Curry leaves is an essential ingredient in South Indian cooking, especially tamil nadu. You will find this as a MUST seasoning ingredient in most of our dishes. The reason is this adds some nice flavor & nice dressing to our dish. However, our tendency is to always keep these curry leaves aside while eating. If only we realize how powerful and beneficial this wonder leaf is to our health, we will not neglect this healthy leaf again. Curry leaves also has a very pivotal role to play in our siddha and ayurvedic treatments.
Health Benefits of Curry Leaves:
1. Curry leaves prevents graying of hair and give nice dark colour to our hair, hence used in effective hair treatments.
2. It is rich in Vitamin A, B, B2 and C , calcium and iron in plenty.
3. This is good for the eyes, eating curry leaves regularly improves your vision.
4. It cures stomach related problems like indigestion, ulcer, diarrhea, “pitham” vomit etc.
5. Helps in Cholesterol reduction.
6. Studies reveal that those who are eating few curry leaves regularly have lost their weight.
There are various ways this curry leaves can be included as a main ingredient in our cooking other than its regular use for seasoning. We can make karuvepillai kozhambu, karuvepillai podi, karuvepillai chutney, karuvepillai thuvayal etc with these healthy leaves. So let us include karuvepillai as a MUST dish in our diet and reap many health rewards.
Generally no vegetable is added into this kozhambu, the kozhambu after it’s preparation is thick gravy in consistency, similar to vatha kozhambu. But I have used garlic in this version, as we are garlic lovers and we enjoy the flavor of garlic in all our kozhambus. Usage of garlic is however optional.
Here is the karuvepillai kozambu version.
English Name : Curry leaves / Tamil Name : Karuvepillai / Telugu Name : Karivepakku / Hindi Name : Karipatta
Ingredients:
Curry leaves - 2 Cups
Tamarind extracted water – 2 Cups
Channa dhal – 1 tbsp
Urud dhal – 1 tbsp
Pepper – 2 tsp
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Red Chillies – 4
Garlic – 10- 12 pods (optional)
Fenugreek powder – ½ tsp (optional)
Rice powder – 1 ½ tsp (optional) – mixed in ¼ cup water
Seasoning: Oil – 1 tsp, mustard seeds – 1 tsp, broken urud dhal – 1 tsp, channa dhal – 1 tsp, curry leaves – 8 to 10, hing – 1 tsp
Curry leaves powder preparation:
1. Dry fry separately channa dhal, urud dhal, pepper & cumin seeds.
2. In ½ tsp oil, fry red chillies.
3. In 1 tsp oil, fry the curry leaves.
4. Cool all the above and powder and keep ready.
Method:
1. In a kadai, add 2-3 tsp of oil, add garlic and sauté will it is aromatic and well cooked.
2. Add the 2 cups of tamarind extracted water, little hing, a teaspoon of salt and bring to a nice boil to get rid of the raw smell. Let the tamarind water consistency reduce to half.
3. Now add the Curry leaves powder and mix well. Add required salt now and continue boiling.
4. The kozhambu should become thick in consistency (you will see the powder well mixed with the tamarind and has a tinch of green colour), at this stage season as given and then remove.
5. After removing from stove, add ½ tsp of fenugreek powder for added flavor (this is an optional step).
Tips:
1. If the kozhambu consistency is not thick, add the rice powder mixed in water while boiling, this will thicken the kozhambu. This is optional.
2. Cook covered for a flavorful kozhambu.
3. Adding fenugreek powder at the end is only an optional step. If fenugreek powder is used, use it after removing the kozhambu from stove. Add ½ teaspoon of it (not more) and stir well. This powder has a bitter taste, adding it while cooking can make the kozhambu taste bitter.
Health Benefits of Curry Leaves:
1. Curry leaves prevents graying of hair and give nice dark colour to our hair, hence used in effective hair treatments.
2. It is rich in Vitamin A, B, B2 and C , calcium and iron in plenty.
3. This is good for the eyes, eating curry leaves regularly improves your vision.
4. It cures stomach related problems like indigestion, ulcer, diarrhea, “pitham” vomit etc.
5. Helps in Cholesterol reduction.
6. Studies reveal that those who are eating few curry leaves regularly have lost their weight.
There are various ways this curry leaves can be included as a main ingredient in our cooking other than its regular use for seasoning. We can make karuvepillai kozhambu, karuvepillai podi, karuvepillai chutney, karuvepillai thuvayal etc with these healthy leaves. So let us include karuvepillai as a MUST dish in our diet and reap many health rewards.
Generally no vegetable is added into this kozhambu, the kozhambu after it’s preparation is thick gravy in consistency, similar to vatha kozhambu. But I have used garlic in this version, as we are garlic lovers and we enjoy the flavor of garlic in all our kozhambus. Usage of garlic is however optional.
Here is the karuvepillai kozambu version.
English Name : Curry leaves / Tamil Name : Karuvepillai / Telugu Name : Karivepakku / Hindi Name : Karipatta
Ingredients:
Curry leaves - 2 Cups
Tamarind extracted water – 2 Cups
Channa dhal – 1 tbsp
Urud dhal – 1 tbsp
Pepper – 2 tsp
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Red Chillies – 4
Garlic – 10- 12 pods (optional)
Fenugreek powder – ½ tsp (optional)
Rice powder – 1 ½ tsp (optional) – mixed in ¼ cup water
Seasoning: Oil – 1 tsp, mustard seeds – 1 tsp, broken urud dhal – 1 tsp, channa dhal – 1 tsp, curry leaves – 8 to 10, hing – 1 tsp
Curry leaves powder preparation:
1. Dry fry separately channa dhal, urud dhal, pepper & cumin seeds.
2. In ½ tsp oil, fry red chillies.
3. In 1 tsp oil, fry the curry leaves.
4. Cool all the above and powder and keep ready.
Method:
1. In a kadai, add 2-3 tsp of oil, add garlic and sauté will it is aromatic and well cooked.
2. Add the 2 cups of tamarind extracted water, little hing, a teaspoon of salt and bring to a nice boil to get rid of the raw smell. Let the tamarind water consistency reduce to half.
3. Now add the Curry leaves powder and mix well. Add required salt now and continue boiling.
4. The kozhambu should become thick in consistency (you will see the powder well mixed with the tamarind and has a tinch of green colour), at this stage season as given and then remove.
5. After removing from stove, add ½ tsp of fenugreek powder for added flavor (this is an optional step).
Tips:
1. If the kozhambu consistency is not thick, add the rice powder mixed in water while boiling, this will thicken the kozhambu. This is optional.
2. Cook covered for a flavorful kozhambu.
3. Adding fenugreek powder at the end is only an optional step. If fenugreek powder is used, use it after removing the kozhambu from stove. Add ½ teaspoon of it (not more) and stir well. This powder has a bitter taste, adding it while cooking can make the kozhambu taste bitter.
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