Many years back I wanted a cookbook written by Seetha Muthiah on chettinad food and those were the days of asking dad to get books whenever he went to Madras (Chennai). Over a period of an year, he was not able to find it. Many months went past and finally he decided to get the book from the author Seetha Muthiah herself. So he directly went to the muthiah home and managed to get a copy of the book that was out of print. I just laughed so much when he told me how he gatecrashed her home for the book. This book brings back a lot of memories.
This recipe is named as summa kuzhambu. Summa means “just like that”. Its called as summa kuzhambu or plain kuzhambu as it does not have any veggies added to it and its very easy to make and perfect for hosting surprise guests for lunch. I have slightly adapted the recipe to suit my family. Here is how to do summa kuzhambu.
Prep Work:
You will need 1/4 cup of cooked toor dal. Toor dal will definitely be part of lunch in most of South Indian homes and a very small portion of toor dal is set aside and used for making this curry. We will also need tamarind pulp. Soak a small lime size tamarind in 2 cups of hot water for 15 minutes. Crush between your fingers and make a pulp. Strain the liquid and set aside.
Method:
Heat sesame oil in a pan until hot. Add in the mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and cumin seeds. Let the seeds splutter.
Add in the chopped Indian shallots (chinna vengayam) and chopped garlic. Add in the curry leaves. Fry for 3-4 minutes until the shallots are soft. Add in the chopped tomatoes and the salt. Fry for a couple of minutes.
Add in the kuzhambu milagai thool and coriander powder. If you dont have kuzhambu milagai thool, you can use sambar powder. Add in 1/4 cup of water and let it simmer for five minutes.
Add in the tamarind pulp and the cooked toor dal. Simmer for 10 minutes more. Add in a teaspoon of jaggery in the end and switch of the flame. Serve hot with rice.
Chettinad Summa Kuzhambu
Recipe for chettinad style summa kuzhambu. A curry made without any veggies and can be made very quickly. With step by step pictures.
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoon sesame oil (gingely oil)
- 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 12 Indian shallots (chinna vengayam)
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 2 ripe tomatoes, chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon kuzhambu milagai thool ( or sambar powder)
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- a small lime size tamarind
- 1/4 cup cooked toor dal
- 1 teaspoon jaggery powder
Instructions
- Heat sesame oil in a pan till hot. Add in the mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and cumin seeds. Let the seeds splutter.
- Add in the chopped Indian shallots and chopped garlic. Add in the curry leaves. Fry for 3-4 minutes until the shallots are soft. Add in the chopped tomatoes and the salt. Fry for a couple of minutes.
- Add in the kuzhambu milagai thool and coriander powder. If you dont have kuzhambu milagai thool, you can use sambar powder. Add in 1/4 cup of water and let it simmer for five minutes.
- Add in the tamarind pulp and the cooked toor dal. Simmer for 10 minutes more. Add in a teaspoon of jaggery in the end and switch of the flame. Serve hot with rice.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Curry
- Cuisine: Tamilnadu
hi… I m from Karaikudi and Summa kulambu is an all time favorite for us. we usually dont add tamarind in this and compensate with one or two extra tomatoes.Being a karaikudi person, grown up eating all chettinad dishes, I would like to have a copy of the book. Could you please help me with publisher name so that I can check with them for availability. I have been trying to get this book for the past 3 years, no luck.
hi My name is Mithra.I also hail from Coimbatore.Loved your prawns dish .Thank you suguna
Nice to know Mithra. Happy Cooking!
Summa kuzhambu is typically well going with idly,dosa, rice upma varieties in chettinadu . It can be prepared within 10 minutes as they never use toor dhal.. Nice to see ur version and the word “summa kuzhambu” …
Reading about your dad’s gesture was so moving. I am sure he did it just for one reason – his love for his dear daughter. Wow!
Thank you so much.
I cannot tell this as summa kuzhambu..It needs lots of hard work in peeling the shallots and Garlic LOL:D
Pl kindly send kozalambu tool powder receipe
Summa kuzhambu is a must for lactating mothers in Chettinad houses .When it comes for new mom it is prepared with lot of shallots and garlic avoiding toor dal.Happy to see this post here .
Thats so nice to know Alagumeenal!