Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Methi leaf - Tamarind curry

Puli kulambu or Tamarind curry is a basic curry served with rice in South India. These kind of tamarind based spicy curries are the comfort food for many people in Madras.
Last week , I got a fresh bunch of methi leaves and long green brinjals. So made this curry immediately and it tasted great with rice. May be it is my innovation with methi leaf and tamarind curry. It tasted like vatha-Kulambu..no bitterness.
Here goes the recipe.



(Methi leaf tamarind curry / Venthaya keerai Puli kulambu / fenugreek leaf stew)


Ingredients:
Methi leaf (only leaves) - 1 cup / 2 handful
tamarind - a key lime size
Eggplant / brinjal - 100 gms (2)
garlic - 5 pods
shredded coconut - 1 tbsp
red onion - 1/2
cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
mustard - 1/2 tsp
fenugreek seeds- 1/2 tsp
curry leaves - 1 brig
gingelly oil - 1 tbsp
asafoetida - 1 pinch
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
coriander powder - 2 tsp
turmeric powder - 1 pinch
water - 2 cups
salt - 2 tsp

Method:

Chop the eggplant into small pieces.
Grind coconut, onion and cumin seeds with little water.
Heat oil in a pan. Extract juice from the tamarind.
Crackle mustard seeds , add fenugreek seeds , curry leaves and asafoetida.
Add the chopped methi leaves and fry till you get a nice smell.
Now add the brinjal pieces, peeled garlic, tamarind paste , 2 cups water , chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, salt and close tightly with a lid.
After the vegetables are cooked add the coconut - onion paste and switch off after it starts boiling.

Serving suggestions:

Makes 2 cups of venthaya keerai Puli kulambu.
It can be served for 5 people.
Serve hot with steamed rice and and any vegetable side dish or with egg omelet.

23 comments:

Raks said...

vendhaya keerai kuzhambu I have not heard before,vendhaya kuzhambu we make,this is really new to me....recipe kku nandri:)

Cham said...

Like Ra said ventiya kuzhambu we make, sounds very interesting ur recipe Viki! I love anything with tamarind :)

gtyuk said...

heard of vendhaya keera kozhambu, they do this for lactating mothers, right? yours look yummy!

sriharivatsan said...

Never heard of kuzhambu with vendhaya keerai..Kasakadha lightaa..

Unknown said...

oh methi leaves in kozhumbu..sounds good..

Priya Suresh said...

Delicious twist of adding methi leaves in karakuzhambu:)..healthy indeed..

Finla said...

Wowo that curry looks so yummy delicious.

Chutneytales said...

Wow..methi leaf tamarind curry..it must be soo flavorful..I could smell the awesome aroma of your curry here :)

Vikis Kitchen said...

Thanks Raji, cham, Akal, sri,sowmya, Priya, happy cook and Madhu.
Dear Sri,This kulambu will taste like vatha kulambu.. after seeing ur comment I added about the taste in the post.
Yes friends, This is my invention:)
Hope u all like it.

Malar Gandhi said...

Vendhaya keerai kuzhambu...sounds so nice to me. Planning to sow the seeds here...if I am lucky, will try this for sure!

Varsha Vipins said...

With Methi leaves I bet this wud have been so flavorful..:)

Gita Jaishankar said...

Dear Viki, thank you very much for the comforting words for my sister..take care dear..

Swapna said...

Adding methi keerai, sounds interesting.... will try soon:)

Preety said...

wow this recipe has some unique combination of ingredients..sounds interesting..

Molly said...

Hello Viki:

I'm going to sound dumb but please bear with me (chalk it up to mommy brain from tirelessly chasing 3 young ones ages 5, 3 and 1!!)
I'm very new to "communicating" with a blogger. I've been a silent observer generally -- the idea of food blogging hasn't quite got me yet -- but I'm fascinated by the idea of kinship/community it creates.
That is probably the reason I'm reaching out to you. YOu are the first blogger I feel compelled to write to..
And since I'm clueless about "communicating" through a blog, pls forgive my long note under "Methi leaf Curry" (incidentally, I tried methi leaf for the first time yesterday with moong dal and ginger as main ingredients and it came out AWESOME!)

I have a question for you:
I've been searching for a recipe for SWEET BONDA, all over the place with no luck! It is a common occurence in tuticorin, where I'm originally from; anywhere evening coffee/tea/vadas were sold, this sweet bonda was sold. It was one of my absolute favorites.. it's main ingredient, from memory is Maida (I think?) Do you have any experience, or at least know what I"m talking about?

And as clueless as I am, I don't even know where to look for, for your response, except right in this thread!! Oh did I mention, I have a master's in Computer Engineering?!! Thanks for your tolerance to my ignorance.. Feel free to edit my post so my entire post doesn't have to shamelessly show!

Adlak's tiny world said...

methi leaves kulambu... sounds very new and unique. so far not tried this... nice click.

trial back for the award dear.

Vikis Kitchen said...

Dear Molly, I know what u are asking. I remember that sweet bonda very much dear. I love it a lot. May be a very humble sweet sold in the region, still it has some extraordinary taste:) We call it as cake or 'Muttai kose' .. may be it sounds funny . But the big sweet bonda resembles a cabbage in shape:). It is made of maida, sugar, baking soda and fried in oil.
I will narrate the recipe specially for u tomorrow..
I love the way u asked me .. pls feel free to comment here.we can get a lot of friends through this blogging and it gives me a kind of self satisfaction and a pleasure to read their comments.
I wish, U can also start a blog through blogspot and I m sure we all can have a nice time here.

Dershana said...

never heard of pulikozhambu with vendaya keerai! but sure does look yummy!

Swapna said...

There is something waiting for u in my blog:)

Molly said...

Thank you so much Vikki!
I already feel kinship to know someone knows what I'm talking about!
I've spent more than a total of 5 hours looking for it on the WWW with no luck.

Muttai kosu - I remember that name too.. very well indeed. Probably because of the way it opens up or "blooms" like a cabbage that opens?!! And like you said, it is such a simple item but with a taste that's, how do i put it, unforgettable!
Oh yay, thank you so much for your response! I will be checking with you often!!

Yasmeen said...

refreshing chutney,love any dish with methi:)

Subhie Arun said...

Methi leaf pulli kulambu is realli new to me....will give a try..tq for the recipe..

visit...my http://subhieskitchen.blogspot.com/

Christy Gerald said...

Very nice recipe indeed.v used to make this with dal usually.Nice try Viki.

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