This is my father's Kathirikai kara kuzhambu recipe without coconut in Bachelors style. When I was young, my father was in Mumbai for two years. He stayed in a bachelor’s room. He learnt some simple recipes from his friends and started cooking. Whenever he comes for vacation, he used to cook for us. We(me and my sis) loved our appa’s cooking more than my mom’s as we got bored of her routine food.
But now after marriage, I crave for my mom’s recipes like anything. My appa makes rasam and kara kuzhambu very well. Both are very simple recipes but tastes great. So I thought of sharing Kara kuzhambu/Puli kuzhambu recipe today. It can be done very quickly during busy mornings. It has no grinding part. So I have mentioned this as Bachelor’s recipe. It tastes spicy and hot. I followed my father’s recipe as such.
Don’t feel exhausted by seeing the ingredients list. It looks big but this recipe takes hardly 20 minutes to prepare. I used brinjal / kathirikai and whole garlic flakes. Its a simple kathirikai kara kulambu recipe. U can also try adding drumstick OR dried berries (sundakkai, manathakkali vathal) for more flavour.
I had this kuzhambu for 3 days by refrigerating it. The taste got improved day by day. This kuzhambu stays good for 3-5 days as it has no coconut. The addition of sambar powder, red chilli powder and coriander powder makes this gravy very thick. So adjust the consistency as per your liking by adding more water. Use gingely oil for nice flavour and also it helps to reduce the body heat developed by tamarind..
A tip from my father : My appa always tells me to taste the tamarind extract after adding masala powders (chilli powder , sambar powder , dhania powder ) & salt. If it tastes good, kuzhambu comes out really well. We can adjust the quantity of tamarind or chilli powder/sambar powder based on the taste. But every time I forget to do this. This time I reminded my father’s tip and followed it. May be that’s the reason , this kuzhambu tasted great.
INGREDIENTS
- Tamarind – Big gooseberry size/ Medium lemon size (Based on the tanginess of tamarind you have)
- Brinjal – 4 nos (medium sized)
- Sambar powder – 1.5 tbsp ( any brand or home made)
- Red chilli powder – 1/2 tsp
- Coriander seeds / Dhania powder – 1 tsp
- Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
- Jaggery – 1 tsp
- Salt and water – As needed
- Gingely oil / Nalla ennai – 4 tbsp
- Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
- Methi seeds – 1/2 tsp
- Urad dal – 1 tsp
- Jeera/cumin seeds – 1 tsp
- Channa dal – 2 tsp
- Hing – A big pinch
- Red chillies – 2 nos (pinched)
- Curry leaves – few (chopped)
- Big onion/ small onion – 1 no / 10 nos (finely chopped)
- Whole garlic cloves – 10 nos
- Tomato – 2 nos (finely chopped)
HOW TO MAKE KARA KUZHAMBU - METHOD
- Soak tamarind in warm water for 10 minutes & take the extract using 1.5 cups of water. Add all the spice powders given above and salt..Taste it and adjust as per your need. Cut brinjal lengthwise into 4 pieces and keep them immersed in water to avoid color change. Chop onions and peel garlic. Set aside.
- Now in a kadai , heat oil and temper all the ingredients given above in the same order..Make sure to add all the ingredients after the mustard seeds splutter ..Saute everything in medium flame.Then add onions , whole garlic cloves & curry leaves..Saute till it turns golden brown.
- Add the brinjal pieces , saute for sometime & then add the tomato pieces.Saute till musy.Now add the tamarind extract which we kept ready .Add jaggery ,1/2 cup of water ,cover the kadai with a lid till brinjal gets cooked. Usually it takes 8-10 minutes. Keep the flame medium.
- Then open the lid and check whether brinjal is completely cooked. Check for water. Add more water if necessary. Allow the gravy to boil for 10 minutes to get thicken. Switch off the flame and transfer to a serving bowl.Add a tbsp of gingely oil & raw curry leaves. Cover it with a lid..
- Serve it after 30 minutes.Mix with plain rice ..Enjoy with papad & any kootu as accompaniment..
NOTE :This Gravy/ kuzhambu should be boiled well for minimum 10 minutes in medium flame to get a good taste. Otherwise you’ll get the raw smell of powders.. Kuzhambu will thicken by itself as time passes. So add little more water , reheat and serve. Using gingely oil is a must. If you dont have gingely oil , use any cooking oil. But gingely oil gives the actual taste.
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