Garlic Onion Kara Kuzhambu | Poondu Kulambu

Garlic Kara Kuzhambu, a spicy and tangy tamarind based curry without any vegetables and coconut. It tastes great with steamed rice or even with idli and dosa.

In our home, for almost all curries, we add coconut paste , never once Amma made any curry without coconut. Back in India,  Amma use atleast one whole coconut for our one day cooking. But now here , i'm trying to use one coconut for a week, because of limited availability of Indian coconut and our inexperience in choosing good one from the store.

Usually we bought two coconuts for a week and half the time, one would be spoiled and we realized that only when break the coconut and in order to avoid an another trip to Indian store, i manage to cook with the available coconut. You would have seen me using coconut & curry leaves in my kitchen, i have treat them as treasure 😜

Ok, now, back to the recipe, because of that coconut story , i have learned to make curries without coconut. To be honest, it was horrible at first, because of my inexperience  to balance the spices.

With my repeated attempts, i have learned to make well balanced Kara Kuzhambu / Puli kulambu without any coconut. If you're trying for the first time, even with the exact measurement and procedure, you may end with terrible curry. Not because the recipe is wrong, you have to learn to balance the spices. Every brand of tamarind and chili powder differs in taste, so by practice, you will achieve it. 

Like i always say, if i can make it, you can also :-) Now, let's check out the recipe  

Garlic Kara Kuzhambu | Poondu Kulambu

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Poondu Kuzhambu, Garlic Kulambu,Garlic kulambu with coconut,kara kuzhambu, puli kulambu Garlic Onion Kara Kuzhambu, a delicious tamarind based curry made with garlic and onion.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
Tamarind - a gooseberry size
Pearl onion - 6
Garlic - 10 pods
Tomato(small) - 1 
Curry leaves -few
Fenugreek Seed - 1/2 tsp
Red Chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Sambar powder - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1& 1/2 tbsp
Mustard & urad dal - 1/4 tsp
Jaggery - a small piece

Procedure

Soak the tamarind in a 1/2 cup of water for 20 mins, peel the onion & garlic and chop them roughly into pieces, tomato into small pieces.  Heat the oil in a kadai, add fenugreek seed, mustard & urad dal, let the mustard splutter, then add the onion,garlic and curry leaves.

Saute till the onions become translucent, keep the flame in low and then add the spices(turmeric, red chili & sambar powder),saute them in the oil for few mins.

Then add the tomatoes, give a quick mix and add salt.

Extract the tamarind juice from the soaked tamarind and add into kadai and add more water to your preferred consistency.

Let it boil until the raw smell goes off and finally add the jaggery pieces. Cook it for few more mins and switch off the flame.

Delicious Kara Kuzhambu is ready.

Notes:

• Keep the flame in low when adding the spices,otherwise it will be burnt easily.
• Adding the spices in the oil gives enhanced flavor to the kuzhambu.
• Sambar powder that i have used here is home made and haven't had any chilies in it. If your sambar powder has chili in it, reduce the chili powder and adjust to your taste.
• Boil the curry till the consistency you prefer.