi with the leaves and flowers seems a good place for a novice like me to start using the flowers. What a brilliant way to collect the flowers by putting a clean cloth to collect them when they fall.
Neem flowers has many health benefits but never used it in my cooking cozy its bitter taste, but simple pods recipe like this is a great option to include these flowers .
Do try it out Paarul. This is not so bitter when eaten as podi.
Wow, never knew that podi can be made out of neem flowers. Such an innovative idea to include neem in our diet. So rich in flavor and nutrition. Awesome post for the challenge
Thank you so much Anshu
Wow that’s such an interesting recipe Niranjana, I’ve never used neem flowers in any of my cooking. Making a podi with the leaves and flowers seems like a good idea. This looks an absolute yum, lovely recipe.
Thank you Jolly .
I see so many recipes with neem flowers but sadly don’t get here so that I can try.. this podi looks super inviting and can be used in so many versatile ways. loved your choice of neem flowers to make this podi.
Never tried neem flower in cooking but your post is tempting me to try out this healthy podi . I am definitely going to sundry the neem flowers next spring anduse it in my daily diet.
Thank you so much Poonam.
For years I have been using need oil for various home remedies, have eaten a lot of neem fruit. But never had the chance to try vepampoo. this podi sure is tempting. I will watchout for vepampoo when I see some this will be the first one to try.
Thank you Seema… Do try
Neem flower podi here sounds so simple to make. I can imagine
the flavor of this podi. Such a healthy and tasty share.
Thank you Sasmita
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