Sundakkai vathal kuzhambu recipe, South Indian gravy - Raks Kitchen (2024)

Updated on by Raks Anand 44 Comments

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Sundakkai vathal kuzhambu, flavourful south Indian gravy for rice, made with dried vegetables like sundakkai vathal, mangai vathal, kothavarangai vathal.

Sundakkai vathal kuzhambu recipe, South Indian gravy - Raks Kitchen (1)
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  • How to make sudakkai vathal?
  • Instructions
  • Recipe card

As I have said in my earlier post, I love love vathal kuzhambu than any other kuzhambu. Usually vathal kuzhambu recipes made by brahmins/ iyer has only vathal and no onion or garlic I think.

But we make it with both. Though this time I made without garlic, we usually add finely chopped small onions and garlic.

I love sundakkai vathal fried darkly to accompany curd rice. Never tasted the ones in these kuzhambu.

Don’t ask about sundakkai kootu or sambar, I will run miles away from it. My mom insists to eat it for its health benefits. But I can’t eat. I love vathals though.

We have sudakkai plant in our backyard, still have one at Salem. It yields a lot of sudankkai (turkey berry).

Sundakkai vathal kuzhambu recipe, South Indian gravy - Raks Kitchen (2)

How to make sudakkai vathal?

I like to make vathals out of sundakkai, it's an interesting process. Yes, my mom washes and spreads the berries and we use a clean hammer to gently nudge on it and open it up.

After that, boil it and dry well. This step is to eliminate the bitterness.

Then it's all added to sour buttermilk and sundried to make vathal. Its stored and used throughout the year.

I always wonder how our cuisine uses up the vegetables in form of vathals and it comes handy to cook at home, even when there is no vegetables in hand. Cool right? 😎.

Sundakkai has a lot of health benefits, though I don't know many, one main thing is it can help you to get rid of worms in tummy, especially for bachelors who eat outside food and kids. Its also rich iron.

Sundakkai vathal kuzhambu recipe, South Indian gravy - Raks Kitchen (3)

Instructions

  1. Chop onion finely, extract tamarind juice by soaking it in hot water for 10 minutes.
  2. Make it 2 and ½ cups by adding water to it. Set aside. Heat a kadai with sesame oil, temper with the items given under ‘To temper’ table.
  3. Before adding curry leaves, add sudakkai vathal and fry until everything turns golden brown in colour. Make sure the vathal gets fried.
  4. Add curry leaves followed by chopped onion. Fry till it turns brown here and there.
Sundakkai vathal kuzhambu recipe, South Indian gravy - Raks Kitchen (4)

5. Add the tamarind juice, bring to boil, add sambar powder, turmeric and salt. Lower the flame to medium.

Sundakkai vathal kuzhambu recipe, South Indian gravy - Raks Kitchen (5)

6. Boil for 6-8 minutes or until oil separates, towards the end, add jaggery and mix well. Switch off the flame when the kuzhambu gets thick.

Sundakkai vathal kuzhambu recipe, South Indian gravy - Raks Kitchen (6)

Usually, vathal kuzhambu and kootu is the best combination to serve. Thogayal also goes well with this.

Sundakkai vathal kuzhambu recipe, South Indian gravy - Raks Kitchen (7)

Recipe card

Sundakkai vathal kuzhambu recipe, South Indian gravy - Raks Kitchen (8)

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5 from 2 votes

sundakkai vathal kuzhambu

Vathal kuzhambu recipe, Sundakkai vathal kuzhambu, flavourful kuzhambu made with dried vegetables like sundakkai vathal, mangai vathal, kothavarangai vathal.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian, South Indian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Author Raks Anand

Servings 3 people

Cup measurements

Ingredients

  • 20 Sundakkai vathal dried turkey berry
  • 1 Onion
  • 1 tablespoon Tamarind Gooseberry sized
  • 3 teaspoon Sambar powder measure heaped
  • ¼ teaspoon Turmeric
  • ½ teaspoon Jaggery
  • Salt

To temper

  • 2 tablespoon Sesame oil
  • ½ teaspoon Mustard
  • ½ teaspoon Fenugreek seeds
  • 1 teaspoon Urad dal
  • 1 teaspoon Toor dal
  • 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
  • 1 sprig Curry leaves

Instructions

  • Chop onion finely, extract tamarind juice by soaking it in hot water for 10 minutes. Make it 2 and ½ cups by adding water to it. Set aside.

