This is a nice recipe coz I had much fun making it and The Mr had his while rubbing his ever-growing tummy in satisfaction. It reminded me of that old lesson in my Class 4(Or was it later?) English textbook - The Stone Soup.
Methi - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds /Urad dal for seasoning
Split chana dal - 2tsp
Toor dal - 2tsp
Onion small - 2
Tomatoes - 2
Tamarind - size of lemon
Sambhar Powder
Turmeric Powder
- Chop the onions and tomatoes and set aside.
- Once the oil in the pan is hot, splutter the mustard seeds/urad dal.
- Fry the dal for sometime. Don't let the dal darken.
- Add the methi. Fry.
- Add the onions n tomatoes and sautee for 2 mins.
- Now pour in your tamarid extract, add turmeric powder, sambhar powder and salt.
- Reduce heat and let it simmer for atleast 15 mins. It tastes better the longer it simmers.
Now for my improvisations, if I may call so :p
The huge mistake I did was in the amount of chana/toor dal and methi. Being the over-zealous person that I am, I added almost 1/4 cup of dal and 1 huge spoon of methi. This methi ain't that great to bite into, so if youwant a really awesome 'kuzhambu'just for 'sasthram sake' add 6(My lucky number. You can use any under 10!) exact methi seeds into the pan. Technically, it is 'methi kuzhambu' but then it needn't really have any :D The modern day "stone soup".
And after I added sambhar powder, it didn't really taste that great. So I chipped in a 1/4 tsp each of Puli Kuzhambu powder and Rasam powder :)
You mean methi seeds?
ReplyDeleteOne more doubt: When you say "Fry the dal for sometime" did you mean the raw toor dal?
Waiting to try this. Will give feedback :D..
Thanks..
@Sandy: I don't know if they are seeds or not, the normal methi you would use for your sambhar, that is, if you're the kind who uses it in sambhar :)
ReplyDeleteYes raw toor dal. That little sauteeing/frying kinda half cooks it and when u boil it for more than 15 mins, it is cooked n it's crunchy.
Will await ur verdict :D
Yes, methi seeds. I think sandy wants to know if it is methi leaes or seeds.
ReplyDeleteThe dal we use is raw channa dal. This is used in seasoning many south indian recipes. Not sure if thoor dal will give same effect.
And one more improvisation you can do:
ReplyDeleteIf you have no vegetables, after frying the seasoning, add the sambhar powder directly to the oil, and fry the masala for 30 seconds(till it gets slightly fried smell), and then add the tamarind. This will taste slightly different, and leave you thinking you had a different kuzhambu.
Yay..I finally tried it. The only thing is that I didnt know it was supposed to be pasty, so it turned out more to be like the consistency of vathhu kozhumbu! But it tasted sexy nonehteless. My tam roomie told me it was supposed to be thicker. So next time I'll do the right thing..
ReplyDeleteTill then I'm enjoying hot rice and vendhayam kozhumbu!!
Thanks a lot!!!
Do you know how the sambar vadagam is made
ReplyDeleteI am a mallu married to a tamilian so curious .