VATHAL KUZHAMBU RECIPE ~ Manathakkali Vathal Kuzhambu (வத்தல் குழம்பு)

VATHAL KUZHAMBU RECIPE / VATHA KUZHAMBU RECIPE / VATRAL KUZHAMBU / VATHAL KULAMBU RECIPE / SUN DRIED VEGETABLES GRAVY / VETHA KULAMBU RECIPE / HOW TO MAKE VATHAL KUZHAMBU? / KOLAMBU RECIPE / SOUTH INDIAN VEGETARIAN GRAVY RECIPE / KUZHAMBU RECIPES / VEGETARIAN RECIPES / SUNDAKKAI VATHA KUZHAMBU RECIPE /  வத்தல் குழம்பு / வத்தக் குழம்பு / MANATHAKKALI VATHA KUZHAMBU RECIPE /சுண்டைக்காய் வத்தல் குழம்பு / LUNCH RECIPES / GRAVY RECIPES / SOUTH INDIAN MAIN COURSE / TURKEY BERRY GRAVY / SUNDAKKAI – TURKEY BERRY

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 try making one and then proceed. This is my grandma’s recipe she freshly prepares this powder every time when making this kuzhambu, freshly ground masala gives nice aroma and makes it very tasty.
Ingredients-1
 6 long variety or 5 small  Dry red chilli
 2 teaspoon  Coriander seeds
 2 tablespoons  Split red gram (Toor dal / thuvaram parruppu )
 ½ teaspoon  Black pepper corns
 ½ teaspoon  Cumin seeds
 ¼ teaspoon  Fenugreek seeds
 ¼ teaspoon  Split black gram
 4 leaves  Curry leaves
 1 pinch  Mustard (5 to 6 seeds)

 

Ingredients-2
 20 small onions  Shallots (sambar onions / pearl onions)
 2 cloves  Garlic

 

Ingredients-3
 1/4 cup ( about 10 -15)  Vatral / Vathal (Any type – Sundakkai / Manathakali )
 1 teaspoon  Roasted peanuts
 1 teaspoon  Bengal gram
 ¼ teaspoon  Mustard
 ¼ teaspoon  Cumin seeds
 10 leaves  Curry leaves
 2 pinch  Asafoetida powder
 ¼ teaspoon  Jaggery (powdered)
 ¼ cup  Gingelly oil
 ¼ teaspoon  Turmeric powder
 3 teaspoons  Thick tamarind pulp
 ½ teaspoon  Salt (or to taste)

VATHA KUZHAMBU POWDER

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). Dry roasting them individually is a must as each item takes different time to roast  and to get the right roasting level better roast them one by one. Let cool completely and grind to a coarse powder.

VATHA KUZHAMBU PASTE –  Add small onions and garlic from (table-2) to this coarsely ground powder and grind to smooth paste.

TO MAKE VATHA KUZHAMBU 

Heat gingelly oil, splutter mustard, cumin seeds, curry leaves and sprinkle the asafoetida powder. Roast the Vatrals (sundakkai) , 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.

Vatral Kuzhambu

Notes

  • Recipe serves 3-4 adults
  • I’ve used Sundakkai vatral for this recipe, you may choose any.
  •  Making the onion garlic paste gives a smooth finish to the kuzhambu, you may also saute before adding the powder and proceed.
  • This recipe yields kind of thick kuzhambu, Adjust kuzhambu consistency with some water.
  • Sambar onions is a must for this recipe.

Comments

49 responses to “VATHAL KUZHAMBU RECIPE ~ Manathakkali Vathal Kuzhambu (வத்தல் குழம்பு)”

  1. vino Avatar
    vino

    Hi dear wanna try this one. In few of ur recipes yo hav mentioned tamarind pulp in terms of tsp.. So I find its difficult for begginers pls specify in terms of its size as yo usually do., lemon size or blueberry..in this recipe wats t size of tamarind.. Thanks in advance..

    1. Mullai Avatar

      Vino,use about a small lime size.

  2. […] Sundakkai Vatral Kuzhambu/Vathal Kulambu Source: Spiceindiaonline […]

  3. Divya Avatar
    Divya

    Highly disappointed by trying this. I could have done in usual way and it would havebe better than this.

  4. AkshayaD Avatar
    AkshayaD

    y should u add jaggery in a tamarind based curry? may i know its use??? wont it change the taste to sweet……….

