Neikarapatti is a small town near Palani. My uncle’s wife is from Neikarapatti and I have shared my Neikarapatti stories before on the Kola Urundai post. Their recipes are so unique and delicious. The Southern Kongunad ( Pollachi, Udumalpet and Palani belt) has recipes that one cannot find anywhere else. This is Suganthi Akka’s recipe. She is an excellent cook. This is her family recipe. Here is how to do thayir kurma.
First we will need to make a masala paste. Take a pan and add in the oil. Let the oil heat up a bit. Add in the clove, cardamom and cinnamon stick. Add just very little as we want the flavour of the spices to be very subtle. Add in the fennel seeds and dried red chillies. Fry for a few seconds. Add in the chopped small onions (Indian Shallots), chopped garlic, ginger and green chillies. Add in the salt. Fry till the onions are soft. Once the onions are soft, add in the cashew nuts, poppy seeds and fried gram (pottu kadalai). Fry for a minute.
Add in the shredded coconut and coriander powder. Fry for a minute and remove from heat.
Let the mixture cool a bit.
Grind the mixture with a cup of water to a very fine paste. Set aside.
Next, we need to boil the veggies. Boil the veggies with half a cup of water in a pressure cooker for 2 whistles. Remove from heat and immediately remove the whistle weight manually to release pressure and to avoid the veggies from over cooking. Set aside. Alternatively, you can steam the veggies until they are fork tender. Set aside.
Take a pan and add in a teaspoon of oil. Add in the chopped onions and fry till the onions are soft. Add in the boiled veggies along with the water used for boiling if any. Add in the ground masala. Add in half a cup of water to dilute the kurma a bit. Let it simmer for a couple of minutes.
Add in 1 cup of beaten yogurt (half a cup of plain yogurt / curd beaten with half a cup of water) and simmer for just a minute. Do not simmer for long after adding the yogurt. The yogurt has a tendency to curdle if boiled for too long. Switch off the heat and add in the lime juice. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with chapati or idiyappam.
Neikarapatti Thayir Kurma, Curd Kurma Recipe, தயிர் குருமா
Recipe for Neikarapatti thayir kurma with veggies. Vegetable kurma recipe made with creamy curd / yogurt. Perfect side dish / gravy for chapati / idiyappam.
- Total Time: 40 mins
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Ingredients
For the Masala Paste
- 2 teaspoon peanut oil
- 1 clove
- 1 cardamom
- 1/2 inch stick of cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 2 dried red chillies
- 10 small onions (Indian Shallots), chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 1 inch piece ginger, peeled and chopped
- 2 green chillies, chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 10 cashewnut
- 2 teaspoon khus khus (white poppy seeds)
- 2 tablespoon fried gram (pottu kadalai)
- 1/2 cup fresh shredded coconut
- 2 teaspoon coriander powder
Veggies
- 2 Potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1 Carrot, peeled and diced
- 1/2 cup fresh peas
- 5–6 beans, chopped
For Tempering
- 1 teaspoon peanut oil
- 1 Onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup plain curd / yogurt
- Juice of a small lime
- 3 sprigs coriander leaves, chopped
Instructions
For the Masala Paste
- Take a pan and add in the oil. Let the oil heat up a bit. Add in the clove, cardamom and cinnamon stick. Add just very little as we want the flavour of the spices to be very subtle. Add in the fennel seeds and dried red chillies. Fry for a few seconds. Add in the chopped small onions ( Indian Shallots ), chopped garlic, ginger and green chillies. Add in the salt. Fry till the onions are soft.
- Once the onions are soft, add in the cashewnuts, poppy seeds and fried gram (pottu kadalai). Fry for a minute. Add in the shredded coconut and coriander powder. Fry for a minute and remove from heat.
- Let the mixture cool a bit.
- Grind the mixture with a cup of water to a very fine paste. Set aside.
Veggies
- Boil the veggies with half a cup of water in a pressure cooker for 2 whistles. Remove from heat and immediately remove the whistle weight manually to release pressure and to avoid the veggies from over cooking. Set aside. Alternatively, you can steam the veggies until they are fork tender. Set aside.
For Tempering
- Take a pan and add in a teaspoon of oil. Add in the chopped onions and fry till the onions are soft. Add in the boiled veggies along with the water used for boiling if any. Add in the ground masala. Add in half a cup of water to dilute the kurma a bit. Let it simmer for a couple of minutes.
- Add in 1 cup of beaten yogurt (half a cup of plain yogurt / curd beaten with half a cup of water) and simmer for just a minute. Do not simmer for long after adding the yogurt. The yogurt has a tendency to curdle if boiled for too long. Switch off the heat and add in the lime juice. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with chapati or idiyappam
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: Tamilnadu
beautiful food
Hi, this recipe travelled around 7000 miles today from its place of origin and found its way to our table this afternoon here in London, UK. My hubby and I loved it and as for our normally ‘I-don’t-like-South- Indian-food’ little girl, she had three helpings of this with rice !!!!! Thanks so much for posting it here.
Thank you so much! Glad you guys liked it!
Awesome flavors.
I have heard my grandfater used to talk of his friend Naikarapatti Zamindar and a Mandapam in Palani after his name
After all Ghee and butter is love of cookies whereever they are used and the Kurma is also one such food every one loves in the South
yeah. the flavors of neikarapatti region is so unique!
I love your recipes Suguna! And the pictures of the people who contributed, adds that special touch!
Thank You!
Suguna, Tried this today for kambu thosai. It has a distinct flavour (ginger & garlic taste overpowers other ingredients, is that expected?). The dish was rich & creamy. I believe it will go well with thosai, edli & idiyappam. I am sure to serve this to my friends in next party 🙂
Hi Satish, This recipe just has about 5-6 cloves of garlic. May be the garlic and ginger was not fried enough. Try to fry little longer the next time.
So glad to have tried out this Kurma. Thank you so much for posting an authentic recipe that is usually handed down in generations.
Thank you so much for trying out the Kurma. I am glad you liked it.
Hi .. I tried thayir kurma tonight. It came very delicious n yummy with chapatti. I’ve become fond of your recipes. Thank you so much for sharing. ☺☺
Thank you!
Yummy
Yesterday I tried with this kuruma…What a taste…Mind-blowing…Thanks for sharing…
Thank you!
Omg. My father hails from neikarapatti and most of my childhood days were spent in that beautiful village and its surrounding ? Most of your recipes are just like my mom’s and paati’s?
Thank you so much. Really glad that you liked the recipes.
Delicious kurma!!! I tried it last night and came out so well.. Thank you so much…
Thank you Akila. Really glad you liked the kurma.