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Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Vendakkai Puli Kulambu | Okra Kara Kuzhambu | Puli Kulambu

Vendakkai Puli Kuzhambu, a delicious tamarind based curry made with vendakkai/okra. It's such a simple recipe but the flavor and the taste are amazing. Tastes best with the steamed rice and if i had any leftover curry from lunch, i like to have it with dosa for dinner :-)

Amma makes puli kuzhambu with different vegetables and each vegetable gives unique flavor to the kulambu. Brinjal, drumstick, okra and pearl onions are the most common vegetables used in the puli kuzhambu .

Either with any one of these vegetables or with a combination of two or more also , you can make this puli kulambu following the same procedure that i have mentioned here.

Sometimes she makes this puli kulambu with pearl onions & garlic and in the end she adds a few paruppu vada or masala vada in the kulambu & switch off. We call it "Vada Kulambu" and the vadas soaked in puli kulambu tastes so great & it's our family favorite too.

It's truly a life saver recipe when you're out of vegetables and still you wanna have a hearty lunch. So with one simple recipe, you can make so many varieties of curry depends on what you add in it .

Related: How to make Masala Vadai

Are the puli kulambu and the kara kulambu the same ?

Puli Kuzhambu is a tamarind based curry ( puli means tamarind in tamil). Kara Kuzhambu means spicy curry (kara loosely means "spicy" in tamil) and it's also a tamarind based curry but in some places, it's made with tomatoes alone for sourness.

Additionally, in some places, coconut masala is used for making these curries whereas in some other places, a small amount of jaggery is used to balance the sourness and hotness and the coconut masala is skipped totally.

So, puli kuzhambu and kara kuzhambu are more or less the same curry with little bit of variations across different regions in Tamilnadu. But both the names are easily interchangeable in many places as far as i know.

Vendakkai Puli Kuzhambu

Preparation Time : 30 mins for soaking | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 2
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: India

Ingredients

Vendakkai/Okra- 7

Pearl onion - 4

Tomato -1

Tamarind - small gooseberry size

Mustard - 1/4 tsp

Split urad dal- 1/4 tsp

Fenugreek Seed - 1/4 tsp

Curry leaves - few

Salt - to taste

Red chili powder -1/2 tsp

Sambar powder / Coriander Powder - 1 & 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder -1/4 tsp

Oil - 1 tbsp

To grind

Grated coconut - 1/4 cup

Peal onion - 2

Garlic pods - 2

Cumin seed- 1 tsp

Procedure

Soak tamarind for 1/2 hr, wash and cut the okra into 1/2 inch pieces and tomato into small pieces. Peel the onion and keep it ready. Put all the ingredients listed under "To grind" into mixie jar and grind into smooth paste. Heat the kadai with oil.

Add mustard, urad dal and fenugreek seed , let the mustard splutter, add onions and curry leaves.Then add the okra and saute it in oil for 3-4 mins.

Add tomatoes and extract the tamarind juice from the soaked tamarind pulp and add into the kadai.Then add the spices (turmeric, red chili & sambar powder) & salt.

Now add the coconut paste and add the water according to your preferred consistency. Let it comes to boil. Keep the flame in medium till the oil floats on top.

Tangy and tasty Vendakkai Puli Kulambu is ready to serve.We had it with rice and potato podimas

Related : How to make Vatha Kulambu

Related : More South Indian Curries / Kuzhambu varieties

Notes:

Saute the okra/vendakkai in oil helps to remove the sliminess of the okra.
Instead of sambar powder, you can use the coriander powder too.
My sambar powder doesn't have more chilies, if your's have, then adjust the amount of chili powder accordingly.
The color of the curry depends on the red chili powder color. So use bright red chili powder for vibrant color.

Related : Vendakkai Thayir Pachadi

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Vadai Kulambu | Masala Vadai Kuzhambu

Vadai Kulambu, a spicy and tasty tamarind based curry from South India. Masala Vadai kulambu is nothing but a puli kulambu/kara kulambu with masala vadai in it. The masala vadai added in the kulambu gives great flavor to the kulambu in addition the soaked vadai also tastes awesome. Both puli kulambu and vadai on its own are great but together it's amazing !