  • Heat a kadai with sesame oil, temper with the items given under ‘To temper’ table.

  • Before adding curry leaves, add sudakkai vathal and fry until everything turns golden brown in colour. Make sure the vathal gets fried.

  • Add curry leaves followed by chopped onion. Fry till it turns brown here and there.

  • Add the tamarind juice, bring to boil, add sambar powder, turmeric and salt. Lower the flame to medium.

  • Boil for 6-8 minutes or until oil separates, towards the end, add jaggery and mix well.

  • Switch off the flame when the kuzhambu gets thick.

Notes

  • If the kuzhambu does not get thick, you can consider dissolving ½ to 1 teaspoon rice flour in 1 tablespoon of water and add to kuzhambu. Do not over do as the consistency will be wierd.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. AparnaRajeshkumar

    Yes as u said vathakuzhambu is no onion and no garlic 🙂 variations are always there 🙂 so we can add the garlic and onion 🙂 The first snap shot with coconut thokayal 🙂 i am drooling!

    Reply

  2. prathibha Garre

    Love tangy kind of side dishes with rice..looks yumm

    Reply

  3. Ramya Krishnamurthy

    yummy and my most favorite kuzhambu

    Reply

  4. Uma Ramanujam

    One of my fav too Raks. we prepare it without onion and garlic as Aparna n u said. YUmmy with steamy rice...isn't it?

    Reply

  5. Harini M

    Looks delicious 🙂

    Reply

  6. Chella KS Nathan

    Raks amazing recipie 🙂 loved the clicks and how i wish to eat that plate full of tasty food 🙂 yum yum 🙂

    Reply

  7. CHITRA

    Lovely clicks. My fav 🙂

    Reply

  8. Shama Nagarajan

    delicious...

    Reply

  9. BAGIRATHI DEVI

    Color is perfect I will try

    Reply

  10. anusha praveen

    Now that s some thing that i would like to eat with hot rice and ghee. Yumm

    Reply

  11. Vimitha Anand

    Its my favorite... Looks so tempting

    Reply

  12. Gayathri Ramanan

    my fav too..love to eat it with curd rice...tempting clicks

    Reply

  13. Janani

    I love vathakulambhu too its my fav,when had with kootu its at its best nothing can be compared, I have never made it without garlic but this looks good will def give a try to this.

    Reply

  14. Priti S

    Always love this and you are tempting me right now so much ...I got same in draft too

    Reply

  15. JEYASHRI SURESH

    Enna oru superana combo. My menu for tom is planned. Pretty clicks

    Reply

  16. Aarthi

    this is my fav..i love vathal kulambu

    Reply

  17. SHARMILEE J

    Alltime fav....this with rice I can have it anytime of the day

    Reply

  18. Chitz

    One of my favs.. I always have extra rice when this is prepared 🙂

    Reply

  19. Yengay Manithargal

    Nice Raks. Easy to prepare too.I know one more variety everything is same but I will fry and grind onion + garlic with this it will give different taste

    Reply

  20. Sreeja A.J.

    Hi
    I tried today. never tasted before sundal vatta kuzhampu. Did you powder urad dal, toor dal and fenugreek seeds. so I will do better next time

    Reply

  21. Raks anand

    No just add it to hot oil as such.

    Reply

  22. swe

    Awesome recepie. . I want to know if I can make this without adding any vathal..

    Reply

  23. snehalathaish

    Hi Raks, Itired this recipe and it turned out fine except that it was a bit bitter. What would have been the reason?

    Reply

  24. Raks anand

    Sure it will be good.

    Reply

  25. Raks anand

    May be its from too much of turkey berry or you have nt fried properly

    Reply

  26. akshaya

    hi Raji, no need to add tomatoes in this curry?

    Reply

  27. Raks anand

    We usually do not add, but if you want you can add one small after onion

    Reply

  28. sara

    Very nice

    Reply

  29. Vanitha Francis

    Can this be made with other vegetables like small eggplant. How about addition of ground coconut?

    Reply

  30. Raks anand

    You can add eggplant. Coconut can also be added.

    Reply

  31. Shobia Priyatharsini Rajasekaran

    Very nice..thank u for sharing

    Reply

  32. Shobia Priyatharsini Rajasekaran

    Very nice..thank u for sharing

    Reply

  33. Harini

    Hi raji... can i add chilly powder and dhaniya powder if I don't have sambar podi? If so wats the ratio?

