VATHAL KULAMBU / Vatral Kuzhambu

The Vatral Kulambu Paste

                                                        Vatral Kulambu Rice


My late grandma likes to make her vatral kulambu like a paste and keep it in bottles. When she wants gravy she will take 100ml of boiling water and add 1 or 2 tbs of the paste and would have instant vatral kulambu.
Or she will take steaming hot rice add a tsp of gingelly oil and a tbs of the vatral kulambu and mix it into the rice. We would have rice something like puliogara.
Here is the recipe.


VATHAL KULAMBU

Ingredients:
1 big lemon sized tamarind, soak in 3 cups of water
2 tbs of sundakkai vatral fried crisp in oil
4 garlic pips sliced (optional)
¼ tsp tumeric powder
1 tsp jaggery
A big pinch of asafetida powder
1 sprig curry leaves
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp fenugreek seeds
3 dry red chillies broken
30 ml gingelly oil

To Grind:
1 tbs coriander seeds
½ tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp urad dal
1 tsp channa dal
6 red chillies more or less acc to taste
1 tsp rice flour

Method:
Squeeze the tamarind and extract the juice.
Dry roast all ingredients in “grind” and make into smooth powder.
Fry the vatrals in oil and keep aside

In a wok add the gingelly oil, add in the mustard seeds ,fenugreek seeds.
Add in also the curry leaves and broken red chillies.
Now add in the sliced garlic and fry till it is golden in colour.
Now add in the tamarind juice, let it simmer on low heat.
Add in the tumeric powder, salt and jaggery.

Stir once in a way, when the mixture becomes semi thick, add in the ground powder, asafoetida and the fried vatrals. Allow it to boil for another 10 minutes on medium flame till the oil floats on top and the kulambu becomes thick like a paste. Remove .


Note: You can add in any vatrals of your choice.
If consuming the same day you can add in ½ cup of shallots ½ fried in oil. If you want it in gravy form remove before the gravy becomes very thick.