Kondakadalai Vethakuzhambu | Chickpeas in Spicy tamarind gravy-vegan Tambrahm special Detox Meal

Presenting to you ,yet another treasure from my grandmom's kitchen. I have already explained in my earlier posts as to what is Vethakuzhambu / Vethakolambu .. this is another variation to the same recipe.

This recipe makes use of boiled chick peas / kabuli channa / kondakadalai in the gravy . Days when we are out of veggies in our pantry or there is no proper vegetable to cook up a meal, these kind off recipes come really handy and useful. Vathakuzhambu is kind off detox meal and helps lighten up a heavy stomach after binge eating during vacation or marriage season.

The blog already has other variants of vethakuzhambu / Tamarind based gravies  , whose links are mentioned below.

• Appalam Vethakuzhambu  (Papads in tamarind gravy)
• Parangikkai (pumpkin) Vathakuzhambu 
• Milagu Kuzhambu (Pepper based tamarind gravy)
• Vendhiya (fenugreek) Kuzhambu 
• Verkadalai VethaKuzhambu  (Peanut based tamarind gravy)

Vathakuzhambu and paruppu thogayal (lentil based chutney) served along with roasted and fried papad is an evergreen classic combination. At home we often pair it with some cooked thoor dhall and also rasam . Chilled curd rice at the end of the meal is a complete soul satisfying lunch menu on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.  A glimpse of one such lunch menu from my kitchen . The Sunday menu was a humble attempt to make a platter totally sans veggies and purely Vegan . Such a menu comes handy on days when we have exhausted vegetables in our pantry .

 

On the platter ,

Paruppu /Cooked Thoor dhall 

Kondakadalai Vethakolambu

Paruppu Thogayal / Lentil chutney 

Jeera Milagu Rasam / Cumin Pepper Rasam

Chunks of Sweet Ripe Mango

Plain steamed rice 

Fried papad 

Photos and write up updated on 18/5/2023 as a part of Redoing Old posts activity on my Facebook group . We like minded bloggers, come together every fortnight and redo one of our old posts by way of editing the text and or images . This way we give face-lift to our old posts which have been dormant for over time . 

Preparation Time : 10 mins
Cooking Time : 20-25 mins
Serves : 3-4
Complexity : Medium

Ingredients

100ml thick tamarind pulp
100 ml water
2-3 tablespoons sambar powder (click here for recipe)
2 tablespoon gingelly oil / til oil / nallennai
25-50gms boiled chickpeas / kondakadalai/kabuli channa
freshly chopped corriander leaves
freshly chopped curry leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds
pinch of asafoetida
1/2 tsp turmeric
salt to taste
1 tsp jaggery powder

Method

• Heat the oil in a kadai and splutter the mustard seeds, followed by the boiled chick peas and toss them well.
• Add the curry leaves, corriander leaves,asafoetida,haldi and sambar powder and fry them until you get a nice flavor of the spices. Do it on low flame taking care not to burn the masalas.
• Pour the tamarind pulp,water,salt and jaggery and boil the concoction until it starts to thicken and the oil starts separating. you can adjust the water content through the boiling process in case you feel it is too tangy.Likewise salt and spice can also be adjusted as per your taste requirements.
• Serve it with piping hot steamed rice with some ghee . Thogayal and any coconut based curry are an excellent accompaniment for this rice. 
• I personally like it with Inji karvepillai thuvayal and Thenga arachavitta curry. 

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