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Kuzhambu

Similar to Sambar, Kuzhambu is common in South Indian daily food menu for lunch or dinner. Typically a Tamil meal or South Indian meal will have Sambar or Kuzhambu then end with Rasam and/or Curd.

While Kuzhambu is not curry that the world has seen, we would like to refer this as the hot and sour curry - Hot because of the chilli and Sour because of the tamarind.

There is no equivalent word for Kuzhambu in English or any recipe is available globally except South India.

There are plenty of Kuzhambu recipes and some of them varies depending on the vegetables we use. Here we will show case a standard Kuzhambu recipe which any one can quickly master.

Ingredients
to fry
for Kuzhambu
Preparation
1

Smash tamarind and salt in water and make juice.
Filter it and keep aside.

2

Heat oil in a pan, reduce the flame to low and add vadagam. Vadagam contains mustard seeds and it will pop when it becomes hot. When its done popped, add onion, crushed garlic, green chilies, curry leaves, coriander leaves and turmeric powder.

Increase the flame to medium and fry till golden brown, then add tomato, fry till oil splits.

3

Increase the flame a bit and add tarmarind juice, chopped vegetables, chilli powder, corriander powder and sambar powder. Stir well till they blend and cover the pan with lid.

Mixed vegetables for this example, we have taken drumstick (murungakkai), green mango (mangai) and garlic. Garlic is always there as an ingredient in Kuzhambu. However for some recipes we add more garlic. There is also a variety of Kuzhambu which has no vegetables but just garlic called "Poondu Kuzhambu".

Image of Kuzhambu
murungakkai-kuzhambu-in-a-pot

4

When you hear the boiling sound reduce the flame to low, do not open the lid because you will loose the aroma and that will change the taste of the kuzhambu.

Cook for 20 min and serve.

5

Pour it on top of the cooked rice.
Kuzhambu
murungakkai-manga-poondu-kuzhambu
Mix and eat.

Usually we have a side dish to go with Kuzhambu.

Typical Tamil meal or South Indian meal is a minimum 2 course meal with Sambar or Kuzhambu followed Rasam. Some people need to have curd also or curd instead of rasam.

Popular side dish for Kuzhambu includes:

Vegetarian side dish:
Potato fry, Plantain fry, Kootu, Keerai kadayal. If no vegetable is available just appalam or vathal makes a good side dish combo for Kulambu.

Non-Vegetarian side dish:
Chicken fry, Fish fry, Mutton fry.

Popular Kuzhambu from Non-Veg category includes:
Fish kuzhambu, Mutton kuzhambu
While the name Kuzhambu is common in veg and non-veg, the method of preparation differs.

Other names/spelling variations of Kuzhambu:
Kulambu, Kuzhambhu, Kulambhu, Kolambhu, Kozhambu, Hot and sour vegetable curry, South Indian curry.

Leftover tips:
Leftover Kuzhambu can be kept overnight (if required in the Fridge which is optional) for use as side dish for Idly or Dosai. This is a super delicious side dish and also saves time for making a side dish.


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We are passionate about food. In this website we will talk about South Indian food, particularly Tamil food. We have organized the recipes based on veg and non-veg category or You can browse the photos to check out a recipe. Since we are global Indians, we are including few fusion recipes, experimenting different style of food. On each recipe page, you can click on ingredients/spices to learn more about them.

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