The other day I was returning after dropping the husband at his work place. The weather was just the way I like it - cloudy, threatening to rain although not meaning it, the scent of wet ground wafting through, helped by the blowing breeze. Overcast clouds energise me. So I had this window down and driving along with A R Rahman playing merrily in my car. At a signal, another car was closely by and I saw this elderly woman moving her head to ARR's tunes. Our eyes met and she asked me for the album since she liked it! Such scenes are rare in America esp. at a traffic light! That's has to be the musicians credit, I guess :) Any tamilian with even a little interest in movies would surely remember this pic. A pic of Actress shalini biting off a red chilli - from the movie Alaipayuthey in Pachai Niramey song - This was the song I was listening to.

Talking of red chillies, today's recipe is also all about red chillies. The hotness of dish is of special significance with people in South of India - we like our dishes not very spicy but hot ( pls. note the difference between spicy and hotness). I love to eat food with lots of heat and i especially love this Idli powder called Milaga Podi where Milaga stands for "Chilli" and Podi stands for "Powder". This chilli powder is not same as the ones you get at the stores under that name. This one has a blend of lentils and that which is most often enjoyed with typical South Indian dishes like Idli's and Dosa's At one point I was so crazy about it that I used to have it with E V E R Y T H I N G - even curd rice! The recipe is immensely simple and quick to make