Taste this exotically luscious Udaitha Muttai Kuzhambu for a sunday brunch with hot rice and appalam...
An Introduction about Udaitha Muttai Kuzhambu:
Udaitha Muttai Kuzhambu is one of the amazing recipes that the South Indian Cuisine has to offer. This seemingly simple Udaitha Muttai kuzhambu spruces up your regular meal and takes it to the next level of palatability. It is one of the signature dishes of the southern states of India, which come up with different versions based on the food culture of each state.
Udaitha Muttai Kuzhambu is an easy and fast fix alternative to chicken or mutton kuzhambu at many of the households especially during the weekends. Usually during summers, Sundays are meant for taking oil bath followed by a sumptuous non vegetarian meal. When you have plans to go for an outing or when there is time shortage or when the family prefers to have (which is a rarity of course) something simple yet delicious, then this Udaitha Muttai Kuzhambu comes for rescue. It is equally enticing and nutritious as any non vegetarian kuzhambu and it strikes a chord with kids and adults alike. This Udaitha Muttai Kuzhambu does not need any accompaniment at all and it just tastes heavenly with hot rice. If you have it with any crunchy bite like pappadam or vadagam it would be a luxury. The perfect blend of spices and the right texture of coconut paste when mixed with the kuzhambu, forms a fantastic base for the muttai kuzhambu. When the eggs are dripped into the kuzhambu at the perfect consistency and temperature, the Udaitha Muttai Kuzhambu reaches its zenith. This slow cooked Udaitha Muttai Kuzhambu is served in banana leaf for guests at home and even today it is cooked authentically in mansatti in most of the villages and even in towns and cities. The earthern smell of mansatti, the alluring aroma of gingelly oil and the unique flavor of hot rice served in banana leaf all forms a fusion and tickle your taste buds to savor it instantly.
It takes us back to our childhood days where summer holidays are spent mostly at out grandparents house. With cows and calves tied up in the backyards, and with flowering garden fully surrounded we used to play endlessly in the hot sun without realizing the difference between day and night. After rolling in the hot sand, we would be forced to take bath and our grandma would make us sit properly in a long row and would place fresh banana leaves (plucked fresh from our garden) and would hush us if there is any commotion. Water will be placed in small brass tumblers, but will be warned not to drink till we finish our meal. Grandpa would check all our hands and feet whether they were wet and he would ensure that we were sitting properly with our legs folded. Undoubtedly, eating is a ritual which has to begin with a prayer for anna dhevatha ( Goddess of food) which has to be adhered very strictly and we were not allowed to waste even a single morsel of rice. Some Sundays we were served chicken curry or mutton briyani and at other times we have this udaitha muttai kuzhambu with vengaya vadagam and Garlic rasam. Very rarely we had simple dishes on Sundays when we planned to visit farmhouse or the riverbank. Even now I could remember the smell of muttai kuzhambu mixed with hot puzhungarisi sadam which my grandma used to serve from a large vengala panai. The shimmery red color of the Udaitha muttai kuzhambu would be so alluring that we would keep asking for more without even realizing that we were already done.
Thanks to our ancestors who taught us ardently to respect and relish food and to honor the farmers and the laborers who worked behind, to manufacture the food we eat everyday at least once in a year during harvest festival. It is our moral responsibility to carry on the tradition and culture to the next generation which our parents did effortlessly. Try out this simple yet astounding udaitha muttai kuzhambu recipe which is sure to take back to your home town and make you relive in nostalgia at least for a day. In this fast pacing world where everything has become too mechanical, reminiscing the old memories and rewinding the past for a short while will definitely be a soothing unwinding process. And undoubtedly, making authentic recipes will be one of the simplest means to reach there.
To start with try out this delicious recipe of Udaitha Muttai Kuzhambu which can be made within half an hour and with the common ingredients at home.
Ingredients Required To Make Udaitha Muttai Kuzhambu Recipe :
How To Make Udaitha Muttai Kuzhambu Recipe :
Drop in a tablespoon of freshly grated coconut and a tablespoon of fennel seeds into a blender along with one or two green chilies. Blitz for a few pulses to make a coarse paste out of it.
Heat a heavy bottomed cast Iron Kadai and pour in three tablespoons of cooking oil in it. When it is heated, just tip in a teaspoon of mustard seeds and when it pops up, just add some cumin seeds to it. Drop a tiny bit of solid asafoetida and stir in for a second. Tear a dried red chili and drop it and throw in some curry leaves and let it splutter too. Lower the flame and stir in.
Now add a teaspoon of ginger garlic paste and when it turns aromatic, just squirt in some crushed shallots and garlic and stir in for a while and wait for the aroma.
