Friday, August 21, 2015

Vendakkai Kaara Kuzhambu (Okra in Spicy Sauce)

Lady Fingers or Okra as they are called are one of the favorite vegetables in our house, cooked usually as a stir fry like in this recipe here, and tend to vanish very quickly. I hesitate just a teeny weeny bit to cook them as Kuzhambus because of the slime, the longer they have been sitting in the refrigerator the slimier the Kuzhambu tends to become. If the slime can be taken dealt with, they taste excellent when cooked as Puzhi Kuzhambu or Kara Kuzhambu. To keep the slime at bay wash the okras and dry out the moisture before chopping and roast separately till they start to turn color and blackened on the edges. This Spicy Kara Kuzhambu is best eaten with rice and some dal.

Originally Posted : 6/25/07 9:53 PM

This is a recipe that I go back to every time I get some fresh okra. Like I mentioned in the first paragraph I save making this only when there are fresh okras which I seem to have plenty of these days. The recipe itself is fool proof so I won't tinker with it much. The channa dal tends to thicken the curry a little so if you want to swap it out for coconut, by all means.



Vendakkai Kaara Kuzhambu
Preparation Time:20 minutes
Cooking Time:20 minutes
Ingredients
1. 1/2 lb Okras cleaned and cut into ¾ inch pieces
2. 1/4 Medium Sized Red Onion Chopped
3. 3 Garlic pods chopped
4. 1/4 cup tamarind pulp (soak the tamarind in water and extract pulp)
5. seasonings - split urad dal , methi seeds, cumin seeds and mustard seeds
6. salt to taste
7. 3 tsp of oil
8. 1/2 tsp of jaggery or palm sugar




Paste
1. 1/4 Red Onion chopped roughly
2. 2 tbsp Corriander seeds
3. 2 tsp Cumin Seeds
4. 1 tsp pepper corns
5. 2 Red Chillies
6. 1 tbsp of channa dal (kadalai paruppu) [can use coconut instead]

Roast 2-6 in a little bit of oil, remove and add the onions and saute till translucent. Blend to a smooth paste.

Method
1. In a pan add a little bit of oil and add the okra pieces and saute till they start to turn slight brown/black around the edges. Set aside.
2. Add a little bit more oil, when hot add the urad dal, methi seeds, curry leaves and mustard and when the mustard seeds start to pop add
3. the onion and saute till translucent, add the garlic pieces and saute for a few minutes
4. now add the sauteed okra pieces and saute for a few more minutes.
5. Now add the blended paste, enough water, salt
6. Cook for 3-4 minutes
7. Add the tamarind pulp and cook till the required consistency is reached.
8. Add the sugar when ready to turn off the heat.

Serve with rice.

12 comments:

  1. I make this with kathrikkai.. Tastes gr8 either ways!

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  2. delicious, i love kozambu. this version looks simple!

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  3. I'm glad it's finally Tuesday so I can see your Monday post, ISG ;)

    Okra is one of my favs too and somehow the sliminess doesn't bother me too much so I wouldn't hesitate to try this. Looks like an awesome breakfast dish and that's a particularly gorgeous photo, too! I love the color.

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  4. love okra, but have always made dry dishes with it! would like to try this version, tamarind gravy must taste yum :)

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  5. Mom is here and you got a Monday post :) I love okras but we always make dry dishes of it, never put them in gravy before

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  6. yay. no sambar podi. i want to try this.

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  7. wow!!!nice one ....okra and spicy sauce ...must have tasted great...

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  8. Oooh! That looks yum, ISG! Okra is one of my favourite veggies. This must taste awesome!

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  9. Okras, one of my favourite veggies also. We mostly cook okras as a dry dish, we cut it up and then put it in the sun to dry out before cooking it. We also eat it with dal and rice :)

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  10. great......

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  11. It was dame good. Thank for ur receipe

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