    Reply

  34. Raks anand

    Hi Harini, you can try 1 & 1/2 tsp red chilli powder and 1 tsp dhaniya powder

    Reply

  35. ashvitha

    how long can we store and have?

    Reply

  36. Manonmani Suresh

    Can I try it with coconut paste

    Reply

  37. Raks Kitchen

    Yes sure.

    Reply

  38. Vidhu

    Hey Raks...thank-you for the recipie. I tried making this for the first time. The gravy tastes superb but the berries are super bitter. Do they usually taste like that?

    Reply

    • Raks Anand

      It has slight bitter taste. Let me share some points to note - Make sure you roast it really well while tadka. It should get fried well from the inside. Also if it gets enough spice, tamarind, salt, it wont be that bitter. But the vathal has slight natural bitterness which you cannot avoid. The vathal process also plays a role. Mom usually boils, soaks well in sour butter milk prior and salts well and dries. Hope this helps 🙂

      Reply

  39. Ahalya Manohar

    Hi... I got a question here...
    When the kulambhu is done, are the berries crispy like freshly fried or will it turn soggy as we are boiling it in the kulambhu?

    Reply

    • Raks Anand

      It will turn soft.

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Sundakkai vathal kuzhambu recipe, South Indian gravy - Raks Kitchen (2024)

FAQs

What is the best side dish for Vatha Kulambu? ›

As I mentioned earlier, Vatha Kuzhambu pairs best with steamed rice. Accompany a side vegetable dish/stir fry like Vazhakkai Poriyal, Beans Poriyal, potato fry or suran fry with it. With this kulambu, I would suggest to serve a side veggie dish with faint sweet notes, not spicy or bitter.

What is vatha kuzhambu made of? ›

Vatha Kulambu is a traditional, tangy gravy made by tempering veggies with spices, onion, tomato and cooking it with tamarind extract & spice powders. Vatha Kulambu is usually prepared with dried veggies or onion and a delicious combo with rice, idli and dosa.

What is the meaning of kuzhambu? ›

kuzhambu (uncountable) A spicy gravy made with tamarind and dal, part of South Indian and Sri Lankan Tamil cuisine.

What are the ingredients in Sakthi vathal Puli kulambu powder? ›

Tamarind, Chillie, Coriander, Pepper, Jeera, Fenugreek, Turmeric, Thoradhall, Uriddhall, Sundakai, Onion Vadam, Curry Leaves, Mustard, Raw Rice, Salt.

What is the difference between sambar and kulambu? ›

In addition to the different proportions of spices, sambar powder and kulambu masala powder are also distinguished by their color. Sambar powder is typically a light orange brown color, while kulambu masala powder is a darker brown or even red color.

What is vathal in English? ›

Sundakkai and Vathal

It is known as Turkey Berry in English. Sundakkais are soaked in curd, salted and sundried, which is later oil fried to bring out the final product. Vegetables or berries, when sundried are termed as Vathal in Tamil.

Is Mor Kuzhambu good for health? ›

Is Mor Kuzhambu healthy? Yes, Mor kuzhambu is healthy. Made mainly from curds, coconut, green chillies, coconut oil and spices.

What is the meaning of Vathakulambu? ›

Vatha Kulambu Recipe, is a popular South Indian gravy made with dried turkey berry, gingelly oil, tamarind and whole spices. This gravy is one of the most loved kulambu in the Iyengar community like my puli kulambu and ennai kathirikai.

What side dishes can be served with curries and why? ›

With that said, here are four side dishes you should try pairing with curry!
  • Rice. Some people prefer to serve the curry with rice that does not have any additional flavors. ...
  • Potatoes. Potatoes are flavorful, have an inexpensive filling, and are a popular ingredient in Indian cooking. ...
  • Bread. ...
  • Chutney.
Nov 23, 2022

What do you serve with Palla? ›

Another good dishes to serve with paella are tomato bread, Spanish green salad, patatas bravas, green beans, fried rice, gazpacho, roasted red peppers, garlic shrimp, Spanish omelette, marinated olives, grilled artichokes, and sautéed spinach with garlic.

How to eat paratha with curry? ›

Break off a piece of paratha, dip it into a bowlful of piping hot dal and scoop it up. Then put it into your mouth. The taste of the paratha with the dal is so good, you won't want to stop! These lentil curries go very well with paratha.

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