Kathirikai Puli Kuzhambu/Brinjal Tamarind Curry

Hi all, here i'm back with another Tamilnadu style of recipe. I couldn't able to post here for some months as i was enjoying my vacation in India. Well, i'm not used to these types of kulambu. Once on a chit-chat with my friend anchu, i learned the basic recipe of puli kuzhambu. Here i slightly varied it to suit my taste. The taste was slurp as it was some what similar to  varutharacha ULLI THEEYAL. Anyway we both starts to love this "kulambu" and so a big thanks to anchu :). CLICK HERE for no coconut puli kulambu recipe.

Ingredients:

Brinjal (small)	2 to 3
Shallots/Small Onion	10
Tomato (small)	1
Tamarind	1 small lemon size
Salt	to taste
Red Chilly Powder	3/4 tspoon
Coriander Powder	1&1/2 tspoon
Sambar Powder	2 tspoon
Asafoetida Powder	2 pinch

To Grind:

Grated coconut	1/4 cup
Small onion	1
Cumin seed	1/4 tspoon

To temper

Sesame Oil/Nallennai	1 tbl spoon
Dry red chilly	2
Mustard	1/2 tspoon
Fenugreek seeds	1/4 tspoon
Curry leaves	1 sprig

Preparation:

(1) Chop brinjal into cube shapes. Take a bowl of water and add 1 pinch of turmeric powder to it. Dip brinjal pieces to the water. Now chop tomato to cube shapes and also peel the skin of onion. Mean while soak tamarind in hot water and make 2&1/2 cups of tamarind juice out of it. Add needed salt to it and mix well. Keep everything aside.

(2) Grind the ingredients shown under heading "to grind" in a mixer by adding little water and make a fine paste. Keep it aside.

(3) Mean while heat oil in a pan and temper with the ingredients shown under the heading "to temper". To this add small onion and saute for a minute. To this add chopped tomato and brinjal pieces along with little salt. Saute well for few minutes so that the brinjal may shrink and it will be half cooked.

(4) Now add chilly powder, coriander powder and sambar powder to it and saute well so that the raw smell of masalas will leave. Immediately pour the prepared tamarind juice to it and allow to boil. 

(5) To this add ground paste. Mix everything, add safoetida powder and make a salt test. Now reduce the flame to low and allow the curry to boil for another 10 minutes or until you reach the "kuzhambu" consistency. Your puli kuzhambu is now ready.

Have it with your rice/dosa…

Tips and variations:

• You can also use other veggies like drumstick/lady's finger/bitter gourd.
• This dish can also be prepared without using coconut.
• Be generous in adding tamarind juice.
• Adjust spiciness according to your taste.
• For all types of puli kulambu reduce the water level to 3:1 ratio.