Karuvepillai Kuzhambu (Curry Leaves Curry) ~~ Be My Guest Sowmya.

I am more than happy to introduce Sowmya, my Guest for this month. Owner of the Blog Space Nivedhanam.  When I asked her, whats the meaning of her Blog's name Nivedhanam, she told me Nivedhanam in Sanskrit means showing or presenting. That is where the word Naivedhya (prashad) comes from. Click here for a the explanation from web. She says she is a newbie in the World but look at her posts and you wont believe her words ;).. 

Currently staying in Bangalore, she is a masters in Finance and Computers. With a love for Photography ( like all of us :D) and Music she enjoys her time by chatting with Friends and Family. In her words "I love cooking, photographing food and I write down the recipe on my computer as I try them for future use. I was working on my cookbook, so have a few of my recipes on my computer and thought a good place to put them all is the blog until I get to actually do my cookbook. Also blogging helps to find friends who have similar interests. I started this blog in July 2012. I had an another blog about 3 years ago which I deleted as my daughter was born and devoted my time to her.  Now that she is going to school, I am finding time back again for my hobby"

Lucky Lady, her Husband encourages her to go farther with Blogging and Photography. She usually spends 2-3 hours daily on her Blog, which shows her dedication for the same. Her message for the readers "I am strong believer that even homemade unhealthy food (like fried items) are more healthier than store bought or restaurant served healthy foods (like whole wheat bread).  So to have a healthy next generation, please serve as much home cooked meals as possible. I am not against restaurants or hotels, just that they should be limited and eating out should not be normal."

What I specially loved about her Blog was that her posts were very informative. Whatever she cooks, she includes health benefits and other information regarding the Recipe ingredients. Although there were many posts I liked from her Blog, but my most favorites are: 

Kitchen Basics

Low Fat Brownies 

Moong Dal Paniyarams 

Achari Paneer

Sesame Brinjal 

If you want to be a part of this Guest post , please email me at nupurs.kitchen@gmail.com. For more information, click here. 
Off to the recipe now: 

Karuvepillai Kuzhambu
Karuvepillai, (Curry leaves in English) is a great Indian herb. More predominantly used in South Indian cooking, its flavor, color, taste and aroma are phenomenal. Curry Leaves is very good for health and there are lot of medicinal properties to it – see end of post for health benefits. This is a very authentic recipe. This can be stored in an airtight container for at least a week, may be more. Serve it with hot rice with sesame oil. This is also a great dish to have on hand for lunch boxes. Prepare rice on the day and mix it with the kuzhambu and you have a quick and healthy lunchbox ready. You might feel that this has a lot of oil, but this has about 10 – 15 servings easily. So each serving will get less than a table spoon oil

.

Ingredients:

Curry leaves - 3 cups (leaves only)

Ulutham Parupu / Urad Dal - 2 table spoons

Kadalai Parupu / Channa Dal - 2 table spoons

Tuvaram Parupu / Toor Dal - 1 table spoon

Black Pepper (whole) - 1 1/2 table spoons

Red Chili - 3 + 1

Coriander Seeds - 3 table spoons

Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tea spoon

Fenugreek Seeds - 1/4 tea spoon

Oil (preferably Sesame Oil / Gingelly Oil) - 1 table spoon + 6 table spoons

Salt - 1 tea spoon

Asafetida - 1/4 tea spoon

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tea spoon

Tamarind - Golf ball size

Water - 1 cup

Method

• Soak tamarind in warm water for about 10 minutes. Take the pulp and set aside
• Heat a pan and add a table spoon of oil and roast the dals (channa dal, urad dal, toor dal), coriander seeds and red chili under the dals become lightly golden
• Now add the black pepper and roast until golden brown
• Remove from heat and allow it to cool
• In the same pan, sauté the curry leaves until it looses most of its moisture, but not crisp. This took about 4 minutes on medium flame - continuously stir to avoid burning
• Allow the curry leaves to cool
• Once cooled grind dal mixture and the curry leaves to a paste and set aside
• Heat 6 table spoons of oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds crackle, add fenugreek seeds, red chili and after 10 seconds, add the tamarind pulp
• Add turmeric powder, asafetida, salt and cook until the raw flavor of tamarind goes away - about 5 minutes
• Add the grinded paste and stir continuously to avoid lumps
• Now the mixture would become very thick and oil will start to float on top
• Remove from heat and serve

Points to note (about Curry Leaves) – from Timesofindia article 

• Curry leaf has many medicinal properties. It stimulates digestive enzymes and helps break down food more easily. Have a glass of buttermilk mixed with a little hing (asafetida) with a few curry leaves thrown after meal for good digestion.
• A good remedy for nausea and indigestion. Extract juice of curry leaves, squeeze a lime and add a pinch of sugar. Chew a few leaves every day to lose weight
• Curry leaves are also known to improve eyesight, so make sure you do not throw away the leaves while eating. It is also believed to prevent cataract. Curry leaves are also good for hair growth and color. If you don't like its raw taste, you can buy the curry leaf powder widely available in the market and have it with dosa or hot rice. You can also make it at home. This will prevent pre mature greying of hair. Alternatively, you can also add a few curry leaves to your hair oil and boil it for a few minutes. Applying this hair tonic will keep your hair healthy. These are just few of the many benefits that the curry leaves possesses. Include this in your daily diet for better health