It's one of my go to kulambu recipe when i'm out of vegetables or bored of vegetables. Besides in our family we like to add this kulambu to the rice and keep the vadai as side for our lunch, so no need to make extra poriyal or sides as mandatory :-)

Back in days, in our home town, Tiruneveli, around noon, a grandma used to sell vadai. So people in our area who're looking for a change in their routine cooking would wait for her to buy some vadai to add it in the puli kulambu or mor kulambu. How simple is that, right?

Masala Vadai or Paruppu Vadai

In this kulambu, both masala vadai and paruppu vadai can be added. Masala vadai is usually made from split yellow peas and more spices whereas paruppu vadai is made from chana dal (gram dal)with less spices. Though it has slight variations, in many places, the names are easily interchangeable so it's up to you which vada you prefer in the kulambu

Here in today's recipe, i have used masala vadai which is more crispier than the paruppu vadai and also it's my favorite.

Related: How to make masala vadai/Pattani paruppu vadai

Consistency of the Curry / Kulambu

While making the curry for vadai kulambu, make sure that the curry is little more watery than the preferred consistency of the curry . Because after adding the vadai, it will absorb a bit of curry so it eventually thicken after a while.

Otherwise you end up with kootu like consistency instead of curry. Lesson learnt from personal experience :-)

Related: How to make Pakoda kulambu

Vegetables

Usually while making curry for vadai kulambu, i prefer to avoid any vegetables, only made with some pearl onions and garlic. But if you prefer, you can add drumsticks, it will add more flavor to the curry.

Serving Suggestions

Usually i add only a half of the vadai into the kulambu and serve the rest as it is as sides for more variations.

Though i prefer to make this curry for simple cooking, sometimes adding a poriyal/veggies and dessert would make this simple dish into delicious meal platter !!

Rice with vadai kulambu, rasam, beans poriyal & gulab jamun.

Vadai Kulambu | Masala Vadai Kuzhambu

Preparation Time : 1 hr | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 2
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

Garlic - 4 cloves

Onion - 1/4

Tomato -1(small)

Tamarind - small gooseberry size

Mustard & urad dal- 1/4 tsp

Fenugreek seed - 1/4 tsp

Curry leaves - few

Salt - to taste

Red chili powder -1/2 tsp

Coriander powder - 1 & 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder -1/4 tsp

Oil - 1 tbsp

Masala Vadai - 6

To grind

Grated coconut - 3 tbsp

Peal onion - 2

Garlic pods - 1 cloves

Cumin seed- 1/2 tsp

Procedure

Soak the tamarind in a 1/2 cup of water for 20 mins, peel the onion & garlic and chop them roughly into pieces, tomato into small pieces. Heat the oil in a kadai, add fenugreek seed, mustard & urad dal, let the mustard splutter, then add the onion,garlic and curry leaves.Saute the garlic in oil for 2-3 mins.

Add the tomatoes, give a quick mix & keep the flame in low. Then add the spices(turmeric, red chili & coriander powder),saute them in the oil for few mins. Make sure to not get burnt.

Extract the tamarind juice from the soaked tamarind and add into kadai.Put all the ingredients listed under "To grind" and grind into smooth paste by adding couple of tbsp of water.

Add the coconut paste into kadai. Next add the salt and bring into boil.

Let it boil until the raw smell goes off and oil floats on the top. Switch off the flame and add the vadai. Let it soak for few mins before serving

Related: How to make masala vadai

Tasty Vadai Kuzhambu is ready to serve. Serve it with steamed rice.

Related: South Indian Kulambu Varieties

Notes:

The vadai has already salt in it, so be careful while adding salt in the kulambu
Sesame oil gives great flavor to this kulambu, so if you have it in stock, use the sesame oil instead of flavorless oil

Friday, February 3, 2017

Idi Puli Kuzhambu | Puli Kuzhambu with freshly ground spice

Idi puli Kuzhambu(இடி புளிக்குழம்பு ), a spicy & tangy curry made with freshly ground spice powder. Idi means "pound" and puli kuzhambu means "tangy curry" in tamil, so it roughly means tangy gravy with freshly crushed spices.

Idi Puli Kulambu and Idi Sambar are the most famous dish among certain families/communities in Tirunelveli District,Tamilnadu and it's really hard to find this recipe outside of that region.

In my childhood days, I had seen my aachi(grandma) use the big mortar & pestle(about 2 feet) to ground the masala for this curry. Though she had ammi(another kitchen tool to grind masala) in the kitchen, she never used that for this kulambu.

