Dad's porichakozhambu
Mixed vegetable coconut free, gluten-free curry for winter
Ingredients
To prepare tamarind pulp
- 1 small lime sized ball tamarind
- 1 cup drinking water ( warm )
For the porichakozhambu masala
- 2 tbsp Urad Dal (black gram dal)
- 1 tbsp Channa Dal ( split bengal gram)
- 1 tsp Black pepper
- 1 tsp dry red chillies ( i used flakes)
- 15-20 curryleaves
vegetables needed
- 1 cup wintermelon Diced and loosely packed
- 1 cup snake gourd diced and loosely packed
- 1/2 cup bitter gourd diced and losely packed
for the chickpea
- 1/2 cup chickpea ( pre-cooked or from a can)
to cook the vegetables
- 2 cups drinking water
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- salt to taste
Instructions
for the tamarind extract
- Soak the small lime sized ball of tamarind in the warm water and set aside for 10 minutes
- Once soft muddle the tamarind and extract the soft pulp in the water. Remove the unwanted hard bits and strain the tamarind pulp. Set aside until use
prepare the vegetables
- Wash and clean the vegetables needed.
- Remove the central part of the bitter gourd, the snake gourd and winter melon. Dice the vegetables about 1-inch cubes.
- In a cooking pot add two cups of water, the diced vegetables, salt and turmeric and bring to a boil.
- Add the precooked channa ( chickpea) to the vegetable combo. ( you can use yams in the place of channa)
- Now add the tamarind pulp prepared to this mix
- Cover and cook till the vegetables are soft.
for the poricha kozhambu masala mix
- In a separate pan, dry roast the dals and the spices on a low heat.
- Once they are crisp add the curry leaves and roast till the curry leaves snap.
- Cool this mix and powder it in a spice blender.
Completing the curry
- Add this masala mix to the cooked vegetable mix and stir in without any lumps.
- Simmer this on slow heat till the gravy thickens and the flavours mix well. This takes about 5-8 minutes on low heat.
- The curry is now ready to be served. Enjoy with steamed red rice and crisp vadams.
Notes
For the full fiery version
Use 1 tbsp black pepper and 7-10 red chillies in the masala mix to roast and powder. I have toned down this very much to suit my family.To meal prep and freeze
You can leave this curry in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. If you like to freeze, cool the prepared curry into freezer-friendly containers and save for up to 3 months. defrost as required. Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!