When I told my hubby Desi, who is Tamil, that I was planning to cook Ezhukari Kuzhambu, he first corrected my pronunciation: something he loves to do.
The next thing he told me was that he had never heard of this dish. When I explained that it was a sambar made with seven vegetables, or ezhu kari in Tamil, his face cleared and he said, not a little smugly: “Oh, that’s just kadamba sambar.”
Now kadamba sambar (which translates to mixed-vegetable sambar, so, well, I guess it is like Ezhukari kuzhambu) is absolutely delicious, and Desi’s little revelation didn’t quite put me off making this dish. I found the recipe in one of Tamil cuisine’s classic cookbooks, Samaithu Paar (Cook and See) by Meenakshi Ammal. The first edition of this book was printed way back in 1968, according to my copy.
I did tweak it quite a bit, though, not least because among the ingredients were 15-18 red chilies (gasp!) and more oil than I like to use. I also used canned coconut milk although feel free to substitute with fresh coconut if you have it.
If you happen to have fewer than seven veggies, don’t worry – this dish will still taste wonderful because of the rich flavor of the ground spices. Also, you could use other vegetables like snake gourd or colocasia.
Remember to cut the veggies into similar-sized pieces, which always makes for even cooking and better presentation.
One way in which Ezukari seemed to differ from the sambar I make for kadamba sadam was the over-generous use of coriander seeds (1/4 cup) in the ground masala, which I didn’t mind at all because I happen to love these flavorful seeds. I also added some sambar powder to the dish because I right now have a stash of absolutely delicious homemade sambar powder that my sis-in-law, Paddu, gave me when she visited recently. It’s so good, I’ve been adding it to everything it can possibly go into.
So here’s my version of Ezukari Kuzhambu, or Kadamba Sambar. Regardless of what we called it, Desi and I were unanimous about this: it tasted great.
Looking for more vegan Tamil recipes?
South Indian Green Tomato Dal, Thakkali Masiyal
South Indian Cabbage Dal, Cabbage Kootu
Onion Sambar, Vengaya Sambar
South Indian Eggplant Dal, Brinjal Pulippu Kootu
Ezhukari Kuzhambu recipe:
Ezhukari Kuzhambu (Kadamba Sambar)
Ingredients
- 5 small eggplants , diced, or 1/2 large one, diced
- 1 cup red pumpkin , diced
- 1 medium potato , diced
- 1 sweet potato , diced
- 1 plantain , diced
- 3/4 cup okra , cut into 1-cm rings (I used frozen)
- 3/4 cup green beans , cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 large lemon-sized ball tamarind , soaked in 1 cup of water for a few minutes. Extract the juice by crushing the tamarind between your fingers, and discard the solids.
- 1 tbsp sambar powder
- 1 cup pink lentils or masoor dal, cooked until tender (you can substitute with tuvar dal)
- For the ground masala:
- 1 tsp vegetable oil (or any other vegetable oil except olive)
- 1/4 cup coriander seeds
- 1/8 cup chana dal or bengal gram
- 3 dry red chilies (use more if you like more heat in your kuzhambu)
- 1 cup coconut milk (I used canned)
- For the tempering:
- 1 tsp vegetable oil
- 1 generous pinch of asafetida
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
- 10-15 curry leaves
Instructions
- To make the ground masala, fry the coriander seds, chana dal and red chilies in the oil until lightly golden and then grind into a fairly smooth paste with the coconut milk, adding a little water if necessary.
- Cook all the vegetables until they are almost tender (I zapped them in the microwave with about a cupful of water for about 8 minutes)
- Put the vegetables into a large saucepan over medium heat.
- Add the tamarind water and cook another 2-3 minutes
- Now add the cooked dal, sambar powder, and the ground masala paste. Give it all a good stir and allow it to come to a boil.
- Add salt to taste. If the kuzhambu is too thick, add some water.
- Let the kuzhambu or sambar cook on a low heat for about 10 minutes, turn off heat.
- Heat the oil for tempering and add the remaining tempering ingredients.
- When the mustard seeds crackle, take the tempering off the heat and add it to the sambar.
- Garnish the sambar with coriander leaves. Serve hot with rice and poppadum.
Nutrition
(C) All recipes and photographs copyright of Holy Cow! Vegan Recipes.
i will try this, keep posting
http://chinathambi.blogspot.com
Hi, like this Ezhu Kari Kuzhambu, looks fab’. I too like to correct AK, he always says ‘Ezhu’ as ‘elu’…that really irritates me!
Love the kadai too!
I passed on this recipe to my sister’s family and she made it. She said it was terrific! The entire family loved it and they had no leftovers. Thanks for sharing such a recipe!
Kuzhambu looks delicious and I am sure it tastes delicious too. I will make it and pass on the recipe to my siblings as well 🙂
oh wat a nice combo of veggies with coconutmilk n chillies…sounds divine…this is new to me
the mixed veg sambhar looks delicious, also loved reading the earlier post with usal… great job!
kuzhambu looks delicious.. nice picture vishali 🙂
Great recipe vaishali, looks delicious!!
Pearlsofeast, chocolatecovered, Dhivya, Richa, Uma, Jayashree, Arundathi, Thanks, ladies.
Cham, thanks for the suggestion, dear.
Miri, Thanks. I do hope you try it. Happy new year!
Lavi, great suggestion. I love drumsticks and will try it with those next time.
TBC, thanks. I agree about the coconut milk- I think it enhances the flavor of just about anything!
Madhuram, You are so kind. I really appreciate your comments. To answer your question, I was born and raised in Bombay. My father’s a konkani from Karwar in northern Karnataka, and my mom was Maharashtrian. My step-mom is Goan, and my hubby’s Tamil,so I’ve been lucky to have a number of regional influences in my life and cooking!
But much as I wish I could read and write Tamil, I don’t. In fact, I know just a smattering of words, and mess up the pronunciation of most, according to my hubby 🙂 My copy of Samaithu Paar is an English translation.
Anke, Glad you enjoy the spices. They are certainly one of the most special aspects of Indian cuisine.
Dear Arundati, 🙂 You’re right, girl. Would taste great with fluffy dosa.
Annu, Thanks, and you are welcome.
Happy Cook, So glad you liked it, and hope you do try it. Thanks.
WOw love the dish from the pic, never made them, but i will make them as it looks so delicious. Have bookmarked it.
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I love this type of gravey’s.Looks to eat rite now:-).
Thanks for your cute comment in my blog:-).