She always prefer the ural and i still remember her words "ural-a idikurathu mathiri varathu" that means "the texture we got from pounding the spices in mortar & pestle is quite unique and we cannot achieve it from any other kitchen tools''.

But today i have used mixie to ground spice and still it tastes so good and the fresh aroma of the spices brings the lingering thoughts of my childhood💭.

Related: How to make murugakkai Kara kulambu

Idi Puli Kuzhambu

Preparation Time : 30 mins | Cooking Time : 25 mins | Serves : 4
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Tamarind - a goose berry size
Mixed vegetables - 1 cup
Tomato(small) - 1
Pearl onion -3
Garlic -2
Curry leaves - few
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard & urad dal -1/2 tsp

To dry roast & grind
Red chili - 4 to 5
Coriander seed - 2 tsp
Chana dal - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Cumin seed - 1/2 tsp
Whole peppercorns - 1 tsp
Coconut - 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp
Garlic - 3
Pearl onion - 3

Procedure

First soak the tamarind for alteast 1/2 hr. Then measure and take all the ingredients for dry roast.

Heat a pan, add red chili,coriander seed,chana dal,urad dal,cumin seed & peppercorns and roast till nice aroma comes from it and also it slightly changes its color.Remove from the heat and transfer to the plate and let it cool completely.

Then in the same pan, add coconut, garlic and pearl onion and roast till the coconut starts to change its color.Switch off the flame and keep aside. Now chop all the veggies into thin strips.I have used carrot,beans,potato,colocasia,brinjal,broad beans here.Peel the onions & garlic and chop into half and tomato into small pieces.

Heat the sauce pan/kadai with oil, add mustard & urad dal, let the mustard splutter,then add the onions,garlic & curry leaves.Once the onions becomes traslucent, add the veggies(except brinjal and tomato).

Saute the veggies in the oil for 2 mins, then extract the tamarind juice from the soaked tamarind and add into the veggies.Let it comes to boil and then keep the flame in medium and allow the veggies to cook.

Once the veggies is half cooked, add the brinjal & tomato and cook all the veggies till it's becomes soft.

In the mean time, put the roasted ingredients(except coconut,garlic & onions) into mixie/blender jar and grind into smooth powder. Then add the coconut,garlic & onions and grind into a powder.

No need to add water while grinding, the moisture from onions & garlic is enough to make the sticky powder.Now add the spice powder & salt into the veggies.

Give a good mix and then add enough water and bring into boil.Keep the flame in medium till the oil separates on the top.

That's it finger licking Idi Puli Kulambu is ready.

Related: How to make Vatha kulambu

Notes:

Instead of adding all the veggies,you can make this curry with any one of veggies(like brinjal,drumstick or even with pearl onion alone).
If you have drumstick & raw banana, add it, it gives wonderful flavor, as i dont have on the day i prepared,so skip it.
As brinjal is cooked very fast,I added the brinjal once the other veggies are half cooked.
If you're using drumstick and raw banana, add it along with brinjal, those are all cooked very fast.
My aachi and amma cut the veggies into stripes for this curry, so i do the same,but you can chop as per your liking.
If the tanginess is more in the curry, add a piece of jaggery to balance.

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Garlic Onion Kara Kuzhambu | Poondu Kulambu

Garlic Kara Kuzhambu, a spicy and tangy tamarind based curry without any vegetables and coconut. It tastes great with steamed rice or even with idli and dosa.

In our home, for almost all curries, we add coconut paste , never once Amma made any curry without coconut. Back in India, Amma use atleast one whole coconut for our one day cooking. But now here , i'm trying to use one coconut for a week, because of limited availability of Indian coconut and our inexperience in choosing good one from the store.

Usually we bought two coconuts for a week and half the time, one would be spoiled and we realized that only when break the coconut and in order to avoid an another trip to Indian store, i manage to cook with the available coconut. You would have seen me using coconut & curry leaves in my kitchen, i have treat them as treasure 😜

Ok, now, back to the recipe, because of that coconut story , i have learned to make curries without coconut. To be honest, it was horrible at first, because of my inexperience to balance the spices.

With my repeated attempts, i have learned to make well balanced Kara Kuzhambu / Puli kulambu without any coconut. If you're trying for the first time, even with the exact measurement and procedure, you may end with terrible curry. Not because the recipe is wrong, you have to learn to balance the spices. Every brand of tamarind and chili powder differs in taste, so by practice, you will achieve it.

