Kuzhambus- the gravies of South India.

I am giving 3 recipes – regular kaalan, kurukku kaalan which can be preserved in the fridge for 2,3 weeks & lastly a delicious version with coconut milk, which is a very unusual recipe, my friend gave me.

For kaalan, the sourer the curd is, the more authentic, the taste is.
Pepper powder, freshly made, is best.
For tempering, I prefer to use methi powder instead of methi seeds – this is personal preference.

1 – Regular kaalan

Sour curds - 2 cups

Chenai 1” cubes - 1 cup

Pepper powder - 1 tsp

Salt, haldi

Curry leaves

Grind to a paste with little curds:

Grated coconut - 1 cup ( can be a little more depending on the desired consistency )

Green chillies - 7,8 (or to taste)

To temper:

Coconut oil - 2 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Red chillies - 2,3

Methi seeds - ¼ tsp

Cook chenai with little salt, haldi & pepper powder in ½ cup water in a pressure pan, till soft.

Cool, open & add the ground paste.

Simmer ( do not boil) & add well churned sour curds (without adding water).

Do not allow to boil, remove when the mixture starts frothing.

Add the remaining salt, curry leaves dipped in little coconut oil & mix thoroughly.

Temper as given.

The consistency is thicker than regular morkuzambu.

This can be kept for 2,3 days.

Kurukku kaalan:

Collect sour curds over a period of few days.(*)

Grind to a paste red chillies, pepper & haldi.

Add this to the churned curds & boil till very thick.

This will take some time & be careful since the mixture may splash while boiling.

Since the curds are very sour, they will not break when boiling.

Precooked chenai cubes (in little water) can be added during boiling.

Add curry leaves & preserve in the fridge.

In this traditional recipe, I have introduced a small short cut.

In the step marked (*) – transfer the curds to a big curd strainer or to a thin cloth kept over a big strainer.

Allow it to drain thoroughly & to the collected mass of curds ( curd cream), add the paste of red chillies, pepper & haldi.

Boil as before, this will be very fast & there will not be any splashing.

On the days you want to use it, grind grated coconut, green chillies, a tiny pinch of jeera fine, add thick fresh curds churned well & necessary amount of the preserved thick kaalan.

Just warm the mixture – do not boil & temper as given earlier.

A tiny piece of jaggery added enhances the taste, but this is optional.

Now, I prepare this in MW in a big casserole easily. I am posting the photo below on the right side.

Special kaalan with coconut milk:

This is absolutely delicious !

Very sour curds - 2 cups

Medium coconut milk - 1 cup

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp ( or more to taste)

Salt, haldi.

Strain overnight the sour curds, as given above, in a curd strainer or over a thin cloth kept on a strainer.

Collect the curd cream & blend with coconut milk & keep ready.

Boil red chilli powder & haldi in ½ cup of water (or very thin coconut milk) till the raw flavour of chilli powder goes.

Add the mixture, salt & mix thoroughly.

Just heat the mixture for a few mts & remove before it boils.

Adding little jaggery is optional.

This is a less common, but very tasty version with the flavour & taste of coconut milk.
This photo is given below.

Puli kuthina porichakuzambu:

Cooked tur dhal - ½ cup

Cooked karamani(perumpayaru) - ¼ cup

Chopped brinjal or chenai - 2 cups

Tamarind paste - 2 tsp (or little less)

Roast in ½ tsp oil:

Red chillies - 5,6 ( or to taste)

Gram dhal - 1 tsp

Urad dhal - 1 tsp

Hing - ½ tsp

And grind with:

Grated coconut - ½ cup

To temper in 1 tsp oil:

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Curry leaves - few

Boil the vegetable with tamarind water, salt & haldi till soft.

Add precooked karamani& tur dhal.

When they boil well, add ground paste, simmer for a few mts & remove.

Temper as given.

Finely chopped keerai thandu can be also used for this.

General porichakuzambu:

This is very similar to mulakootal, but for this hing is added & this is not added to mulakootal.

This is one porichakuzambu prepared in some Thirunelveli families:

The vegetables, mainly yellow pumpkin, brinjal & one potato ( medium size cubes) are cooked with salt, haldi , cooked .tur dhal & sambar powder. No coconut is added. Yellow pumpkin, being a mushy vegetable binds without coconut.

Tempering is done with red chillies, mustard seeds, urad dhal & curry leaves.

The photo is given below.

Another type of poricha kuzambu is:

Cooked moong dhal + cabbage OR pudalangkai + fried pepper& urad dhal ground with raw jeera & coconut.

Tempering is done with mustard seeds, urad dhal & curry leaves.
Carrot porichakuzambu, knol khol porichakuzambu & kothavarangai porichakuzambu ( both to follow) belong to totally different categories !

In South Indian traditional cooking, the variety is endless!

This dish is a speciality of Thirunelveli.

Vegetables like brinjal, ladies’ finger, white pumpkin, snakegourd can be used, either singly or in combination.

They can be cut as for sambar.