    1. Mullai Avatar

      Akshaya,
      Jaggery or sugar are usually added to tamarind gravies to adjust the tanginess. Adding 1/4 tsp will not change the taste or turn sweet. Hope this helps.
      Thanks.

    2. zara Avatar

      Add jaggery gives you very good taste, make sure of the quantity.

  5. Athmika Avatar
    Athmika

    how to prepare channa Vatral Kuzhambu?

  6. dhanuja Avatar
    dhanuja

    I tried this vatha kuzhambu today . It came out really well and was very yummy..waiting for my hubby to give the verdict….. I know he will like it too…

  7. saravanan Avatar
    saravanan

    I tried this recipe today..It was awesome. Thank you so much for such good recipes.

  8. Sudha Avatar
    Sudha

    HI Mullai,

    I tried it out yesterday for the first time. It came out very well

  9. ebila robin Avatar
    ebila robin

    very tasty and mouth watering.thank you for such a great receipe

  10. Umashankar Avatar
    Umashankar

    I tried for the first time…. it came out very well…. all my friends enjoyed it…. thanks

  11. Geetha vijay Avatar
    Geetha vijay

    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.

  12. rohini rajagopalan Avatar
    rohini rajagopalan

    i know how to make vatral kolamb but what u said above is very diffent from my preparation .but it looks yummm thanks .

    1. kauasalaya Avatar

      kindly send that vatha kozambu receipe to kousimayan@gamil.com

  13. poonam Avatar
    poonam

    nice let me comment after tryin it out

  14. sasi.kumar067@gmail.com Avatar
    sasi.kumar067@gmail.com

    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

  15. Priya Uchil Avatar
    Priya Uchil

    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.

  16. T.V.HARSHINI. Avatar

    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.

  17. T.V. Subramanyam Avatar
    T.V. Subramanyam

    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.

  18. indiafoodrecipes Avatar

    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.

  19. Prabhu Avatar

    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

  20. raksha Avatar
    raksha

    mouth watering receipe…………. thanks mullai

  21. padma Avatar
    padma

    hai mullai i tried your kozhumbu today. it is yummy.definetly i will write it in my recipe book.Hope u dont mind.:)

  22. Krithiga Raja Avatar
    Krithiga Raja

    Hi Mullai,

    I tried this recipe today..It was awesome. Thank you so much for such good recipes.

  23. rajamani Avatar
    rajamani

    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?

  24. shenbi Avatar
    shenbi

    Tried it yesterday. Too good Mullai.

  25. divyaa Avatar
    divyaa

    hi mullai, i am planning to try this…
    but i dont have sambar vengayam, shall i use ordinary one?

  26. Radhika suresh Avatar
    Radhika suresh

    Hi mullai do u know where we can get this vatral.

    1. shan Avatar
      shan

      Hey Radhika, you can find those vatrals in all Indian Stores

  27. Visitor Avatar
    Visitor

    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.

  28. jlakshmi Avatar
    jlakshmi

    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

  29. Naren Avatar
    Naren

    Your recipes are Awesome.One of the best.This vatrakuzhambu is simply superb.
    looking forward for more recipes.

    1. Mullai Avatar
      Mullai

      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.

  30. catherine Avatar
    catherine

    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

  31. kaberi Avatar
    kaberi

    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.

  32. Manoo Avatar
    Manoo

    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".

    1. Mullai Avatar
      Mullai
      1. Sambar onion / Sambar Vangkayam / Shallots are nothing but small onion. They come in 3 colours pink, white and yellow. Check this recipe, it has picture showing small yellow onions.

      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 .

      1. gayathri karthik Avatar
        gayathri karthik

        U  R SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sweet mullai. i really appriciate ur way of replying our friends here.

        keep it up. i m also ur fan.

        GayathriKarthik

        1. Mullai Avatar
          Mullai

          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.

  33. Nithya Avatar
    Nithya

    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.

    1. Mullai Avatar
      Mullai

      Nithya, can't wait to hear from you. Write to after you try it.

      1. Nithya Avatar
        Nithya

        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.. 

  34. Visitor1 Avatar
    Visitor1

    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.

    1. Mullai Avatar
      Mullai

      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.

      1.  Avatar
        Anonymous

        hi i am anu
        I registered too.
        i tried this recipe with sambar onion the outcome was good.

        1. Mullai Avatar
          Mullai

          Thanks Anu.

  35. Visitor Avatar
    Visitor

    excellent,mouthwatering.’keep up the good work.