Like i always say, if i can make it, you can also :-) Now, let's check out the recipe

Garlic Kara Kuzhambu | Poondu Kulambu

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 2
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Tamarind - a gooseberry size
Pearl onion - 6
Garlic - 10 pods
Tomato(small) - 1
Curry leaves -few
Fenugreek Seed - 1/2 tsp
Red Chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Sambar powder - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1& 1/2 tbsp
Mustard & urad dal - 1/4 tsp
Jaggery - a small piece

Procedure

Saute till the onions become translucent, keep the flame in low and then add the spices(turmeric, red chili & sambar powder),saute them in the oil for few mins.

Then add the tomatoes, give a quick mix and add salt.

Extract the tamarind juice from the soaked tamarind and add into kadai and add more water to your preferred consistency.

Let it boil until the raw smell goes off and finally add the jaggery pieces. Cook it for few more mins and switch off the flame.

Delicious Kara Kuzhambu is ready.

Notes:

Keep the flame in low when adding the spices,otherwise it will be burnt easily.
Adding the spices in the oil gives enhanced flavor to the kuzhambu.
Sambar powder that i have used here is home made and haven't had any chilies in it. If your sambar powder has chili in it, reduce the chili powder and adjust to your taste.
Boil the curry till the consistency you prefer.

Thursday, September 5, 2019

Inji Puli | Ginger Pickle | Onam Sadya Recipe

Inji Puli, a delicious,tangy and spicy pickle made from ginger. It's one of the must dish in the sadya menu of onam festival.

Two years back, when we were in Houston, one of our friend invite us for onam feast at their home. That was my first onam feast, i was literally mind blown by the varieties of food that they offered on that day. From her only i came to know about this puli inji and beetroot pachadi.

Both are my absolute favorite and often make them at home as the accompaniment of our meal.

In our home, we make inji pachadi as the side dish of sothi kulambu, for me, this inji puli sounds so similar to that pachadi. Elders in our family always recommend to make and serve inji pachadi with sothi kulambu,since sothi kulambu has lot of coconut in it, the inji pachadi helps to aid digestion well.

Guess in sadya menu also, this inji puli is served for the same reason since sadya menu has so many varieties. Always wonder about how wise our ancestors are, the food and the combinations are not only tasty, they act as medicine for many times. Ok, with that thought, will check out the recipe for inji puli.

Inji Puli | Ginger Pickle

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 4
Recipe Category: Condiments | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Ginger - 1/4 cup
Tamarind - a lemon size
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Green chili - 4
Jaggery - 2 tbsp
Salt - to taste
To Temper
Coconut oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard & urad dal - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 spring
Red chili - 1

Procedure

First peel the ginger and cut into small pieces.

Next cut the green chili into small pieces.

Soak the tamarind in water for 20 mins. Heat the pan with coconut oil.

Add the ingredients listed under "To Temper" one by one, let the mustard splutter, then add the ginger and green chili.

Saute in the oil for 5 mins, then extract the tamarind juice from the soaked tamarind and add into the pan. Add turmeric and chili powder.

Next add the salt, mix it well and let it bring into boil. Once it starts to boil, lower the flame and let it simmer for 10-15 mins.

Finally add the jaggery and keep it in the flame for few more mins. Once the oil separates on the sides and the pickle thickens, switch off the flame.

Tasty Puli Inji is ready.

Related: How to make Inji Pachadi

Notes:

Adjust the chili powder and chilies as per your preferred taste. The given quantity has mild spice level
My green chili has very mild spice level.
Using coconut oil gives great flavor to this recipe. But you can also use sesame seed oil.
Like hot spices, you can add more or less of jaggery as per your liking. Adding jaggery helps to balance the tanginess and hotness of the pickle.

Pages

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Are the puli kulambu and the kara kulambu the same ?

Vendakkai Puli Kuzhambu

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Masala Vadai or Paruppu Vadai

Consistency of the Curry / Kulambu

Vegetables

Serving Suggestions

Vadai Kulambu | Masala Vadai Kuzhambu

Friday, February 3, 2017

Idi Puli Kuzhambu

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Garlic Kara Kuzhambu | Poondu Kulambu

Thursday, September 5, 2019

Inji Puli | Ginger Pickle