Cut vegetables - 1 cup

Tamarind - 2 tsp

Salt, haldi

Red chillies - 5,6 ( or to taste)

Urad dhal - 1 tsp

Raw rice - 1 tsp

Seasame seeds ( ellu) - ½ cup (use less if this amount is high for your taste )

Oil - 2 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Curry leaves - few

Fry red chillies separately in a few drops of oil.

Fry urad dhal, rice & seasame seeds one by one in a dry kadai.

Powder them together.

Boil vegetables with tamarind paste, water,salt & haldi till soft.

Heat the oil, add mustard seeds, curry leaves & then the made powder.

Mix well & add to the gravy.

Simmer to boil & remove.
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There are many combinations to prepare this kuzambu.

Mango ( sour), tamarind,&sour buttermilk are used in various combinations.But grinding & tempering are the same for all.

Adjust the sourness to suit your taste.

The vegetables are chopped as for sambar.

1 – sour mango-white pumpkin morkuzambu:

Medium sour green mango chopped - ½ cup

White pumpkin chopped - ½ cup

Slightly sour curds - 1 cup

Salt, haldi

Coconut - ½ cup

To roast in 2,3 drops of oil:

Red chillies - 3,4

Green chilles - 3,4

Methi seeds - ½ tsp

To temper:

Coconut oil - 1 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Red chillies - 1,2

Methi powder ( or seeds) - ¼ tsp

Curry leaves

Boil the vegetables with part of the salt, haldi & 1 cup water.

Grind the roasted ingredients with coconut & minimum water to a fine paste.

When the vegetables are soft, add the ground paste & simmer.

Add the well churned curds, simmer till the mixture froths & remove.

Add remaining salt & stir for a few mts.

Temper as given.

2 – Tamarind & buttermilk

For this the same vegetables as for Pulingari can be used.

Mango is not necessary.

The vegetables are first boiled in thin tamarind water with salt & haldi, ground paste added & buttermilk should be added just before removing from fire.

The photo is given below.

3 – Sour mango & tamarind.

For this use only drumstick with raw mangoes.

4 – Sour mango – tamarind – buttermilk

For this use white pumpkin, drumstick with mango.

Since three sour ingredients are used, the combination has to be very judiciously done to prevent the kuzambu from becoming very sour.

Variation:

To give extra thickness, 1 tsp rice can be roasted & added when grinding.

As for morkuzambu, half the coconut can be substituted by freshly grated carrot.

Kabul channa - ½ cup

Onions - 2 – chop

Garlic - 10 pieces ( or to taste)

Tomatoes - 2 – chop

Tamarind paste - 2 tsp

Grated coconut - 3/4 cup

Chilli powder - 2 tsp

Dhaniya powder - 2 tsp

Salt, haldi

To temper:

Oil - 2 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Urad dhal - 2 tsp

Methi seeds - ½ tsp

Pepper - 1 tsp

Curry leaves - few

Wash, soak overnight & cook channa soft.

A few may be slightly mashed for a thick gravy - this is optional.

Drain & keep.

Add warm water to coconut & extract ½ cup thick milk & 1 cups thin milk.

In a pressure pan, heat oil & temper as given.

Now add chopped onions, garlic & chopped tomatoes adding one after the previous one is fried.

Add chilli powder, dhaniya powder, haldi & salt.

Add cooked channa, thin coconut milk & tamarind paste.

Close the cooker, put the weight & cook for one whistle.

Cool, open & add the first coconut milk.

Vegetables like white ashgourd, yellow ash gourd, avarakkai, clusterbeans, mochaiparuppu, snake gourd, raw banana, brinjal, chenaikizangu, cheppankizangu, koorkankizangu, sweet potato are best suited.

Next come carrot, potato & peas.

Avoid ladies’ finger, drumstick, bitter gourd etc.

Even though the no: is 7, you can add 9, 11 or even 13 vegetables !

Cut into cubes as for sambar.

Vegetables - 4 cups

Tamarind paste - 1 tbsp

Salt, haldi

Cooked tur dhal - ½ cup

To fry in 1 tsp oil & grind to a paste:

Red chillies - 5,6

Pepper - 1 tsp

Methi seeds - ½ tsp

Dhaniya - 3 tsp

Gram dhal - 2 tsp

Hing - 1 tsp

Grated coconut - 2 tbsp

To temper:

Oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Red chillies - 2,3

Curry leaves - few

Grated coconut - 2 tbsp

Boil vegetables in water to which haldi & salt are added.

When the vegetables are cooked soft, add the tamarind paste, cooked dhal & the ground paste.

Boil again & when the correct consistency is reached, remove & temper as given.

The coconut shlould become golden coloured.
Please go to
Pongal Kuzambu - step by step in pictures - 1
Pongal Kuzambu - Step by step Pictures - 2

Vegetables used are – yellow pumpkin, drumstick,white pumpkin, brinjal, chenai, snakegourd, banana, carrot, potato, cheppankizangu,sweet potato,avarakai,mochai paruppu etc.

Cut them as for sambar.

