Kathirikai Kara Kulambu | Kathirikai Masala Kuzhambu | Spicy Brinjal Curry with Coconut

Spicy Gravy with Brinjal & Coconut-Poppy seed paste

I am very picky about this particular veggie brinjal. I do not enjoy all the dishes prepared with it. For me to like them, they should not have their inherent taste, rather their flavor has to be enhanced with some added ingredients like coconut or lentils :D I am sure that there are many out there who would second me on that. Rather than the simple & normal Brinjal fry or Kathirikai Murungakkai poriyal, I would prefer some more elaborate preparations like Kathirikai Gosthu or Kathirikai Kara Kuzhambu. This is yet another tasty lip smacking preparation of my mom's. Usually she finds ways to avoid coconut but when her Son-In-Law is in town she goes about with the extra indulgence by including coconut. So I actually get to enjoy her preparation when Deeps is at home. Since it is both his & my favorite I prepare this often at our place too. This is very easy to make & makes you have an extra helping of rice too ;)

Recipe Source: Ma

I Took: 40 minutes

Serves: 3-4 persons

I Used:

Brinjal - 4 medium sized  Onion - 1 medium sized - chopped Tomato - 1 medium sized - chopped Tamarind - Lemon sized Red Chilly powder - 2 tsp Coriander powder - 2 tsp Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Grated coconut - ¼ cup Poppy Seeds/Khus Khus - 1 ½ tsp Mustard - ¼ tsp Fenugreek - ¼ tsp Curry leaves - A sprig Coriander leaves - 3-4 sprigs Oil - 1 tbsp Salt - As Needed

The Way:

1. Rinse the brinjal in water & cut them into 2 inch long & 1 inch thick pieces and keep them immersed in water till use
2. Soak tamarind in ¼ cup water for 15-20 minutes & extract the pulp
3. Grind together coconut & poppy seeds to a fine paste with ¼ cup of water. Keep this aside
4. Heat oil in a pan. Splutter mustard. Add fenugreek. When they start to turn colour, add the onions & saute till they turn transparent and start to change colour
5. Then add the cut brinjals & saute for 3-4 minutes till the oil coats the brinjals and they slowly start to shrivel. Now add the tomatoes & fry till they get mushy
6. Add the red chilly powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder & salt. Saute well till the raw smell goes off
7. Add the tamarind juice, curry leaves & 2 cups of water. Allow it to cook in medium flame until the brinjals are cooked
8. Now add the ground coconut paste & give it a stir. Allow it on low flame for a minute or so & then remove from heat. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves

Serve hot with rice !

Cheers,

Chitz

Sambar | Kerala style Sambar (Without Coconut) | Varutharacha Sambar | Arachuvitta Sambar

There was a time when I never used to get Sambar right. That was during my spinster times. I used to feel so bad then and complain to my mom, 'I am not able to make even a simple sambar'. Now you might think how can such a basic recipe like Sambar go wrong? Sometimes the most simple & commonly made dish would not turn out good until you find out the small trick & nuances of it that makes your shtyle stand out from others' right?? And to make matters worse, after marriage, Deeps became a fan of my mom's Sambar. He too fell prey for her Idly, coconut chutney & sambar combo special of my mom ;)

But that's not the end of the story.. I found out that even Deeps made awesome Sambar. I was like 'Ohh my, I am doomed now'. Finally one day with the determination of mastering it, I called up my mom and got the recipe. I was asking her, 'Ma tell me, how much tamarind.. What do you mean a lemon sized?? Small one or big one? How many spoons of coriander seeds' Finally she got fed up.. She was like 'Chitra, add little of everything. Taste it and add more if required'. I was skeptical and scared the first time and was with crossed fingers when Deeps came from office & tasted it. But he was very impressed. He was like, 'This tastes the best. Better than my mom & yours' That's the best compliment that you can ever get for cooking, right?? I was thrilled.

