Ulunthu Sadham & Chettinad Konda Kadalai Kara Kuzhambhu

Ulunthu  sadham / Black Urad Dhal rice and Chettinad Konda Kadalai Kara Kuzhambhu/ Black Chickpeas Spicy Curry in Chettinad style

It’s no wonder that I have a close affinity towards Chettinad cuisine when my husband belongs to this land of spices.  Being food gourmets, anything that is named as food will eventually find its way to us. That’s the common thread running between us, in fact, the only common thread. He he

Whenever I miss being with him, I would cook his favorite meal with loads of love and affection. He prefers nonvegetarian dishes to vegetarian ones. Since I am so amateur in cooking nonvegetarian dishes, I always end up in preparing his most preferred Chettinad recipes. Someday, I will master the art of cooking nonvegetarian and surprise him with a grand feast.

So, to my loving husband, here comes his favorite Chettinad curry with my favorite – Ulunthu sadham.

I am not sure whether many of us know the significance of black urad dhal but my grandma often mentions about this dhal. And I love this ulunthu sadham which she prepares with black urad dhal and rice in the ratio 1:2. This tastes awesome with dry fish and any type of spicy gravies.

Black urad dhal is unique among plant food as they contain the essential fatty acids (EFA).  EFA is an essential nutrient for the human body, especially for the brain. Most of the memory improvement tablets contain EFA. It’s a prebiotic food. Urad dhal has found its importance in Ayurveda too. Ayurveda considers urad dhal as safe during pregnancy and recommended for women. They are protein-rich plant food. Usually, my grand ma prepares kali out of this urad dhal and insists me to have them often because of its iron content. My mom packed packets of urad dhal powder during my recent India vacation.  I prepare ulunthu kali every weekend.

Paired up my favorite with my husband’s. Ulunthu Sadham and Konda kadalai Kara kuzhambhu makes a perfect healthy meal.

Ulunthu Sadham:

• White rice – 1 ½ Cup
• Split Black Urad Dhal – 1 cup
• Water – 5 cups
• Salt – 1 teaspoon

Method:

• Wash black urad dhal with water thoroughly. Some outer skins might get washed away while washing. Leave them as such. We don’t need them.
• Add the washed urad dhal, rice, water and salt in a pressure cooker and cook for three whistles.

Chettinad Konda Kadalai Kara Kuzhambhu

Chettinad Konda Kadalai Kara Kuzhambhu is prepared using brown chickpeas in a spicy tamarind sauce. Usually, brown chickpeas are preferred than white ones as they have healthy nutritional benefits. Some prefer to add vegetables with this gravy whereas some don’t. My grandma used to add drumstick and brinjal where one of my friend from karaikudi adds potato to the curry. Either way, the curry tastes delicious with blended spices and grounded coconut. Coconut paste is added at the end to give thick consistency and richness to the gravy.

Ingredients:

• Brown  Chickpeas/Konda kadalai – 1 cup
• Drumsticks – 2
• Small Brinjal – 8
• Big Onion – 2, finely chopped
• Tomato – 2, finely chopped
• Garlic – 8 crushed
• Red chili powder – 2 teaspoon
• Coriander Powder – 1 ½ teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder – ½ teaspoon
• Tamarind – small lemon sized
• Oil – 1 tablespoon
• Fennel seeds – ½ teaspoon
• Cinnamon – 1-inch piece
• Hand full curry leaves
• Salt as required
• To grind:
  • Grated Coconut – ½ cup
  • Poppy Seeds – ½ teaspoon

Method:

• Soak chickpeas overnight and pressure cook them for three whistles. Keep them aside
• In a medium pan, add oil ; once the oil is hot, add cinnamon followed by fennel seeds and curry leaves
• Wait till the fennel seeds sizzle and turn slightly brownish.
• Add crushed garlic and fry until they turn brown and aroma comes out of it.
• Add chopped onions and cook until they become transparent
• To the onions, add tomato pieces and cook until they become mushy
• Add chopped drumstick and brinjal pieces to the mixture and stir them well. The addition of vegetable is completely optional.
• Now, add the spices powders and combine them well so that veggies are coated with powders.
• Cook until the vegetables become tender and the raw smell of spice powders goes off.
• To the tender spicy vegetable mixture, add cooked chickpeas.
• Extract juice from tamarind and add the extracted tamarind juice to the mixture. Add required amount of salt
• Cook the curry until the vegetables and chickpeas are blended together with the gravy.
• Grind coconut and poppy seeds into a fine paste.
• Add the grounded paste to the gravy and cook them for few minutes. (3-4 minutes would do)
• Switch off the flame and give the gravy a standing time of 10 minutes to cook down.
• The curry usually tastes awesome after few hours as the veggies would have soaked in the spices and absorbed its flavors

Serve ulunthu sadham with spicy gravy and enjoy a healthy meal.