This week I am blogging about different rice and gravy dishes and after blogging about one of my favorite recipes from Northern India - Rajma Masala, today I move on to my hometown. My mother was very famous for her Vathal Kuzhambu and I can slowly start seeing hints of it in me. My boys love Vatha kuzhambu and their favorite is the Pumpkin Vathal Kuzhambu. This Vengaya Vathal Kuzhambu is my favorite and even though I am a big fan of small onions, this particular recipe of Vengaya Vathal Kuzhambu, I like it with regular red onions. Anytime I make Vengaya Vatha Kuzhambu, my husband enjoys it for dinner rather than lunch as he says that the longer the Vengaya Vathal Kuzhambu sits, the deeper the flavors penetrate and it tastes even more delicious. That solves my problem with leftovers as no one minds eating this Vengaya Vathal Kuzhambu again the next day or a couple of days later. But that brings the other problem, I can never have enough to store for leftovers! A few notes before I go to the recipe. Make sure you extract juice from tamarind rather than using the paste. It definitely adds more flavor to the recipe. Also use gingelly oil if possible, as that adds to the flavor as well. I always add a bit of jaggery at the end and I would highly recommend it. Preparation time - 10 minutesCooking time - 45 minutesDifficulty level - easy
Ingredients to make Vengaya Vatha Kuzhambu - Serves 6 -8
Tamarind - as big as a large lemon Onion - 1 cup (finely chopped) Gingelly oil - 4 tablespoon (can use any other oil as well) Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Tuvaram Paruppu / toor dal - 2 tsp Red chilies - 4 to 5 Fenugreek seeds / vendhayam - 1 tsp Sambhar powder - 3 tbsp Rice flour - 1 teaspoon (optional) Curry leaves - few salt - to taste Jaggery - a small piece
Procedure
Soak the tamarind in 2 cups of hot water for about 15 minutes. Squeeze the pulp well and extract the juice. Add 2 more cups of water to the squeezed pulp and extract that water as well.
In a heavy bottom pan, heat the oil. I use gingelly oil for the flavor but feel free to use the oil of your choice.
Add the mustard seeds and let it crackle. Then add the toor dal, red chilies, and vendhayam (fenugreek seeds) and fry for about 15 seconds.
Add the chopped onions and saute them for about 2 to 3 minutes until they start to become aromatic.
Now add the sambhar powder and give it a quick mix. Add the extracted tamarind water along with the salt needed and curry leaves. Mix well and let it come to a boil.
Simmer the kuzhambu and let it cook for about 15 to 20 minutes.
Add the jaggery to the simmering kuzhambu at this stage.
Check the consistency of the kuzhambu. Depending on the quality of the tamarind, the kuzhambu could reach the desired thickness on its own, but sometimes we might need to add a little bit of rice flour emulsion to get it there.
If the kuzhambu is not to your desired consistency, then add a little rice flour which is mixed with about 4 tablespoon of water to the boiling kuzhambu and mix well. The kuzhambu will thicken and at this stage turn off the flame.
Cover the pan with a lid to retain the flavor of the kuzhambu. Serve with hot rice and ghee!
Other Kuzhambu Recipes
If you made this recipe and liked it, give a star rating on the recipe card or let me know in the comments below. You could also share it with me on Instagram using #MyCookingJourney and tagging me @sandhya.ramakrishnan. You could follow me and my recipes on Facebook |Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter/X
Recipe