Cut vegetables - 4 cups

Tamarind paste - 1 tbsp

Salt, little jaggery

Roast dry without oil:

Khus khus - 1 tsp

Seasame seeds - ½ tsp

Roast in 1 tsp oil, one by one:

Tur dhal - 2 tsp

Gram dhal - 2 tsp

Urad dhal - 1 ½ tsp

Pepper - ½ tsp

Red chillies - 5,6

Methi seeds - ¼ tsp

Dhaniya - 2 tsp

Jeera - ½ tsp

Raw rice - 1 tsp

Grated coconut - 4 tbsp ( roast to golden colour)

To temper:

Oil - 2 tbsp

Mustarde seeds - 1 tsp

Roasted peanuts - 3 tbsp ( more is optional)

Curry leaves - few

Grind all roasted ingredients to a paste.

Boil the vegetables in enough water to which tamarind paste, salt & haldi are added.

When the vegetables are cooked soft, add the ground paste & jaggery.

When it starts boiling, adjust the consistency by adding little more water if necessary.

Temper as given.

This is an enjoyable side dish for Sakkarai pongal & ofcourse ven pongal, dosai etc.
kalasamelara kuzhambu.jpg

Urundai Morkuzambu:

For the urundai:

1 – same as for paruppurundai kuzambu

2 – a variation:

Gram dhal - ½ cup

Tur dhal - ½ cup

Red chillies - 4

Green chillies - 2

Salt, hing

Chopped curry leaves & coriander leaves - few

Coconut - 2 tbsp

Wash & soak dhals with red chillies for 2 hrs.

Drain well & grind to a coarse paste adding green chillies, salt & hing & minimum water.

Add coconut & curry leaves & coriander leaves .

Form into balls & steam for 7,8 mts.

Keep hot.

Make morkuzambu, your usual way without adding vegetables.

When it froths, add balls & switch off.

Bonda morkuzambu:

Soak ½ cup urad dhal in water in the fridge for 1 hour.

Then grind to a vada-like paste, adding both red & green chillies, salt & hing.

Heat oil to fry bondas.

Drop tiny balls in hot oil & remove when done ( do not make them crisp).

Drain & add to cold water to remove excess of oil.

Lightly squeeze & add to morkuzambu as given before.

It is not necessary to cook after the bondas are added.

In the traditional method molahashyam is made without using any dhal & using only raw banana & chenai (elephant yam). In some families, seppankizangu ( colocasia just 2,3 ) is used to give thickness since there is no dhal.

The vegetables, cut into bigger cubes than for kootu are boiled with haldi, salt & freshly ground pepper till the become very soft. The correct amount of water is added in the beginning itself & the vegetables cook in the same water.

No water should be added halfway through, which will decrease the taste.

Add curry leaves dipped in coconut. Tempering mustard seeds & jeera in ghee or coconut oil is optional.

I have slightly modified the recipe- using a combination of dhal & selected vegetables. The main difference between this & mulagootal is – this has no coconut, whereas, for mulagootal, coconut is a must.

The present method followed is given below:

Vegetables like chenai, banana, snakegourd, pachai karamani ( fresh chawli), avarakkai, drumstick, koorkankizangu, jackfruit seeds can be used.

The optional vegetables which are now a days used are carrot & white pumpkin.

Chopped vegetables - 3 cups

Moong dhal - 1/4 cup

Freshly powdered pepper - 1 tsp ( or more to taste)

( you can powder dry roasted red chillies with this , if you like it more hot)

Curry leaves - few

Salt, haldi

To temper:

Ghee or coconut oil - 1 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Urad dhal ( and or jeera) - 1 tsp

Coconut ( optional) - 1 tbsp

Wash & soak the dhal well in boiling water for 30 mts.

Cook the soaked dhal & vegetables with haldi for a while.

Then add pepper powder, salt & curry leaves & cook till the whole lot is cooked & the vegetables become soft.

Temper in coconut oil with mustard seeds & jeera. (urad dhal, if you are using it)

Coconut roasted to golden colour is also added.

If preferred, ghee can be used for tempering instead of coconut oil.

Serve hot.

Goes with rice, raitha & papadum.

Mangai vatral - 6 (available now in Departmental Stores)

Tamarind paste - 2 tsp

Fresh curry leaves - few

Salt

To roast in ½ tsp oil

Pepper - 1 tsp

Red chillies - 2,3 ( to taste)

Urad dhal - 2 tsp

Hing - ½ tsp

To temper:

Oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds - ½ tsp

Jeera - 1 tsp

Soak mangai vatral in hot water for 30 mts to soften.

Remove the kernels.

Grind the soaked soft vatral, tamarind paste, kernels ( optional), roasted ingredients & fresh curry leaves to a fine paste adding water.

In a vessel, heat oil & temper.

Add the paste with water & salt.

When it starts boiling, simmer to get the desired thickness.

If the vatral is very sour variety, adjust the tamarind paste amount suitably.

Since the vatral contains salt already, be careful when you add salt to the mixture.