Vathakozhambu is a famous dish of Tamilnadu and it is cooked by Iyers of Kerala too. But when it comes to Kerala, it is cooked in a slightly different way from what is followed in TN. Here is the version cooked at most of Palakkad Iyer homes.Ingredients
Tuvar dal - 1/2 cup
Tamarind - lemon sized
Red chilly powder - 1 tspn
Hing - 1/4 tspn
Turmeric - 1/4 tspn
Method
Wash and pressure cook tuvar dal with water. Add little turmeric and 1/2 tspn of oil. Adding oil helps cook dal mushy.
Soak tamarind in a cup of warm water for 10 minutes.
Soak tamarind in a cup of warm water for 10 minutes.
Extract the tamartind juice. Add 1/4 tspn turmeric,1 tspn of red chilly powder, 1/4 tpn of hing and salt.
Let it simmer till the gravy thickens.
Mash the cooked dal and add half cup of water.
Stir in the cooked dal and water to the thickening gravy.
Bring to a boil.
Seasoning
In a pan, add a tablespoon of gingely oil, add mustard seeds. When mustard seeds splutter, add chundakka vathal. When chundakkai is fried, pour the seasonings over the cooked gravy and garnish with curry leaves.
Serve with hot rice with a teaspoon of homemade ghee and roasted papad. Its simply divine. Mezhukkuparatti ( Stir fried vegetable like raw banana and yam) is also an excellent side for vethakozhambu. Another popular side for this is paruppu thogayal.
Paruppu Thogayal
Ingredients
Tuvar dal - 1/2 cup
Grated coconut - less than 1/2 cup
Red chilly - 1
salt as required.
Since Vathakuzhambu is spicy, this thogayal uses only one red chilly for flavor only.
Dry roast tuvar dal till it turn light brown. Roast the red chilly too.
Grind all the ingredients to a coarse paste using less water.
Yummy parippu thogyal is ready.
(I forgot to take the photo of thogayal. Shall update next time when I prepare it)
Chundakkai Vathal
