Mor kuzhambu(yoghurt gravy)

The preparation of this dish is very easy and tasty when you keep all the ingredients ready. Typically, in south Indian homes, this dish will be prepared at least twice every month and the ideal combination for this kuzhambu would be paruppu usili. As the intake of coconut and dal is more, for easy digestion of food, Poondu milagu jeeraga(Garlic pepper cumin) rasam is prepared along with this dish.

For this recipe, I have used saeppa kizhangu(Colocasia esculenta) as the main vegetable. In the tips section, there is mention of other vegetables that could be used instead of Colocasia.

Ingredients:

Colocasia esculenta(saeppa kizhangu), steam cooked, peeled – ¼ kg

Sour curd, whisked – 2 cups

Green chilies – 3 or 4 as per your taste

Ginger, a small piece – 1

Cumin seeds – ¼ tsp

Toor dal – ½ tsp

Channa dal – ½ tsp

Coconut, grated – ¾ – 1 cup

Curry leaves – 5 to 6

Coconut oil or refined oil – 2 tsp (coconut oil enhances the taste)

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Asafoetida – a pinch

Turmeric powder – a pinch

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Soak the dal in water for 15-20 min and finely grind it along with green chillies, cumin seeds, ginger and grated coconut.
2. Mix the ground mixture to the whisked curd.

3. Heat the oil in a kadai and sauté the mustard seeds, curry leaves, pinch of turmeric powder and asafoetida. Add the steamed vegetable (collacasia) and fry for a minute.
4. Add the curd mixture and salt and allow it to cook on low heat, stirring continuously. Remove and garnish with coriander leaves, if required.

Tips:

1. Other vegetables that may be used – brinjal(big or small), white pumpkin, cucumber, lady’s finger, drum stick, potato, manathakali vatral, sundaikkai vatral and so on
2. For use later, do not reheat this dish in the stove; use microwave oven instead.
3. If you are using any of the following vegetables – lady’s finger, small brinjal, manathakali vatral or sundaikkai vatral, fry them in oil and then add to the curd mixture.
4. If you are using any of these vegetables – brinjal(big), white pumpkin, drumstick or lady’s finger, then steam cook them with salt and water.
5. If you prefer using more coconut, then you may discard the dal and grind only the green chillies, cumin seeds, ginger and grated coconut and follow the procedure from step 2.
6. If the consistency is too thin, add 1 tsp of rice flour to 3 tbs of water and add to step 4.