Can you guess which city this is ?
One more picture to help!
Kathrikkai Kuzhambu inspired by a visit to a restaurant in this city. My dear neighbor shared her bounty of eggplants with me (it is great to have such good loving neighbors don't you think). These were the long green variety and also the first time I have cooked with them. I have usually cooked and seen only the long purple variety. The dish works best with small purple brinjals. DD is away in New York with my camera so had to make do with the cell phone camera. Not that I take excellent pictures even with the digital camera but the looks should not take away from the taste of the Kuzhambu. It tasted really good.
Kathirikkai Kuzhambu
1. 3 long Green Brinjals sliced in 2 inches rounds OR 8-10 Small Purple brinjals slit
2. 1 Medium Red Onion Chopped fine.
3. 3 Medium sized juicy tomatoes
4. 1 tbsp Canned chopped tomatoes for a bright red color
5. 3 Green Chillies slit
6. 1/2 tbsp corriander powder
7. 1 tsp cumin powder
8. 1/2 tbsp red chilli powder
9. 3 tbsp tamarind juice from a cherry tomato sized tamrind ball
10. Seasonings: Curry leaves, cumin, mustard seeds, 2 tsp whole pepper corns.
11. 1 tsp oil
12. 1 tsp jaggery (optional)
Method
1. Heat oil add the cumin, pepper corns, curry leaves and mustard and when the mustard seeds starts to pop.
2. Add the onions and saute till translucent, add the powders and mix well.
3. Now add the tomatoes and saute till they are mushy
4. In a a separate pan heat a teeny weeny bit of oil and saute the brinjals(this step is required especially if the using the small whole brinjals)
5. Now add the brinjals and cover them with the tomatoes.
6. Add the tamarind juice and salt and the jaggery, jaggery brings out the sour taste of the tamarind really well. If needed a 1/4 cup of water.
7. Cover and cook till the brinjals are soft
Serve with rice and pappad.
those ingredients sound perfect for the kulambu. I like to do it with baby egg plants. I fry them a little and drop them in kulambu.
ReplyDeleteGreen eggplants are tastier than purple ones IMHO. I love to saute them with sambar powder and salt and have them with rasam.. yum!
ReplyDeleteHey , first time on your site! You have a wonderful blog and hope to see a lot of interesting recipes. I tasted this recipe at a friend's place and found it spicy for my pallete. Hope to make it someday as i'd like to have theme dinners!
ReplyDeleteLooks like NY or Boston to me!
ReplyDeleteThat's the common kind of green Badanekai we have in B'lore.I want that neighbor next to me please!:D
Looks lovely even though it's cell ph picture.I love Brinjals dishes anytime.
kuzhambu looks nice n thick. i made sambar with my harvest of eggplant, this wud be a nice way to use it next time :)
ReplyDeletenot sure @ the city :(
i love green eggplants but its sad that we dont get it here:( i cant stop salivating just thinking abt simple stir fry my mom cooks:) u surely r lucky to have such friedly neighbor indo. all i can think of getting from my neighbor is some dandellions(weeds) ;)
ReplyDeleten dont worry abt the picture. i come here for ur delicious recipes :)
ReplyDeleteIs this Toronto in canada?
ReplyDeleteLooks really delicious indeed, ISG, and I bet good and spicy with all those peppercorns. I would love to try the long green eggplant -- so good of your neighbor to share! My mom got one fruit on her ichiban plant, she did not even know was there. I have blossoms but no fruit yet. Are yours growing?
ReplyDeleteCity.. hmm.. am at work and the picture is not showing well on my computer here -- will have to check from home :)
Wow, u've got such a great neighbor Indo... Recipe sounds like a keeper, don't worry about the picture, you can always make it again and update the entry later... which I have to do to many of my posts :)
ReplyDeleteI love kathrikkai kuzhambu.....It is looking perfect...YUM!...
