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    Home » Recipes » Kuzhambu & Other gravies

    Karuveppilai kuzhambu recipe

    June 30, 2009 by Raks Anand 63 Comments / Jump to Recipe

    Karuveppilai kuzhambu is a south Indian tamarind based gravy with ground curry leaves added to it. Learn how to make south Indian karuveppilai kuzhambu with step by step pictures, video.

    karuveppilai kuzhambu recipew

    Curry leaves kuzhambu is best had with steamed rice, sesame oil or ghee. Goes well with idli dosai too.

    Jump to:
    • Ingredients
    • Step by step method
    • My notes
    • Top tip
    • Recipe card

    Karuveppilai kuzhambu is very tasty and healthy, easy to make too😎! We make it similar to the vatha kuzhambu that is usually made.

    But grinding curry leaves and adding to it makes the difference. Just like this kuzhambu,only ground curry leaves make the difference😉.

    This can be made in bulk and keep refrigerated and use for a week. Tastes great as it gets old 😉

    As always, my mom is queen👸🏻 of making kuzhambus. It will be so flavorful, perfectly balanced and the best part is she feeds us with her own hands or the least mixes with hands and gives to us.

    That much spoilt we were 😆. I am so glad I learnt it from her!

    karuveppilai kulambu | curry leaves tamarind curry

    Ingredients

    ingredients for karuveppilai kuzhambu
    • Curry leaves - Karuveppilai in Tamil, the star ingredient in the gravy. Make sure to use fresh ones, then only it will be flavorful. My mom says more than kozhundhu karuveppilai (young tender ones) only older ones have flavor when it comes to this.
    • Onion - We only make this kuzhambu with Small onion. If we are time pressed or low in stock, we use chopped small onions. Otherwise of lots whole small onion works too. If using large ones, just use one finely chopped.
    • Garlic - Adds so much flavor to the kuzhambu. Same as above, depending on the situation, we use less chopped garlic or more whole cloves.
    • Sambar powder - We use our sambar powder for all kind of our south Indian lunch - poriyal, kootu, poricha kuzhambu, sambar, vatha kuzhambu. Check recipe card for link and notes for alternates.
    • Jaggery - Add very very less, so that you won't have a distinct sweet taste but nicely balances all together.

    Check recipe card for full list.

    karuveppilai kuzhambu

    Step by step method

    1. Wash curry leaves and grind it with little water (¼ cup) to a smooth paste.
    curry leaves
    ground

    2. Extract tamarind juice from tamarind by soaking it in hot water for 20 mins. 

    Mash tamarind well with hands after 20 mins and filter through metal strainer.

    Repeat with little more water to extract tamarind juice. Total measurement - 2 & ½ cups cups.

    Make karuveppilai kuzhambu

    1. Heat kadai with oil and add all the tempering items in order and fry till golden colour. After that, add onion and saute till translucent. I used my Kalchatti here.

    temper
    onion

    2. Follow it by adding garlic. Continue frying until garlic and onion turn golden here and there. Pour in tamarind extract.

    garlic
    tamarind

    3. After that, add ground curry leaves (adjust water - ½ cup), turmeric, salt, sambar powder (See notes for alternates for sambar powder).

    spices
    ground

    4. Mix to boil in medium flame. It takes 15 minutes roughly. Depending on spice powder you use this time may change.

    mix
    boil

    5. Drop jaggery lastly, mix and give a boil. Switch off stove.

    thick karuveppilai kuzhambu
    jaggery

    Karuveppilai kuzhambu gets thick as it cools.

    mix
    karuveppilai kuzhambu

    Enjoy with hot rice and a mild side dish. Stays good for a week in fridge if handled properly.

    curry leaves kuzhambu

    My notes

    How I extract tamarind juice easily:

    • I usually keep the tamarind in a small bowl with little water inside pressure cooker along with rice. I cook rice in pressure cooker (pot in pot method) so cover rice with a plate and place this bowl over it. If I make kootu, I will also alternately keep this small bowl in middle of dal for kootu I keep in separator bowls. Like below example.
    cook dal, tamarind
    • This way we can easily separate juice from the fibre in no time! I learnt this from my MIL, she always does this everyday basis for sambar or kuzhambu. Try this and do let me know if it was helpful for you 😃

    Spice powder

    We have this in bulk for year's use and add it to all sorts of south Indian cooking right from poriyal, kootu, poricha kuzhambu, vatha kuzhambu, sambar etc. It's like an universal curry powder I will say.

