Description
Vatral Kuzhambu is an authentic South Indian speciality. Vatrals are nothing but sun dried vegetables, which are added to this spicy, slightly sour lentil gravy. It can be made with either one variety or a combination of different vatrals and fresh vegetables. Most popular ones are Sundakkai, manathakkali, brinjal and bitter gourd. Quite easy when you have ready made sambar powder or vatha kuzhambu powder on hand. If not you need to make one and then proceed. (Vatha Kuzhambu / Vathal Kulambu / Vatra Kuzhambu / Vatha Kulambu / Vatha kolambu / Vatha kolumbu)| Ingredients-1 | |
|---|---|
| 6 nos | Dry red chilli |
| 2 tsp | Coriander seeds |
| 2 tbsp | Split red gram (toor gram) |
| ½ tsp | Black pepper corns |
| ½ tsp | Cumin seeds |
| ¼ tsp | Fenugreek seeds |
| ¼ tsp | Split black gram |
| 4 nos | Curry leaves |
| 1 pinch | Mustard (5 to 6 seeds) |
| Ingredients-2 | |
|---|---|
| 20 nos | Shallots (sambar onions) |
| 2 clove | Garlic |
| Ingredients-3 | |
|---|---|
| 2 tsp | Vatral |
| 1 tsp | Roasted peanuts |
| 1 tsp | Bengal gram |
| ¼ tsp | Mustard |
| ¼ tsp | Cumin seeds |
| 10 nos | Curry leaves |
| 2 pinch | Asafoetida powder |
| ¼ tsp | Jaggery (powdered) |
| ¼ cup | Gingelly oil |
| ¼ tsp | Turmeric powder |
| 3 tsp | Thick tamarind pulp |
| ½ tsp | Salt (or to taste) |
Instructions
Its always better to make vatral / vatha kuzhambu with freshly prepared spice powders. Here is how to make fresh Vatral / Vatha Kuzhambu powder. Dry roast each ingredient separately from Table- 1 (Dry red chilli, coriander seeds, split red gram(thuvaram paruppu), black pepper corn, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, split black gram, curry leaves and mustard). Let cool completely and grind to a coarse powder.
Add small onions and garlic from table-2 to this coarsely ground powder and grind to smooth paste.
Heat gingelly oil, splutter mustard, cumin seeds, curry leaves and sprinkle the asafoetida powder. Roast the Vatrals, groundnuts and Bengal gram along with the seasoning. Now add the ground Vatral / Vatha Kuzhambu paste which was made earlier and fry until the raw smell goes away. This raw gravy could splutter all over, so be carefully and cook on low flame. Use a lid to cover for few minutes, but keep checking to avoid the masala sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add the tamarind juice, turmeric powder, salt and jaggery with 1/2 cup of water. Let cook on low flame for 10 minutes or until the oil separates from the gravy. Garnish with curry leaves and serve hot with steamed rice and pappad.
Notes
Sundakkai Vatral is used in this recipe.
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I tried for the first time…. it came out very well…. all my friends enjoyed it…. thanks
Very nice. Don’t put extra than measure. Perfect dish. I used chilling powder for colour. And also big onion and tomatoes into cut. Very similar to kalyana veetu vatha kulambhu.
i know how to make vatral kolamb but what u said above is very diffent from my preparation .but it looks yummm thanks .
kindly send that vatha kozambu receipe to kousimayan@gamil.com
nice let me comment after tryin it out
hi vidya and rajamani , i thanks to both of you. i need, how to prepare our own “masala podi”. what ever i need to buy and how to prepare it. kindly write it here deatily
Hullo Mullai,
Tried this recipe and it came out so well. First time ever I prepared Vatral Kuzhambu and I was so happy that it was so tasty. Before this curry Chennai Balajee Bhavan Vatral Kuzhambu had been my favourite.
i made the preparation which is mentioned above, really its fantastic. when having rice with this vathakuzhambau, feels like to have more and more, very tasty and particularly, the ingredients in this reciepe is improving the taste more to the tongue.
thanks a lot.