But I forgot how much of everything I had added. Lol.. Then I understood why my mom said lil of this and a lemon sized of that !! After that I slowly got the hang of the quantity. And most of the times I cooked this special sambar of mom's like a professional. So when Hasna suggested me to link up 'Butter Beans Masala' of my mom's for her lovely 'Mummy Ka Magic' event, I thought this is the most apt one for the event, as this recipe would always be the numero Uno of my mom's best veggie dishes :D. Her shtyle as it's simple and with NO coconut and a hit among our guests !!

Updated with new and step-wise pics on 19-04-2017

Other Sadhya recipes:

Beans Thoran

Beetroot Thoran
Cabbage Thoran

Mathanga Erissery

Mathan Erissery | Mathan Vanpayar Erissery

Mampazha Pachadi | Pazhutha Manga Pachadi

Mambazha Pulissery | Mambazha Kaalan

Chembu Kumbalanga Moru Kootan | Taro-Ash Gourd Pulissery

Pulissery | Kachiya Moru | Mor Kuzhambu

Homemade Ada for Adapradhaman

Recipe Source: Ma

I Took: 

Preparation Time:40 minutes

Cooking Time: 35-40 minutes

Serves: 4-5 

I Used:

Tur Dal	-	½ cup
Onion	-	1 medium sized - sliced
Tomato	-	1 no - cut into 8
Drumstick Brinjal	- -	1 no - large 3-4 nos
Ladies Finger Tamarind	- -	4-5 nos (small ones) a small lemon sized
Garlic	-	2 cloves
Turmeric powder	-	½ tsp
Asafoetida	-	½ tsp
Curry Leaves	-	2-3 sprigs
Coriander Leaves	-	2-3 sprigs
Salt	-	As Needed
To Roast & Grind:
Oil	-	2 tsp
Coriander Seeds	-	3 tbsp
Red Chilly	-	5 nos
Urd Dal	-	3 tbsp
Fenugreek Seeds	-	½ tsp
Asafoetida	-	1 tsp

To Splutter:

Oil - 2 tsp Mustard  - 1 tsp Red Chilly - 2 nos

The Way:

1. Heat oil in a pan. Roast coriander seeds, red chilly & urd dal until it turns light golden brown in color. This would take 2-3 minutes

2. Now add fenugreek seeds & asafoetida and roast for about a minute and not more. Else the fenugreek seeds can add a bitter taste if it's roasted for a longer time

3. Allow this to cool & add water (3-4 tbsp) & grind it smoothly to a thick paste

4. Soak tamarind in water for 15-20 minutes and extract the juice/pulp out of it and keep aside

5. Rinse tur dal in water for 3-4 times and then soak them in water (around 2 cups) for 20-30 minutes

6. Then pressure cook it with salt & garlic. Mash the pressure cooked dal well, so that there are no visible wholes of dal

7. Heat a pan/kadai. Add the cut drumsticks (cut to 2 or 2.5 inch pieces). Add water (around 1 to 1.5 cups) and turmeric and salt

8. Cook on medium flame until the drumsticks are half cooked. You can cover the pan and cook for faster cooking. This would take around 6-8 minutes

9. Once the drumsticks are half cooked, add the onions (sliced), tomatoes (cut into 8 pieces), brinjal (cut into 8 or 12 depending on the size of the brinjal) , ladies finger (cut into 2 inch pieces) and other vegetables) and cook until the vegetables are half cooked

10. Now add the ground paste (also adjust salt) and cook again until the vegetables are done

11. Add the tamarind pulp & asafoetida (if needed. A strong aroma of asafoetida is a must for a good sambar :)) & allow it to come to a boil

12. Then add the boiled & mashed dal. Cook for 3-4 minutes until all the ingredients come together 

13. Add curry leaves and allow it to boil for another minute. Then switch off the flame

14. In a tadka pan/kadai, heat oil. Splutter mustard and broken red chillies. Take care not to burn them

15. Add the tadka to the sambar. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves

Serve hot with steamed rice or idly or dosa!

Notes:

• You can add more vegetables of your choice like pumpkin, potato, white gourd, radish, carrot & plantain stem
• Adjust the quantity of ground masala as you increase the vegetables
• Another variety is to omit all vegetables & onion and use only shallots (include tomato) called 'Ulli Sambar'. You can follow the same method for that also

Cheers,

Chitz