Kuzhambu

A tamarind broth with fenugreek and toor dal, thin as a broth or thick as a gravy.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons thick tamarind paste
• 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
• 2 teaspoons fenugreek seeds
• 2 tablespoons toor dal
• 6 dried red chillies
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 40 g fresh coconut, grated
• 300 g mixed vegetables: drumstick, aubergine, okra
• 1 onion, sliced
• 20 curry leaves
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon asafoetida
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3 tablespoons sesame oil
• 700 ml water

Method

1. A TAMARIND BROTH WITH FENUGREEK AND TOOR DAL, THIN AS A BROTH OR THICK AS A GRAVY. Its article gives the base exactly and then leaves the consistency open: kuzhambu is BASED ON A BROTH MADE WITH TAMARIND, A BLEND OF SPICES THAT INCLUDE GROUND CORIANDER SEEDS, FENUGREEK, AND TOOR DAL, AND CAN INCLUDE FRESH OR DRIED VEGETABLES, BLENDED FRESH COCONUT, OR DRIED LENTIL BALLS (VADAGAM). IT CAN BE MADE WATERY LIKE A BROTH OR THICK LIKE A GRAVY.
2. THE FENUGREEK AND THE DAL ARE IN THE SPICE BLEND, NOT THE POT. That is the detail worth catching: the toor dal is roasted and ground with the coriander and fenugreek, so it thickens and flavours at once rather than being a lentil you can see.
3. ROAST THE BLEND DRY AND IN ORDER. Coriander seeds and dal three minutes, chillies and pepper one, fenugreek last for twenty seconds. Fenugreek burns before anything else and burnt fenugreek is bitter rather than aromatic.
4. GRIND IT WITH THE COCONUT AND A LITTLE WATER. A thick paste. This is the dish's body and there is no other thickener in it.
5. TEMPER MUSTARD, ASAFOETIDA AND CURRY LEAVES IN SESAME OIL. Sesame oil rather than any other -- it is the Tamil base and the dish tastes wrong without it.
6. VEGETABLES IN, THEN THE TAMARIND WATER, THEN THE PASTE. Drumstick first since it takes longest, then aubergine, then okra. Fifteen minutes before the paste goes in.
7. SIMMER IT TWENTY MINUTES AND DECIDE HOW THICK YOU WANT IT. The article allows either. Thin, it is poured over rice; thick, it is spooned beside it.
8. ITS ARTICLE NOTES WHAT IT IS CALLED ELSEWHERE. In Telangana and Andhra Pradesh kuzhambu is called PULUSU and in Karnataka SAARU, and the dish is eaten as a side for rice across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and northern Sri Lanka.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes