Skip to main content

Recipe: Mor kuzhambu

Today, I am sharing a recipe of Mor kuzhambu, a curry made out of buttermilk - Mor (buttermilk) + kuzhambu (curry), which is an authentic recipe from Tamil Nadu. There are many variations of curry prepared using curd/ buttermilk across India like majjiga pulusu (Andhra Pradesh, Telangana), pulissery (Kerala), majjige huli (Karnataka), kadhi (Punjab) etc. 

I am a big fan of Saravana Bhavan mor kuzhambu, made with ground spices and sour buttermilk. The Saravana Bhavan at our office cafeteria used to serve delicious mor kuzhambu every Thursday as part of its South Indian Thali menu. Whenever I could, I used to skip bringing lunch from home, to savor Saravana Bhavan's mor kuzhambu with hot steamed rice. 

Ground spices and sour curd/ buttermilk are the heart of this curry.  I tried my hands at different proportions of spices and finally arrived at the best version, which I am posting today. Do give it a try and share your feedback in comments section.

You can add vegetables like bottle gourd, pumpkin, drumstick, chayote (chow chow), lady's finger (bhindi), eggplant (brinjal), etc. per your preference or cook it plain without any veggies. It tastes its best when paired with steamed rice. 


Like what you read? Follow me on YouTube for fresh videos and updates on every new post!

Ingredients:

  • Curd (slightly sour) - 1 cup
  • Diced bottle gourd - 1.5 cups 
  • Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
  • Water - 3 cups
  • Oil - 1 tbsp 
  • Salt, per taste
  • For mor kuzhambu paste
    • Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
    • Green chillies - 2 
    • Dhania (Coriander seeds) - 2 tsp
    • Jeera (Cumin) - 1 tsp
    • Toor dal (Yellow split pigeon peas) - 1 tsp
    • Rice - 1/2 tsp
  • For tempering
    • Mustard - 1/2 tsp
    • Jeera (Cumin) - 1/2 tsp
    • Fenugreek seeds - 1/8 tsp 
    • Red chilli - 1
    • Hing (asafetida) - 1 pinch
    • Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Procedure:
  • First add a cup of water to the curd and whisk well to make thick buttermilk
  • Rinse and soak dhania, jeera, toor dal and rice in water for 20-30 mins
  • Add a cup of water, 1/4 tsp turmeric and 1/2 tsp salt to bottle gourd and pressure cook for 1 whistle. Alternatively, you can cook bottle gourd in a vessel. Ensure it is not overcooked.
  • Grind soaked spices along with coconut and green chillies with 1/2 cup of water, to make a coarse paste
  • After releasing pressure, add the ground paste to bottle gourd, mix well and cook until the curry boils
  • Now, reduce the flame to low, add buttermilk to the boiling mixture and cook 
  • Add 1/2 tsp salt and water as required, until desired consistency is achieved
  • Once the curry starts to bubble, switch off the flame and set aside
  • Keep a pan and add oil. Once the oil is hot, add mustard and jeera and allow it to splutter well. Finally add fenugreek seeds, red chilli, hing and curry leaves and sauté.
  • Add the tempering to mor kuzhambu and mix well
  • Enjoy mor kuzhambu with hot rice and potato fry for side 
Tips:
  • Use sour curd. Otherwise the desired taste will not be achieved.
  • If you use lady's finger or brinjal, fry it in oil along with salt and turmeric until its cooked and then add to the curry. Pumpkin, chayote, drumstick should be cooked similar to bottle gourd explained in this recipe
  • If you are a spice lover, you may use 3 chillies
  • Coconut oil tempering enhances the flavor of this dish 
  • Yam/ bhindi/ plantain fry taste good as side dish for mor kuzhambu

Check below for the video recipe









 

Comments

  1. Thanks, i tried and it was easy and quick.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I found one successful example of this truth through this blog. I am going to use such information now. Griddles Pan

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gearing up for First day of School

The day you first held your little one, the first time he smiled at you, those first steps, first tears, first words, first bike ride... You would have experienced countless firsts with your child so far. Before you knew it, your kid is just few days away from a very important milestone - his first day of school.  If your kid is starting kindergarten this academic year, I totally feel you. I was in the same state of mind, exactly an year ago. After tending to my son for more than 3 years, that too as a stay at home mom, he is very attached to me. I was with him literally 24 x 7, except for those very few minutes I sneak into the washroom. The thought of how he would survive those 7 hours of school without me, haunted me for days. Next his preparedness to face the whole new world (without us) was dreadful. I had infinite questions/ doubts in my head. It is quite natural if you have an endless loop going on in your head. In this post, I sum up my experience of preparing my child and ...

Book: First They Killed My Father

"First They Killed My Father" was on my To Be Read (TBR) list for sometime. Finally, I read it as part of my book goals for the year 2021. It is a heart wrenching memoir written by Loung Ung, who survived the Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge Regime in Cambodia.  The story starts off with Loung narrating her family and life at Phnom Penh before communists took over Cambodia; their family fleeing Phnom Penh due to Khmer Rouge’s attack; the struggles their family encounters while travelling from one village to the other, concealing their identity for survival; their ordeal working for Khmer Rouge. In the due course, Loung’s father gets killed, her family gets separated with Loung ending up in the Khmer Rouge troop as a child soldier. By the time Cambodia is liberated, Loung also loses her mother, 2 sisters and finally unites with rest of her siblings. The books ends with Loung migrating to the United States along with her elder brother and sister-in-law. It is a very well written book ...

TEMU - Is it Legit or Scam???

TEMU is the latest buzzword, shaking up the North American ecommerce world!!!! How many of you have been constantly receiving ads, notifications in your emails and all of your social media platforms about TEMU? Until a few days ago, I haven't heard the word "TEMU". If someone talked to me about it, I would have brushed off the conversation thinking it is just another scam. When I received the first email, that was my immediate reaction and deleted it. But after few more notifications, I got curious and started digging about it, only to realize that it is an ecommerce app similar to Aliexpress, Wish, Shein etc. selling products at lower prices.  Since China is ruling the ecommerce market, I naturally thought TEMU should also be part of China's ecommerce ecosystem, and my guess was right. Though TEMU is headquartered at Boston, this online retailer is a subsidiary of Pinduoduo (PDD), Chinese ecommerce giant with close to 900 million users. So technically, TEMU is suppo...

10 things to do after reaching Canada

Congratulations!!! Finally, you have received your COPR or work visa or student visa, packed your bags, said good byes to family and friends and boarded the flight to your dream country - Canada. There are few essential activities to do immediately after reaching Canada, which  puts you in a better position and gives you the much needed peace. I am listing 10 such activities to accomplish, preferably within the first few weeks. 1. Finding an accommodation: Accommodation is the first thing you would need to head straight from the airport. So better to get it sorted before leaving for Canada.  If you have relatives or friends at Canada, then it would be the best option to stay with them for a week or two, find an accommodation and move out. Alternatively you can consider staying at Airbnbs until you hunt a house. Airbnbs are budget-friendly compared to hotels.  Check out websites like kijiji , craigl ist , facebook,  indianeverywhere   etc. You will get lot of o...

Book: To All The Boys I've Loved Before

It's been a very long time since I read a romantic novel. I came across this book and looking at the title, felt it should be interesting. True to my intuition, "To all the boys I've loved before" written by Jenny Han , was an enjoyable read.                                                               Just to give a sneak peak into the novel, it is the story of a teenager named Lara Jean. She is the middle one amongst three sisters and has a habit of writing love letters to the boys she has a crush on. Instead of giving it to the boys, she secretly stores them in a hatbox in her room. One day her younger sister, posts all those letters to the boys. Amongst those letters, one was addressed to their elder sister's boyfriend. Rest of the story is how Lara handles the consequences and stops the impend...