Lower the flame and drop in the chopped onion and when it becomes translucent just plop in the tomatoes and keep stirring for a minute or two. When the onion tomato mixture gets mixed up well, sprinkle in the required salt and add the spice powers one by one. Tip In half a teaspoon of turmeric powder and follow it up with a teaspoon of red chili powder and two tablespoons of coriander powder.
Add a little water to mix up the ingredients and and after stirring for a minute or two just pour in two to three cups of water. When it boils, plop in the coconut paste and mix altogether and let it boil in high flame for about five minutes approximately. Wait for a few minutes for the kuzhambu base to reach a partially thickened consistency.
Subsequently, lower the flame and break in the eggs into the kadai at regular intervals and do not stir from this point. Just pop the lid and leave on for seven to ten minutes approximately. When the aroma starts wafting out from the kadai, just open the lid and ensure that the eggs are being cooked up well. When the oil starts to ooze out at the sides, just sprinkle some coriander leaves and turn off the flame. Now the lip-smacking Udaitha Muttai Kuzhambu is ready. Serve it with steamed rice and a papad along with a cup of chilled buttermilk.
Some Useful Tips:
- Use a heavy bottomed kadai or pan to make udaitha muttai kuzhambu as we are going to simmer the kuzhambu finally for ten to twelve minutes without stirring inbetween. Choose the vessel accordingly which has enough space for four to five eggs to boil separately.
- Apart from sesame and groundnut oil, even coconut oil can be used to make this muttai kuzhambu if you love the aroma of it.
- Let the final consistency of the udaitha muttai kuzhambu be slightly thin, as the eggs may tend to absorb the kuzhambu over time.
- Use rock salt and solid asafoetida as healthy alternatives and also to get the native touch. Similarly making the udaitha muttai kuzhambu in mansatti gives an authentic feel and I personally prepare all the kara kuzhambu and puli kuzhambu varieties only in mansatti as it always gives a fantastic outcome.
- Use wooden spatula or ladle for mansatti and in case if you prepare it in new mansatti process it with arisi kanji for two to three days and rinse well at regular intervals until the earthern smell goes off.
- Udaitha Muttai Kuzhambu goes well with Appam, Idiyappam, Uthappam, Kal dosai and Chapathi. Prepare the required quantity and finish it off within the day as storing Udaitha Muttai Kuzhambu in the refrigerator is not advisable.
- We add crushed shallots and garlic to enhance the overall flavor of the kuzhambu and there is certain nuance in crushing them instead of blending them into a paste. A single ingredient gives different flavors in different textures and we need to understand the subtlety of it and we gain it by experience over the years.
- Moderation is the key point here. Let the spice powders and the quantity of the coconut paste be well balanced so that one flavor does not dominate the other.
Ingredients
Directions
Drop in a tablespoon of freshly grated coconut and a tablespoon of fennel seeds into a blender along with one or two green chilies. Blitz for a few pulses to make a coarse paste out of it.
Heat a heavy bottomed cast Iron Kadai and pour in three tablespoons of cooking oil in it. When it is heated, just tip in a teaspoon of mustard seeds and when it pops up, just add some cumin seeds to it. Drop a tiny bit of solid asafoetida and stir in for a second. Tear a dried red chili and drop it and throw in some curry leaves and let it splutter too. Lower the flame and stir in.
Now add a teaspoon of ginger garlic paste and when it turns aromatic, just squirt in some crushed shallots and garlic and stir in for a while and wait for the aroma.
Lower the flame and drop in the chopped onion and when it becomes translucent just plop in the tomatoes and keep stirring for a minute or two. When the onion tomato mixture gets mixed up well, sprinkle in the required salt and add the spice powers one by one. Tip In half a teaspoon of turmeric powder and follow it up with a teaspoon of red chili powder and two tablespoons of coriander powder.
Add a little water to mix up the ingredients and and after stirring for a minute or two just pour in two to three cups of water. When it boils, plop in the coconut paste and mix altogether and let it boil in high flame for about five minutes approximately. Wait for a few minutes for the kuzhambu base to reach a partially thickened consistency.
Subsequently, lower the flame and break in the eggs into the kadai at regular intervals and do not stir from this point. Just pop the lid and leave on for seven to ten minutes approximately. When the aroma starts wafting out from the kadai, just open the lid and ensure that the eggs are being cooked up well. When the oil starts to ooze out at the sides, just sprinkle some coriander leaves and turn off the flame. Now the lip-smacking Udaitha Muttai Kuzhambu is ready. Serve it with steamed rice and a papad along with a cup of chilled buttermilk.
