Multi Purpose Curry Leaves/Karuveppilai Spice Paste
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Multi Purpose Curry Leaves/Karuveppilai Spice Paste is a basic recipe for preparing various authentic South Indian delicacies in a jiffy. This flavourful, spicy, tangy paste is very handy while preparing sambhar, rasam and rice varieties quickly and easily with the original taste intact. Moreover, the flavour and goodness of curry leaves is an added benefit to our health._x000D_
Multi Purpose Curry Leaves/Karuveppilai Spice Paste is best suited for those who can’t spend much time in kitchen but desire to cook and nourish their loved ones with traditional dishes. This versatile, basic recipe calls for simple ingredients that are common in all Indian Kitchens. The process involves roasting, grinding, simmering but once you prepare this paste in bulk and refrigerate, you are sure to cook and relish authentic sambhar, rasam, kootu varieties at any moment.
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Ingredients
- Curry Leaves/Karuveppilai - 1 cup
- Imli - big lemon sized
- Jaggery/Gud - small gooseberry sized
- Salt
- Haldi - 1/2 tsp
- Til/Sesame Oil- 3 tbspn + 1 tbspn
- Desi Ghee- 2 tsp
- For Masala Paste
- Dhaniya Seeds- 2 tbspn heaped
- Thuvar Dhal - 1 tbspn leveled
- Channa Dhal - 1 1/2 tbspn leveled
- Urad Dhal - 1/2 tbspn leveled
- Jeera- 1 1/2 tsp
- Black Pepper- 1 tsp
- Red Chilly - 3 or 4
- For Tadka
- Mustard Seeds Jeera - 1/4 tsp each
- Urad Dhal - 1/4 tsp optional
- Hing/Asofoetida - 1/2 tsp
- Curry Leaves - 5 or 6
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Instructions
- Wash and pat dry curry leaves. Soak Imli in a cup of warm water for 15 mins. Extract the thick pulp from the soaked imli. Keep it aside.
- Dry roast one by one all the ingredients given for masala paste till nice aroma emits. Grind the roasted ingredients along with curry leaves into a thick fine paste.
- In a heavy bottomed vessel, heat 3 tbspn of sesame oil, add mustard seeds. When it splutters, add the remaining ingredients given for tadka. Saute till the dhals turns golden in colour.
- Add Imli water, haldi, jaggery, salt and bring it to boil. Add the grounded paste and mix well.Lower the flame and let it simmer till it thickens. Keep stirring periodically till it forms a thick paste without getting burnt.
- Add a tbspn of sesame oil and 2 tsp of desi ghee. Mix well and switch off the flame. Let it cool and store it in a clean, dry container. This paste stays good for about 1 week in room temperature and almost 2 months when refrigerated.
- Here, I have give a brief description on how we can go about with this basic recipe in our daily cooking:
- For ¢â‚¬ËœVenthaya Kuzhlambu/Methi Sambhar¢â‚¬â„¢ - In a kadai, heat sesame oil(1 tsp). Fry 1/2 of methi seeds and saute 1/4 cup of chopped onions. Add 2 tbspn of Karuveppilai Spice Paste and 1 cup of water. Mix well Let it boil for a min. Remove from flame.
- For ¢â‚¬ËœKaatta Pulusu/Vatral Kuzhlambu¢â‚¬â„¢- In a kadai, heat sesame oil (1 tsp) and fry a tsp of sundried manathakkali (black night shade berry). Add 2 tbspn of Karuveppilai Spice Paste and 1 cup of water.
- Contd...Add grounded paste of grated coconut (1 tbspn) and 1/2 tsp of rice flour. Mix well and let it boil for a min. Remove from flame and serve hot with cooked rice.
- Karuveppilai Kuzhlambu/Curry Leaves Sambhar - In a kadai, heat sesame oil(1 tsp). Add chopped ginger, garlic, green chilly and saut. Add 2 tbspn of Karuveppilai Spice Paste and 1 cup of water.
- Contd...Add 2 tbspn of cooked and mashed thuvar dhal. Mix well and let it boil for a min. Remove from flame and serve hot with cooked rice.
- Karuveppilai Poondu Rasam/ Curry Leaves Garlic Rasam - Peel and cook a handful of garlic cloves with a pinch of haldi. Mix 2 tbspn of Karuveppilai Spice Paste and 1 cup of water.
- Contd...Add cooked garlic cloves. Mix well and let it boil for a min. Give tadka with a tsp of desi ghee, a pinch of rai and hing.
- Karuveppilai Thakkali Rasam/Curry Leaves Tomato Rasam-Mix 2 tbspn of Karuveppilai Spice Paste and 1 cup of water. Bring it to boil. Give tadka with desi ghee(1 tsp), a pinch of rai and hing. Add finely chopped fresh dhaniya and serve hot with rice.
- Karuveppilai Masala Rice/Curry Leaves Masala Rice-Saute chopped onion, carrot, beans and green peas. Add 2 tbspn of Karuveppilai Spice Paste and 2 cups of cooked steaming hot rice and required amount of salt. Mix well. Garnish with fresh dhaniya.
- Poritha Kootu/Pitla - Saute any vegetable (cubed) like brinjal, ladys finger, potato or beans. You can use mixed veggies also. Add 2 tbspn of Karuveppilai Spice Paste and 1 cup of water.
- Contd...Add 2 tbspn of cooked and mashed thuvar dhal. Mix well and let it boil for a min. Give tadka with a tsp of til oil, a pinch of rai, hing and a tbspn of grated coconut. Serve hot with cooked rice.
Notes
- _x000D_
- In addition to these dishes, you can also prepare any kind of kootu, sambhar varieties with any veggies like onion, garlic, capsicum, keerai, pepper rasam, kalyana rasam, milagu kuzhlambu and more. _x000D_
- In all the above said dishes, please adjust the amount of Curry Leaves/Karuveppilai Spice Paste as per your preference. _x000D_
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Shyamala Kumar
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