    I am sure many of the Tamil homes does this. In case you want to use readymade, you can use aachi or sakthi sambar powder which is close to ours. Though it is called sambar powder, trust me, it can be used to many dishes.

    What if you don't have any of this? Just replace with 2 teaspoon red chilli powder and 1 teaspoon coriander seeds powder for this recipe. But thickening will take a while. So you can add ½ teaspoon of rice flour dissolved in 1 tablespoon water and add to fasten the process.

    Fine tunes:

    My mom adds a dash of black pepper powder along with jaggery for extra zing.

    How to temper properly?

    Add the tempering items only when oil is hot. First methi seeds, followed by mustard. Mustard should crackle after which you should add dals and roast it golden in low flame. Lastly add cumin and let it crackle.

    Top tip

    • If you do not add enough tamarind, salt and spices in this, the curry leaves may smell raw in the gravy. So make sure to balance and boil well.
    • My tamarind is pudhu puli (white tamarind) and it came around 30 grams.

    Recipe card

    karuvepplilai kuzhambu
    Print Pin
    5 from 3 votes

    Karuveppilai kuzhambu recipe

    Learn how to make south Indian karuveppilai kuzhambu with step by step pictures. Curry leaves kuzhambu is best had with steamed rice, sesame oil or ghee. Goes well with idli dosai too.
    Course Side Dish
    Cuisine Indian
    Prep Time 10 minutes
    Cook Time 30 minutes
    Soaking time 20 minutes
    Total Time 1 hour
    Servings 6
    Cup measurements

    Ingredients

    • 1 Tamarind lemon sized
    • ½ cup Curry leaves tightly packed
    • 2 tablespoon Sambar powder measure heaped
    • ¼ teaspoon Turmeric
    • 7 Small onion Finely chopped or 20 whole
    • 12 flakes Garlic finely chopped or 20 cloves
    • Salt as needed
    • ½ teaspoon Jaggery
    • ½ teaspoon Black pepper powder Optional

    To temper:

    • 3 tablespoon Sesame oil
    • ¼ teaspoon Fenugreek seeds vendhayam
    • ½ teaspoon Mustard
    • 1 teaspoon Urad dal
    • 1 teaspoon Toor dal
    • 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
    • Curry leaves Optional
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    Karuveppilai kuzhambu step by step:

    • Wash curry leaves and grind it with little water to a smooth paste.
    • Extract tamarind juice from tamarind by soaking it in hot water for 20 mins. 
    • Mash tamarind well with hands after 20 mins and filter through metal strainer.
    • Repeat with little more water to extract tamarind juice. Total measurement - 2 & ½ cups.
    • Heat kadai with oil and add all the tempering items in order and fry till golden colour.
    • After that, add onion and saute till translucent. Follow it by adding garlic.
    • Continue frying until garlic and onion turn golden here and there.
    • Pour in tamarind extract, ground curry leaves (adjust water -½ cup), turmeric, salt, sambar powder (refer notes).
    • Mix to boil in medium flame. It may take 15 minutes or more.
    • Drop jaggery and pepper powder if adding lastly, mix to give a boil.
    • Oil floats on top and gets thicker as it cools.

    Video

    Notes

    • Depending upon the sambar powder you use, the thickening time may vary.
    • We use sambar powder for all, it is like my universal spice powder for all. So if you don't have you can use aachi or sakthi sambar powder too.
    • Add ½ teaspoon of rice flour dissolved in little water to thicken fast. But as we are using curry leaves ground, there will not be a problem.
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    InstagramMention @rakskitchen or tag #rakskitchen if you have tried this recipe.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Laavanya

      June 30, 2009 at 12:33 pm

      That looks soo tempting.. i love karivepilai kuzhambu but it has been a while since i made it.

