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 Vatha Kuzhambu and I can slowly start seeing hints of it in me. My boys love Vatha kuzhambu and there favorite is the Pumpkin Vathal Kuzhambu. This Vengaya Vatha 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 delicious. That solves my problem with left overs as no one minds eating this Vengaya Vathal Kuzhambu again the next day or couple of days later. But that brings the other problem, I can never have enough to store for leftovers!
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 minutes
Cooking time – 45 minutes
Difficulty 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 tbsp (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 tsp (optional)
- Curry leaves – few
- salt – to taste
- Jaggery – a small piece
Procedure to make Vengaya Vatha Kuzhambu –
- 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 oil of your choice.
- Add the mustard seeds and let it crackle. Then add the toor dal, red chilies and vendhayam (fenugreek seeeds) and fry for about 15 seconds.
- Add the chopped onions and saute it 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 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 tbsp 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!
Vengaya Vathal Kuzhambu
Ingredients
- 3 inch Tamarind as big as a large lemon
- 1 cup Onion finely chopped
- 4 tbsp Gingelly oil can use any other oil as well
- 1 tsp Mustard seeds
- 2 tsp Tuvaram Paruppu / toor dal
- 4 Red chilies
- 1 tsp Fenugreek seeds / vendhayam
- 3 tbsp Sambhar powder
- 1 tsp Rice flour optional
- few Curry leaves
- to taste salt
- 1 tsp Jaggery
Instructions
- 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 oil of your choice.
- Add the mustard seeds and let it crackle. Then add the toor dal, red chilies and vendhayam (fenugreek seeeds) and fry for about 15 seconds.
- Add the chopped onions and saute it 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 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 tbsp 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!
Notes
Expert tips and FAQ's
- Use good quality tamarind for the best result. Fresh tamarind works better than tamarind paste.
- The more the kuzhambu simmers, the better it tastes.
- Drumsticks, vegetable preserves, radish or any such vegetable can be used instead of onions.
- Small onions or pearl onions gives the kuzhambu the best flavor.
- The kuzhambu is best when served with hot rice and dollop of ghee.
Deepa says
Awesome recipe! Exactly what I’ve been looking for… thanks so much for sharing your recipe. I’ve tried it twice already and it’s a hit at home!
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Deepa, thanks a lot for your feedback. I am so happy that the recipe works well for you. It is one of my favorite as well.