Thursday, September 11, 2008

Vatha Kolumbu


Vatha Kolumbu is a typical sounth Indian dish. Vathal – stands for sun dried stuff like dried Bhendi, Cluster beans or Marathakali. These sundried products are widely available in all leading grocery stores today. These have a long shelf life & adding these to these Kolumbus makes it really yummy & gives a different flavour.

I love Vatha kolumbu as its simple yet tasty! Just rice, vatha kolumbu & any simple vegetable on side & papad.. Ahh!! What a satisfying meal. They say Vatha kolumbu & Parruppu usali is the best combo & yes, I like it too, but its tastes great with just potato curry too…

So here my version of Vatha kolumbu for u!

Ingredients:

Tamarind – a lime size ball
Onion – 1
Gingelly Oil – 2 tbspns
Channa dhal – 1 tbspn
Mustard seeds - ½ tsp
Curry leaves – few
Maratha kali Vathal – a handful (store bought)
Sambhar powder – 2 tsps
Salt – to taste

Method:

1. Soak tamarind in water & set aside.

2. In a pan add little oil & fry the vathal for few minutes, till they turn slightly brown & puff up a bit. Transfer to a vessel & set aside.


3.In the same pan add remaining oil & mustard seeds, channa dhal & curry leaves.


4.Then add finely chopped onions & fry well till they turn slightly brown.


5.Now add the tamrind water & bring to a boil.


6.Then add the sambhar powder, salt & bring to a good boil, till the raw smell of tamarind goes off & you will see oil coming on top. By now it will have a good thick consistency too.


7.Finally add the fried Vathal & mix well.

Serve with hot rice & some vegetable & papad on the side.

19 comments:

dharmabum said...

i love this dish too - being a rice eater, it is easy to make, and like you've said, tastes wonderful with stir fried potatos :)

there are many versions of it though, made differently in different parts of tamilnadu. the one we make at home is quite similar to yours, only that in the initial part, we use a bit of toor dal instead of the channa dal. we also add dried chilli and a few methi seeds (vendayam, in tamil - i hope the hindi translation is right!)

Jayashree said...

It is one of my comfort food too....I've posted my version on my blog. do chk it out some time.

Laavanya said...

That looks perfect Seema and an absolute favorite.

Bhawna said...

Hi seema, Nice recipe, being from north its different and a must try.
thank u.

anudivya said...

Your dish is lovely, and your write up just makes me mouth water... all of my favs!

Anonymous said...

That is looking awesome...

Uma said...

ooooh! looks so delicious and colorful.

Cham said...

Lovely kuzhambu,good taken with rice and papad :)

lubnakarim06 said...

Something new to me. Looks gr8.

EC said...

I always end up adding ladies finger to this..maybe cause i dont like maratakalikaai...:-) pic looks delicious

Madhavi said...

Hummm very nice recipe, look yummmm!!!

Vijitha said...

hi ya
This is my first time here... u have such a lovely space...
The kozhambhu looks so yummy!!
I am pretty new to this blogging world...jus popped in to say my big hi!

Priya Kurup Premkumar said...

Seema, your version rocked and we overate. I normally dont use sambar powder and marathakali coz its bitter. I use okra and my inlaw's kuzhambu podi. It tasted quite different from my version and we loved it.

Anonymous said...

Seema:

Such a good treasure trove of recipes. Not sure what maratakalikaai is. Pics of this will be much appreciated.
Thanks!

Sincerely,
A maratakalikaai novice!

Rachel said...

have had it at restaurants...never made some on my own though

lubnakarim06 said...

Wow looks gr8. Never heard of this before.

dharmabum said...

hey, am sure you made lots for the festival. when is the update coming?

Meera said...

Happy New Year!!

Sanctified Spaces said...

This is my favourite dish too.