Arachuvitta Vatha Kuzhambu Recipe

We had this arachuvitta vatha kuzhambu in a marriage function / Kalyana veedu. It was excellent. We all had 2 ,3 servings. One of my relatives asked the recipe from the cook and told my MIL. She tried at home and it came out well. Last week I made this for my husband’s lunch box along with chow chow kootu..It was a divinely combination. I stocked it and had for 2 days. Day by Day I found the taste got improved and made me thought, I could have made more quantity. So here comes the flavorful , Kalyana veedu style vatha kuzhambu..I’ve given the recipe for two people. You can increase the quantity based on your needs.

Arachuvitta vatha kuzhambu

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:

  1. Soak tamarind in water for 15 mins and extract the juice from it using 1 cup of water.
  2. Add sambar powder,turmeric powder and salt to it..Keep aside.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. Now add the roasted turkey berries to the paste and set aside.
  6. 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.
  7. Then add the tamarind extract and let it boil for sometime. Add the jaggery.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.

Related Posts

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

40 thoughts on “Arachuvitta Vatha Kuzhambu Recipe”

  3. Suparna

    Chitra,
    havent heard of sundakkai, could u tell me an alternative for this veggie? the sambar looks yummy dear.
    Thanks for trying the santosh recipe 🙂 am glad u liked it 🙂
    Enjoy the week ahead!
    TC

    Reply
  4. Varsha Vipins

    Nice one Chitra..even I dunno what Sundakkai is..is it a small green thing,that looks like big peas??
    The kuzhambu format is the same we follow for varatharappu..me n husband really love it ..make it with pavakka,egg plant etc..n yes as u said taste increases as it sits ..:)

    Reply
  5. Poornima Nair

    Thats a yummy curry. All these kind of curries definitely taste better after they are allowed to sit for sometime. Btw, what is sundakkai?

    Reply
  6. Illatharasi

    Hi Chitra, thanks for visiting my blog. Yeah this is a different type of vathakuzhambhu, but i like it in any form 😉

    Reply
  7. Kitchen Chronicles

    Vathakuzhambu looks very tempting. I also make sundakkai vathkuzhambu very often. But little different. I would like to try ur version too.

    Reply
  9. Shri

    Hi Chitra,
    Your dish looks so yummy and tempting.My husband translated the dish name to Sambar and hope he is correct.Beautiful language and wish I could learn it:)I love the name of your blog…

    Reply
  10. kittymatti

    yummy yummy!! Looks sos good dear!
    My paati makes something similar to this but I guess the recipe is a little different… This looks really mouthwatering!!! Yummmm!

    Reply
  15. jayasree

    Just the name vathakuzhambu is enough to make my mouthwater… I sometimes do this way. But mostly i do away with just sambhar powder and chilli pwdr. This definitely is more tastier.

    Reply
  18. Chitra

    Thanks a lot dearies 🙂
    @suparna , varsha and poornima nair:
    YES varsha, wat u've told is correct..Its looks like green peas only but full of seeds in it..I used its dried form which is whitish grey in color.its called sundakkai vatral..@suparna, u can try this kuzhambu with whole Garlic flakes alone..If u wish to add veggies, u can add brinjal:)
    Hope i've answered u all 🙂

    @shri, thanks for ur sweet words dear and this is not sambhar exactly..For sambhar we use boiled toor dal and seasoning items are different..literally this is vatral kuzhambu..Ur husband is partly correct..:)

    Reply
  19. Sushma Mallya

    Looks yummy chitra and even love to read the detailed way you write the recipe:)……Also I have passed you an award pls accept it and come and collect it at my blog:)

    Reply
  22. sathya

    Mouthwatering kuzhambu, my all time fav. Have some turkey berry at home will try it for lunch tommorrow. Thanks for the recipe 🙂

    Reply
  24. Pravs

    where can i get this Sundakkai ? got to try this..from how you describe how tasty this is, i am all to try this 🙂

    Reply
  26. PriyaRaj

    Hi chitra , iam new to ur blog …..ur dishes looking great ….soon try it ……check out my blog too……

    Reply
  31. PriyaRaj

    Hi chitra , thanx for ur compliment …Sure i will take ur idea its sounds good .As if iam a new commer ur comments makes me more confident & thanx for the encouragement …….

    Reply
  39. Anonymous

    sutta appalam and varutharaicha vethakuzhmabu is the best combo anyone can ask for. i so want to make it after seeing urs.

    Reply
  40. govind

    Pl give me porrichakulampu recipient.then one think we not use carlos vantha kulambu (iyengar marriage is not use carlos)

    Reply
Scroll to Top