Thalagam Kuzhambu, Mixed veg in Spicy Gravy, Festival Recipe from Tirunelveli (Tamilnadu)
Thalagam Kuzhambu is a Naivedyam or offering to God in Tirunelveli District on the festival of Thiruvathira. Thalagam Kuzhambu is a medley of different varieties of Root Vegetables, Gourds, and some green vegetables in a spicy coconut and sesame gravy. This spicy curry is an accompaniment to "Kali" which is a sweet porridge.
Ingredients
Ingredients for the paste
- 2 tbsp Sesame Seeds
- 1 tsp Coconut Oil
- 1 tbsp Urad
- 1 tbsp Chana Dal
- 1 tsp Fenugreek Seeds
- 5 Nos Kashmiri Chilli
- 2 Nos Dry Red Chilli
- 1 cup Grated Coconut
- 1 Sprig Curry Leaves
Vegetables for Curry (you can use any combination of Root vegetables, gourd vegetables and green vegetables). Use a total of 1 kg of mixed vegetables.
- 100 gms Sweet Potato cut into big dices or long slices (Approx one cup)
- 100 gms Yucca or Yam or Taro or any similar root vegetable. cut into big dices or long slices (Approx one cup)
- 100 gms Plantain cut into big dices or long slices (Approx one cup)
- 100 gms Carrot cut into big dices or long slices (Approx one cup)
- 100 gms Chawli/Barbatti or French Beans Cut into an inch piece. (Approx one cup)
- 100 gms Flat Green Beans Cut into an inch piece. (Approx one cup)
- 150 gms Ash Gourd cut into big dices or long slices (Approx one cup)
- 200 gms Pumpkin cut into big dices or long slices (Approx one cup)
- 100 gms Snake Gourd or any other green vegetable of choice like Eggplant, Ridge Gourd. cut into big dices or long slices (Approx one cup)
- 50 gms Fresh Green Peas
- 2 cups Water
- 1 tsp Turmeric powder
- 3 tsp Salt
- 3 tbsp Thick Tamarind Pulp. Take 20 gms Tamarind or one Lime size ball of tamarind. Soak it in water for sometime and extract pulp.
- 1 tbsp Jaggery
Ingredients for Tempering
- 1 tbsp Coconut Oil
- ¼ tsp Asafoetida
- 1 tsp Black mustard Seeds
- ¼ cup Grated fresh coconut
- 1 sprig Curry Leaves
Instructions
Prepare Paste
- Heat a Pan. Dry roast Sesame seeds till they turn light brown and start to crackle.
- Take it out in a bowl.
- Add a tsp of coconut oil to the same pan.
- Add Urad Dal.
- Add Chana Dal.
- Add Fenugreek Seeds.
- Add Kashmiri Chillies
- Add normal Chillies.
- Roast everything together till Dal turns pink.
- Take out and add this to the same bowl with Sesame Seeds.
- In the remaining oil, add freshly grated coconut.
- Add a few curry leaves.
- Roast till coconut turns brown.
- Add roasted coconut also along with Sesame and roasted dals.
- Add some water and grind everything to a coarse paste.
Prepare Curry
- Take a large Pan. Add sweet potatoes to it.
- Add Yuca, Yam , Taro or any similar root vegetable.
- Add Plantain.
- Add Carrots.
- Add 2 cups of Water.
- Add turmeric powder.
- Stir everything. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, add Cowpea Beans or French Beans.
- Add Snake Gourd or any other gourd.
- Add Flat Beans or Lima Beans.
- Add Ash Gourd.
- Add Pumpkin.
- Add fresh green peas.
- Add Salt.
- Mix and cook all vegetables again for 10 minutes.
- Cook till the vegetables become fork tender.
- Add tamarind pulp to the cooked vegetables.
- Add about 1/4 cup water (washed off water of tamarind).
- Cook for 2 minutes till the raw smell of tamarind goes off.
- Add prepared Paste.
- Add a cup of water. You can use washed off water from the blender.
- Add 1 tsp of Salt.
- Add Jaggery.
- Stir everything together and bring gravy to a boil.
- Turn off flame once boil comes in the gravy.
Tempering
- Heat coconut oil for tempering.
- Add asafoetida.
- Add mustard seeds.
- Add a sprig of curry leaves.
- Add grated coconut once mustard starts to crackle.
- Roast till coconut turns brown.
- Turn off flame and add tempering to prepared curry.
- This curry is served with sweet Kali during the Thiruvathira festival.
- But you can have this curry with steamed rice and ghee on a regular day as well.
