Recently a reader mailed me to post basic Sundakkai vathal kulambu recipe and manathakkali vathal kuzhambu (dried turkey berry). As I had already posted Tamil brahmin style no onion no garlic manathakkali vathal kuzhambu, I thought of sharing my MIL’s style sundakkai vathal kuzhambu recipe (dried turkey berry gravy).
We usually make this basic kuzhambu recipe and replace sundakkai with brinjal, drumstick or just garlic & onion. As we don’t get green sundakkai easily, we include it in dried form in our gravies or just as an accompaniment for curd rice. I usually roast this once in a week for Sendhil and Raksha to get rid of stomach worms.
Other than this, sundakkai has lots of health benefits. U can find them in my raw sundakkai kootu post. This kuzhambu can be prepared within 15 minutes. No grinding job too. So bachelor’s & working women can prepare this easily in busy mornings and pack it for their lunch box. It tastes great when mixed with plain rice adding gingely oil. Kootu and roasted papad is the best side dish for this gravy. Usually I makekeerai kootu or chow chow kootu. I have updated this recipe with a full video. Please check it below.
Sundakkai vathal kuzhambu recipe
Easy vatha kuzhambu recipe with turkey berries
Cuisine:Indian
Category:Gravies
Serves:3
Prep time:5 Minutes
Cook time:10 Minutes
Total time:15 Minutes
INGREDIENTS
Tamarind – Big gooseberry size
Sambar powder – 1 tbsp ( OR use aachi kuzhambu milagai thool)
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Grated jaggery – 1 tsp
Salt- as needed
Water – 2 cups
To temper & saute
Gingely oil or cooking oil – 2.5 tbsp
Sundakkai vathal /Turkey berry – 15-20 nos
Mustard seeds -1/2 tsp
Methi seeds – 1/2 tsp
Urad dal – 1 tsp
Cumin seeds/Jeera- 1.5 tsp
Toor dal – 2 tsp
Small onions – 10 nos (finely chopped)
Garlic – 10 cloves (finely chopped)
Curry leaves – few (finely chopped)
HOW TO MAKE SUNDAKKAI VATHA KUZHMBU – METHOD
To make sundakkai vathal kuzhambu, wash and chop the onions finely. Chop garlic cloves and curry leaves finely.Set aside
Soak tamarind in 1/2 cup of warm water and take the extract using 1.5 cups of water. To this add sambar powder, turmeric powder, salt and keep aside.
In a kadai,heat oil and roast the turkey berries till it turns brown. To that add mustard seeds. After it starts to splutter, add methi seeds, urad dal, toor dal and cumin seeds. Saute till golden. Now add the finley chopped onions, garlic & curry leaves. Saute till it emits a nice aroma.
Now add the tamarind mixture and boil well for 4-5 minutes. Check for taste and add more sambar powder if gravy tastes tangy and adjust salt if needed. Lastly add jaggery and boil till oil separates & gravy becomes thick. Add little more water if you the gravy to thin down or switch off the flame and remove.
Transfer to a vessel. Add few pinched curry leaves and cover the vessel with a lid. Give a standing time of 30 minutes and serve with rice.
Note
For variations,u can use manathakkali vathal in place of sundakkai.
Using gingely oil in this gravy gives a nice flavour and it helps to suppress the tamarind heat.
Sometimes, I roast the sambar powder for few seconds before adding the tamarind mixture. It also gives a nice taste.
If you don’t have homemade sambar powder, you can use aachi kuzhambu milagai thool or any store bought sambar powder too.
Enjoy vatha kuzhambu mixed with rice topped with gingely oil.Tastes great with sutta appalam & kootu.
Recently I found a wild berry just like brinjal but small in size…When I browsed in internet I found it as turkey berry locally called sundaikkai…Although I heard eating raw is lethal to your body…Since it contains edicinal property it is better to use it in cuisine as in tamil recipe…
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