Ingredients
- Tamarind – A big gooseberry size or a small lemon size
- ***Sambar powder – 1 tsp
- Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
- Sundakkai / Dried Turkey berry – 10 nos
- Garlic – 10 – 12 flakes..
- Gingely oil – 2 tbsp
- Jaggery – a small piece
- Salt & water – as needed.
To Roast & Grind:
- Sesame oil – 2 tsp
- Mustard seeds – 1/8 tsp
- Fenugreek seeds – 1/4 tsp
- Jeera – 1/2 tsp
- Urad dal – 1/4 tsp
- Red chillies – 5 nos
- Coriander seeds – 1 tsp
- Toor dal / Thuvaram paruppu – 1.5 tsp
- Curry leaves – 1 small sprig ( 5 leaves)
- Grated Coconut – 1 tsp
To Saute:
- Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
- Small onion- 5 nos (finely chopped)
- Garlic – 3 flakes (finely chopped)
- Curry leaves – a sprig (finely chopped)
- Sesame Oil or cooking oil – 2 tbsp
Method:
- Soak tamarind in water for 15 mins and extract the juice from it using 1 cup of water.
- Add sambar powder,turmeric powder and salt to it..Keep aside.
- Heat oil in a kadai with 2 tbsp of oil and roast the turkey berries/sundakkai vathal till nice aroma arises. Remove and Set aside.
- In the remaining oil roast all the ingredients given under “roast & grind” in the same order. No need to roast the coconut. (Make sure no ingredient turns black.This will spoil the nice aroma of the gravy). Switch off the flame. Add the coconut, mix well. Cool and grind it to a paste by adding little water.
- Now add the roasted turkey berries to the paste and set aside.
- Heat the kadai with oil and add mustard seeds, chopped onion, chopped garlic and whole garlic flakes, chopped curry leaves and saute till garlic turns light golden brown with nice aroma. Saute in medium flame.
- Then add the tamarind extract and let it boil for sometime. Add the jaggery.
- Finally add the ground paste along with turkey berries and allow to boil for sometime. The gravy will become thick and reduce in volume. So add little water. It should neither be too thick nor watery.
- Last but not the least, add 2 tsp of gingely oil , mix it and cover for 30 minutes to 1 hour for the taste to infuse well.
Serve with any kootu and papad!!
Note:
It tasted best the next day. So prepare at least two, three hours in advance before serving if you are using on the same day to enjoy its best taste !! I’ve added the turkey berries at the end because I want it a bit crunchy..If u like, you can add with tamarind extract in the beginning.
***OUR SAMBAR POWDER:
- Coriander seeds – 1/4 kg ( 1.25 cup)
- Red chilly(long ones) – 1/4 kg (1.25 cup)
- Fenugreek seeds – 50 gms ( 1/4 cup)
- Toor dal – 50 gms (1/4 cup)
- Channa dal – 50 gms (1/4 cup)
- Pepper corns – 50 gms (1/4 cup)
- Jeera – 2 tbsp
- Turmeric powder – 50 gms (1/4 cup)
We usually grind this in flour mill and use it for 3-4 months …We use this powder for Sambar , vathakuzhambu , pitlai , poricha kuzhambu ,Kootu , poriyal and paruppu rasam.This powder plays the major role in our day-to-day cooking..We don’t use red chilly powder at all. This is an all rounder podi for us.
For this kuzhambu , u can use any brand sambar powder or replace with 1 tsp of coriander powder and 1/2 tsp of red chillI powder.
Bye.Catch u all in my next post.
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