Friday, March 27, 2009

Paruppu Urundai Kulambu (Lentil dumpling curry)

Happy Ugadi to all of you my friends!

'Paruppu Urundai kulambu'(Tamil) is an authentic South Indian recipe , with a lot of lentils and flavor. There are many versions. Basically we need to make a masal vadai batter and it is common in all the recipes. But the base curry can be a sambar like gravy or a spicy kuruma or a tamarind based curry or even a curd based curry (More kulambu) .
Also click to see my Paruppu urundai kuruma kulambu, with garam masala. 
and vadai more kulambu / paruppu urundai more kulambu
Moreover making the Urundai / ball also varies by region . Some people fry / steam cook the batter balls and add it to the curry , while the experts simply drop the raw balls in the boiling curry to cook it in that gravy itself.
I do not prefer dropping the raw balls in to the gravy, as it may not be successful always. The safest way is to steam cook the balls before adding to the curry.

All the above versions are unique and will taste great in its own way.
I am narrating here a tamarind based curry with steam cooked dhal balls.



To make the puli kulambu / Tamarind curry:
Ingredients:
Tamarind - 1 small key-lime size
red onion - 1
Tomato - 1
cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
mustard - 1/2 tsp
fenugreek seeds- 1/2 tsp
curry leaves - 1 brig
oil - 1 tbsp
asafoetida - 1 pinch
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
coriander powder - 2 tsp
sambar powder - 1 tsp (optional)
turmeric powder - 1 pinch
water - 2 cups
salt - 2 tsp

Method:

Heat oil in a pan.
Crackle the mustard seeds , add fenugreek seeds , curry leaves, cumin and asafoetida.
Add the chopped onion and fry till it becomes soft.
Then add the chopped tomato and cook till it becomes mushy.
Then pour the tamarind extract.
As soon as it starts boiling , add 2 cups water , chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, sambar powder ,salt and close tightly with a lid.
Cook till the raw smell goes.The curry should be thin like rasam in this stage.
Put off fire and keep aside.

To make the paruppu urundai /Dal balls /lentil dumplings:
Ingredients:
Channa dhal/ Bengal gram lentil - 1 1/2 cup.
salt - to taste (1 tsp full)
ginger - 1 inch
onion - 1/2 cup
curry leaves- 1 brig
coriander leaves (chopped)- 2 tbsp
Red chillies - 3
cooking oil-250 ml. for frying (If we are making the balls by frying. I steam cooked)

Method:
Soak the dhal for 1 hour in water.
Drain the water.
Grind it in to a coarse mixture with red chillies, salt. Put it in a mixing bowl.
Wash the mixer / grinder with 1/2 cup of water and keep aside. This water will thicken the curry.
Chop the onion, ginger, cilantro and curry leaves and mix them with the dhal mixture.
Make small balls out of the mixture (in the size of a lemon). Keep 2 tbsp of batter without cooking. Mix this batter with the water we reserved from washing the mixer / blender.
Steam boil them in Idly baking style. (or) Deep fry them in oil (or) Bake in oven at 375 c for 30 minutes.

Now bring the base curry we made to a boil, add the batter paste we got.Add the steamed lentil balls . After the curry starts becoming thick put off fire. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Paruppu urundai kulambu is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Makes 15 big size lentil balls.
Can be served for 5 people.
Serve hot over cooked rice. There is no need to make any extra dish, as we already have the yummy urundais soaking in the curry as side dish.

37 comments:

Ann said...

This curry is my all time Favorite.. I too prefer to steam 'em before dropping in to the curry. Looks really mouth-watering.

Unknown said...

m..First time visting 2 your website and wow..you are doing a amazing job.. Thanks for sharing

Finla said...

I love this curry have only had with my friends never made them home. I must try to make this curry , yourlook so yummy delcious.

FH said...

Gorgeous. I love this curry, very nutritious and tasty too. Enjoy! :)

Priya Suresh said...

I love this much, Delicious Kuzhambu VIki...ennaku romba pidikum..

Cham said...

My fav kuzhambu, looks fabulous!

Deepa Hari said...

Thats my fav. kuzhambu Viki...looks great and delicious.

Anonymous said...

Viki,happy Ugadi for you and family...what a healthy kulambu to celbrate...loved the concept

Chutneytales said...

This is my fav kulambu..Looks very mouth watering :)

Manju said...

aahh..my mom makes this a lot and i love it!! :)

Preety said...

looks like koftas..yummy

Lavanya said...

aahhhhh mouth watering curry viki..

Poornima Nair said...

Looks so delicious and rich...never made this...must try soon

Varsha Vipins said...

This is such a yum authentic dish Viki..:)

Nandinis food said...

Authentic and proteinly kuzhambu! I also steam paruppu urundai!

Vibaas said...

looks delicious. i love paruppu urundai and i haven't made it in a long time. i should take this as a reminder :)

sriharivatsan said...

This is my favo dear...I haven't made it quite sometime..i should say for 2 years almost...You have reminded me now...

Indian Khana said...

Looks yummy..I never tried making though....looks like need to try now :)

Shama Nagarajan said...

my all time favourite..healthy too

Archana said...

My husband loves this kulambu...this looks really yum

Gita Jaishankar said...

I too love parupu urundai kuzambu VIki, sometimes I used to make the urundais with toor dhal. Nice picture dear :)

Priya Sriram said...

Hi Viki, Thanks for stopping by my blog... :)
Love your wonderful recipes dear... will visit often.. :)

Madhu's cooking gallery said...

Nice recipe! looks delicious!

Yasmeen said...

Wish I could taste some of this delicious lentil curry:)

Malar Gandhi said...

Paruppu urundai Kuzhambu is my mommys speciality too. She doesnt steam, add the balls right there in the kuzhambu...so am I. But AK each time mentions...that I need to steam them b'4 adding. I thought...adding them directly and slow cooking, shows some culinary skills. But he never agreed, now I could show ur post to him!!:)) This looks fabulous and inviting!!

saffronapron.blogspot.com said...

Never tried it. I must make it. Looks yum

Sunshinemom said...

This is my sister's favourite. I too steam them. In fact I did not know they were dropped raw! You are making me hungry now:)

Meenal Mehta said...

this looks super awesome..i have to try this after I get better:)

veggie belly said...

this is one of my favorite dishes..thanks for sharing a great recipe!

Saraswathy Balakrishnan said...

i have done this recipe so far..would love to try it but not sure whether my hubby will like it pa as he likes paruppu Urundai in mor kulambu da..

Abdul Mannan said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

The blog and the dish varities are very nice. It'll be of more help if u cud add the tamil versions for the ingredients used as many may not know the terms. Expecting more dishes from you.. Keep rocking!!!

Sapthanaa Vytheswaran said...

hey Viki.. iam gonna cook this for pongal.. lets see the outcome!!

Sapthanaa Vytheswaran said...

thanks for the recipe viki.. the recipe came out real great.. i made a bit of modifications like how my granny made.. thanks for reminding me of this recipe..

RACHEL said...

Hi i used to chk ur recipes and prepare,it used to come out well. in this recipe u have mentioned to soak two dhals--but u have mentioned only one dhal- channa dhal,can i know the other one.

Vikis Kitchen said...

Thank you friends.
Rachel: Thanks for pointing out that typo error dear. Now I deleted the word 'both' above. What happened was, myself being lazy, used my masal vadai method here , I guess. In that recipe i had used channa dhal and split peas....sorry for the confusion and thanks again dear.

http://elitefoods.blogspot.com/2008/07/masal-vadai.html

RACHEL said...

I made the curry and it came out well,thank you for posting the recipe..

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