I have tasted vartha kuzhambu many times made in my house, but I am really astonished to taste the vatral Kuzhambu which you have given above. It really tasteful and I like it more than any thing. One thing I tell you as we are Andhra people we have added some more red chillies. Thank you.
First time here. You seem to have an exhaustive collection of Indian recipes.I was looking for a vatha kulambu recipe while I chanced upon your site.
I tried this receipe. I came up very well. Once small change I did is washed the vatral before fry in deep oil. Some time the vatral is very salty..
Keep posting
Prabhu
mouth watering receipe…………. thanks mullai
hai mullai i tried your kozhumbu today. it is yummy.definetly i will write it in my recipe book.Hope u dont mind.:)
Hi Mullai,
I tried this recipe today..It was awesome. Thank you so much for such good recipes.
hi, i would like to ask .i make vathal kulambu also but mine tastes sour..i always add half of lime size tamarind with 2 cups water and i use ready made masala powder, wat should i do?
Tried it yesterday. Too good Mullai.
hi mullai, i am planning to try this…
but i dont have sambar vengayam, shall i use ordinary one?
Hi mullai do u know where we can get this vatral.
Hey Radhika, you can find those vatrals in all Indian Stores
Hi mullai, tried this receipe. Came out good but it doesn’t come as you shown in the picture. but tastewise great and nice aroma…In my kuzhambu, oil doesn’t seperate from it…Could u pls tell me the reason for it. Also i added enough oil as u mentioned in the receipe.
Mullai,
Just I finished this mouth watering recipe,I tasted little bit.. Awesome, Made Potato Fry and Papads and Rasam to go along with this dish + ( Rice) . I also made the powders from scratch.
Regs
Jaya Lakshmi
Your recipes are Awesome.One of the best.This vatrakuzhambu is simply superb.
looking forward for more recipes.
Hi Naren, very happy to read your comment….was like a motivational boost. Thanks!! and I assure you that you won't be disappointed as there are lot more nice recipes to follow.
hai i m fan,i m in singapore,ialways try ur recipes and i v get gud name frm my husband………..i hav a dobt i dont hav that vathal here…….can i prepare plain kolambu r can i use moorvathal
hey mullai i have a doubt about the names of these two things,Sundakkai, manathakkali.can you tell english or hindi names so that i can understand.and where i can get those dry veg.vatral in shop or you did it at home????thanks in advance.
What is sambar onion. I only know 4 kinds of onion. The normal small one (light pink) & dark pink. A big pink one (there is also dark pink one) and a yellow one. Just 32km different between us. So many differences yet. Thats sad. Btw, If you dont mind, the tamil word must have "ra" instead of "tha".
http://www.spiceindiaonline.com/red_bell_pepper_chutney
Thanks for the spelling correction, just trying on tamil fonts and one colloquial way of saying vathral is vathal. Many search that way, did a bit of research, before posting here. Anyways
.
U R SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sweet mullai. i really appriciate ur way of replying our friends here.
keep it up. i m also ur fan.
GayathriKarthik
Gayathri,
Please post all your recipe request under that category, not all post will get a reply… so many tips and techniques relating to the recipe might be listed under respective posts, pls check them before posting a question. BTW, thanks for your feedback.
Mullai,
As soon as i saw this receipe,i wanted to try this at the very instance.
Soooper.what more to say..
Gud receipe..excellent step by step instructions & exact measures…
Tnx.
Nithya, can't wait to hear from you. Write to after you try it.
Hi Mullai,
I tried it..it is excellent,wonderful…I wrote to you ,just after i prepared the receipe!
Tnx and keep posting such gud receipes..
i have a doubt, can i use yellow onion instead of sambar onions? and should i need to grind raw onion with ground powder?. thanks for sharing your recipe.
Small sambar onions are mild and sweet which suits best for this recipe. You can also use regular onions, ofcourse grind them raw with the masala, but, tastes different though… I would be happy if you get yourself registered and go by a name. Thanks for visiting.
hi i am anu
I registered too.
i tried this recipe with sambar onion the outcome was good.
Thanks Anu.
excellent,mouthwatering.’keep up the good work.