ReplyDeleteBuffalo? :)
ReplyDeleteHow about a little hint, ISG -- you've certainly got me stumped! :)
ReplyDeleteShrami they taste great with baby egg plants
ReplyDeleteSuganya, I have tasted the Thai round egg plants but not the green long ones but they sure taste good.
Dee. Welcome. You can always go easy on the spices if the other ingredients suit you.
Asha. Thanks but I am stingy there I want the neighbor all to myself :)
Richa, fresh eggplants in Sambhar is another great dish for sure.
Sia LOL, sure stir frys yum, I am waiting for my next batch :) Thank you dear friend. Looks like it is raining and flooding there. Hope you are keeping dry. I am wishing you good weather for quiet some time but no luck I guess.
Linda my neighbor is indeed a dear lady, last year it was bottle gourds. Mine are starting to flower and fruit may be ready to pick a few next week.
Sig, thanks dear that is a great idea. She is indeed. It sure is.
Thanks Sukanya.
Linda I thought the lake would give it away.
ISG, good one!! Toronto indeed. I missed the space needlish building from the aerial shot, or I might have had a shot. Buffalo is just across the lake ;) Excellent guessing game as I spent a good deal of time today at work looking at many skylines!
ReplyDeleteHey indosungod!
ReplyDeleteI don't live in Toronto, but my sister used to...so have been there once and the picture you posted is very siilar to a picture I have taken from the CN tower..plus I recognized some landmark buildings. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to visit this restuarant...
You are having some time with family and making trips Indo. How are you still getting time to cook ?
ReplyDeleteHave not had green eggplants, wish I had a neighbour who grew and gave them to me :)
hope u had a great vacation!!green brinjals? u didn't grow any brinjals this year? no veggie garden?
ReplyDeleteDang! Why, yes! It's Toronto! :) Thats the Gardiner expressway...we just went on that last Saturday and here I'm wondering if this city is Miami (Too much CSI, I guess)
ReplyDeleteGirl, don't tell me you were here last week and you didn't say a 'hi' to me. :( We live pretty near to Anjappar! And yeah, that's one damn good restaurant. I was going to write a review of that restaurant, but the food from there doesn't wait to be photographed. yeah, someday!
Kuzhambu looks fine and chunky. I love green eggplants. Thanks for sharing.:)
ReplyDeleteHey, I am on your blog for the first time. Never tried green eggplants. I am curious to how different they taste from the purples? Nice blog and recipes..
ReplyDeleteLinda, you were close. You spent time at work :) trying to figure this one out?
ReplyDeleteSandeepa, my mom does most of the cooking these days I will have the luxury for a couple of months more, she is in your neck of the woods visiting my bro, so here I am cooking!
Shaheen did have a good vacation but not long enough! I do have a veg. garden but no brinjals yet.
Kay, see what a beautifully shot (??) picture does to you. Shot this from the top of CN Tower we waited in line for over an hour to go to the pod(don't know why we do it but we do it everytime we visit there). I need a whack on my head for not saying Hi! to you at Toronto. We had to get visas for mom and aunt so we were not sure of crossing the border. It happened at the last minute. Sure even the DDs loved the food. Love the fact that they serve everything in steel plates and tumblers.
Kajal Welcome! Yes it is chunky and tastes great with rice.
Poonam, Welcome! I can't say if they taste different but the green ones are more firmer than the purple ones. Purple ones are slightly stringy in my opinion.
I have been to anjappar restaurant many times in chennai.. they are really good Indo.
ReplyDeleteYes green eggplants are very tasty and that too the small green ones. when I lived in singapore for a couple of yrs I had tried curries with small green brinjals and they taste great.. Now i could n't find any green ones, be it long or small here. Kuzhambu looks good.. if u have fresh drumsticks u can add them too ..
thanks indo for being so sweet n checking on me:) there is severe flood warning in nearby places where we live. we r in little safer area. :) so we will be dry and out of flood danger:)
ReplyDelete