VATHAL KUZHAMBU

VATHAL KUZHAMBU-I:

Soak a big lime sized tamarind in water for 1 hr and then extracts its thick juice. Heat a kadai and pour 2tbsp gingelly oil. When the oil becomes hot, add 1sp mustard seeds and when they are spluttering, add 1sp black grams, 2tbsp Bengal gram, 3 red chillies and some curry leaves. Fry for a few seconds and then pour the tamarind juice, half a spoon turmeric powder, 2tsp vathal kuzhambu podi and enough salt. Mix well and allow the kuzhambu to simmer for some minutes until the raw flavour disappears and the kuzhambu is slightly thickened.


VATHTHAL KUZHAMBU-III:

Soak a big lime-sized tamarind in water for 1 hour and then extract its thick juice. Heat a kadai and pour 4tbsp gingelly oil. When the oil becomes hot, add 1sp mustard seeds. When they splutter, add1sp black gram, 4 red chillies, and 1 spring curry leaves and fry well. Then add 1 cup of small onions and 4 slit green chillies. Fry for a few minutes and when the onions become soft, add a handful of mixed vathals like sundaikkai, avaraikkai, manaththakkaali, katharikkai etc. and fry for a few seconds. Pour the tamarind extract and add 2tsp chillipowder, 1sp turmeric powder, 4sp coriander powder and enough salt. Mix well. Let the kuzhambu simmer for sometime until it thickens fairly. Add ¼ cup of cooked thuar dal and 1tbsp chopped coriander leaves to the kuzhambu and mix well. Put off the fire.

KARUVADAGAM[கருவடகம்]

Karuvadagam is common in all parts of Tamilnadu. This is a combination of small onions, garlic fakes, fenugreek seeds, etc and making this is a long process. Usually this is being prepared in hot summer days. This karavadagam is used for making delicious chutney varieties and also used in meen kuzhambu. Old people will peel off kilos of sambar onions and garlic flakes before the preparation of this karuvadagam. This can be stored for years. I am keeping them in a glass jar. This is the third year and still I have some. Hopefully I will prepare this next year when I go to Thanjavur.





Ingredients:

Small onions-3 kg,
6 whole garlic pods,
Mustard seeds-200gms,
Fenugreek seeds-100gms,
Split black gram-250gms,
Cumin seeds-250grams,
Salt especially crystal salt-2 handfuls,
Castor oil-200ml.

Procedure:

Peel off the outer skins and chop onions and garlic finely.
Add all the other things with it.
These combined ingredients are always smashed in an ‘ural’ lightly.
Instead you can crush them in a mixi lightly so that they can be shaped into lemon sized balls.
Take care not to crush them in full force then the juice will ooze out.
Make the balls and place them all in a flat plate especially bamboo plate.
Dry them in hot sun.
In the evening, break all of them, add half of the castor oil, mix well and make balls again.
In the morning, place them on the plate and again let them dry on the heat of the sun.
Again in the evening do the same process using the other half portion of the castor oil.
These balls must be dried in the hot sun for 4 or 5 days until they are well dried.
Then you can store in ajar.
You can keep them for a whole year-even for more days.