Recipe for Avarakkai Kuzhambu, Avarakkai Paruppu Curry, Broad Beans Curry. Perfect South Indian Tamilnadu style lunch side dish for rice. With step by step pictures.
My husband Vinodh is a fan of country vegetables. Avarakkai / broad beans is one of his favorites. This Avarakkai Kuzhambu (pronounced Ku-lam-boo) is very hearty and comforting. Vinodh also likes red rice. But I am choosy with red rice. I will eat red rice provided there is a hearty curry like this one.  This is an everyday curry or side dish and all you need is some ghee for the meal. Here is our house favorite Avarakkai Paruppu Curry.
Soak the Avarakkai in lots of water for 10 minutes to get rid of the fine dirt. Wash the beans and set aside. Now we need to de-string the beans. This is an important step as the strings are very fibrous and not pleasant to eat. Snap off the tip of one end of the bean with a paring knife and pull the string like below. Snap and pull other end of the bean too. Discard the snapped-off ends and strings. Note that the tender young bean might not have strings. So just snap off the ends alone.
Cut the beans into 2 inch pieces. Boil the beans in 2 cups of water until tender. Set aside. ( I pressure cooked the beans with water for two whistles.) Set aside.
Heat oil in a pan and add in the black pepper, coriander seeds and cumin seeds. Fry in low flame until fragrant. Add in the chopped tomatoes, green chillies, salt and turmeric. We use green chillies for this curry and not red chillies. Fry till the tomatoes are soft. About 3-4 minutes on medium flame. Add in the shredded coconut and fry for a minute more. Remove from heat and let it cool a bit. Grind the mixture to a smooth paste with one cup of water. Set aside.
Soak tamarind in one cup of water for 20 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind to release the juice and discard any hard bits. Set aside the tamarind water. Heat oil in a pan and add in the mustard seeds. Let it splutter. Add in the tamarind water and let the tamarind water come to a boil. Once the mixture boils, add in the ground masala paste and a small piece of jaggery. I have already said in many of my posts that wherever tamarind goes, a small piece of jaggery also goes. Jaggery helps to enhance the taste of the final dish. Cook for 2 minutes on low flame.
Add in the cooked toor dal and the boiled broad beans. Add in the curry leaves and coriander leaves. Simmer for 5 minutes on low flame. Remove from heat. Serve the curry hot with rice.
Avarakkai Kuzhambu, Avarakkai Paruppu Curry, Broad Beans Curry
Recipe for Avarakkai Kuzhambu, Avarakkai Paruppu Curry, Broad Beans Curry. Perfect South Indian Tamilnadu style lunch side dish for rice.
- Total Time: 50 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
- 250 grams Avarakkai / Broad Beans
- 1/2 cup fully cooked Toor Dal
- 1 inch piece tamarind (gooseberry size)
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon Jaggery
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 2 stalks coriander leaves, chopped
For the Masala
- 1 tablespoon sesame / gingely oil
- 1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
- 2 tablespoon Coriander Seeds
- 1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds
- 2 Tomatoes, chopped
- 2 Green Chillies
- 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 cup fresh shredded coconut
Instructions
- Boil the cut beans in 2 cups of water until tender. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a pan and add in the black pepper, coriander seeds and cumin seeds. Fry in low flame until fragrant. Add in the chopped tomatoes, green chillies, salt and turmeric. Fry till the tomatoes are soft. About 3-4 minutes on medium flame. Add in the shredded coconut and fry for a minute more. Remove from heat and let it cool a bit. Grind the mixture to a smooth paste with one cup of water. Set aside.
- Soak tamarind in one cup of water for 20 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind with hands and discard any hard bits. Set aside the tamarind water. Heat oil in a pan and add in the mustard seeds. Let it splutter. Add in the tamarind water and let the tamarind water come to a boil. Once the mixture boils, add in the ground masala paste and a small piece of jaggery. Cook for 2 minutes on low flame.
- Add in the cooked toor dal and the boiled broad beans. Add in the curry leaves and coriander leaves. Simmer for 5 minutes on low flame. Remove from heat. Serve the curry hot with rice.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: South Indian, Tamilnadu
I m getting the taste of coriander. Where am I going wrong. It’s two table spoon right
Its coriander seeds and not powder. You need to roast the seeds well.
Got it!! thanks a lot
Hi. Can u please tell how much toor dal I have to cook. May be 1/4 cup.
About 3 tablespoon would suffice.
Thank you 😀😀
I love this vegetable. Usually we do poriyal with avarkai. I tried this .it was good I loved it. Thank you 😊
Love this vegetable. New receipe going to try it today. Thank you.
Looks yummy .. going to cook it today .. thanks for the recipe..
Hii,
I tried ur receipe cameout well. Thank you keep posting
Thank yoy!
Hi,
I tried this recipe and it came out real good , the poondu curry was also good
Thank you Anitha Sudhan for writing to us. Glad that you liked it.
Hi,
I tried this recipe and it came out real good.thanks a lot.
I tried this avarakkai parappu curry,it came out well. Actually my hubby hates avarakkai but because of ur recipe first time he loved this vegetable and ate well. I’m very happy. I tried ur mutton briyani recipe also. Plz post some gravy recipes for chappati. Thank u.
Thats really nice to know that your hubby ate avarakkai. Super!
made this kulambu came out really well thank u very much for this wonderful mouth watering recipe loved it !
Thank you so much Pradeepa.
Dear Kannamma,
Tried this recipe and it was too good. Another good way to cook avaraikai.. apart from regular poriyal. Had this curry with ragi mudda (ragi kali) for lunch and it was awesome.
Thank You!
Madam,
I tried this recipe and came out very well.Everyone in my home liked it.
Thank you so much Usha for writing in. I am very glad that you guys liked it. Happy Cooking!
Dear Kannamma,
This was by far the best ever avarakkai kuzhambu I have made and eaten. I think a lot of thinking has gone into this recipe. Really very good if one makes it exactly like you have said.
The finish, the gravy, everything is perfect.
God bless you, thanks!
meera
Thank you Meera.
It came out very well. My family loved it. First time I am trying this grinding process. Thanks for the recipie! I really appreciate the step by step instructions which is more equivalent to a kitchen video!
Thank you Rekha!