      Reply
    2. Gita

      June 30, 2009 at 1:28 pm

      Lovely photos Raji...I have to try out yur kuzambu for lunch today 🙂

      Reply
    3. Ashwini

      June 30, 2009 at 1:36 pm

      That looks mouthwatering..Lovely photos..

      Reply
    4. sowmya

      June 30, 2009 at 1:55 pm

      sounds interesting...have lot of curry leaves..will make it tommorow..

      Reply
    5. Prathibha

      June 30, 2009 at 2:09 pm

      That is something new for me dear...
      looks great..loved the fresh look of curry leaves...

      Reply
    6. Priya

      June 30, 2009 at 2:12 pm

      I have already prepared similar with curry leaves, kuzhambu looks divine yaa!

      Reply
    7. Trupti

      June 30, 2009 at 2:39 pm

      looks delicious & mouthwatering.

      Trupti
      Fashion Deals For Less

      Reply
    8. Sailaja

      June 30, 2009 at 2:47 pm

      looking good...i too have made check my site for variation

      Reply
    9. Mahimaa's kitchen

      June 30, 2009 at 3:41 pm

      yummy kozhambu... i love it.

      Reply
    10. Aysha

      June 30, 2009 at 3:58 pm

      I love this dish...Looking very tempting!!!

      Reply
    11. Ann

      June 30, 2009 at 4:05 pm

      WOOOHOO! On of my fav from my mom cooking , you pic looks awesome and hummm I can smell that aroma!

      Reply
    12. A2Z Vegetarian Cuisine

      June 30, 2009 at 5:22 pm

      That looks so yummmmmyyyyy...& mouthwatering..+ so easy to make..goes right in my recipe book.

      Reply
    13. Home Cooked Oriya Food

      June 30, 2009 at 5:23 pm

      looks yummy!

      Reply
    14. Parita

      June 30, 2009 at 7:30 pm

      Heavenly, i have never made curry only using curry leaves as the base, so interesting! will try once for sure!

      Reply
    15. Uma

      June 30, 2009 at 8:16 pm

      Wow, never made this before. Looks so aromatic and tempting!! Yum 🙂

      Reply
    16. Superchef

      July 01, 2009 at 1:38 am

      i'll end up using my entire months grocery bill to buy those many curry leaves here!! 😀 LOL..but definitely delicious looking curry.

      Reply
    17. LG

      July 01, 2009 at 1:56 am

      umm...kozhambu packed with nutritive values of Curry leaves..looks tempting Raks

      Reply
    18. Kalai

      July 01, 2009 at 1:57 am

      Looks so tempting! Will have to try this next time I made idli maavu. 🙂

      Reply
    19. notyet100

      July 01, 2009 at 2:40 am

      This is new for me,..looks yummy,..

      Reply
    20. Nags

      July 01, 2009 at 2:54 am

      aha! nice one. i have tons of fresh curry leaves from a recent visit to lil india!

      Reply
    21. Varsha Vipins

      July 01, 2009 at 2:54 am

      aww..am sure I'll love it cos am nuts abt curry leaves...The kuzhambu looks soo soo good Raks..:)

      Reply
    22. Priti

      July 01, 2009 at 3:02 am

      Ok so this will be my next thing to try...looks gud..inbtw made the podi gal...it's gud...eating with everything 😉

      Reply
    23. Chitra

      July 01, 2009 at 5:11 am

      I like this kuzhambu prepared by aunty..i never tried by my own..have to try once:)

      Reply
    24. rekhas kitchen

      July 01, 2009 at 6:06 am

      mmmmmmm I can smell that aroma from here so tempting and those pic.s are very inviting yum yum.

      Reply
    25. Sanghi

      July 01, 2009 at 8:45 am

      I love curry leaf thokku.. looks same with use of tamarind. Will surely try rekha!

      Reply
    26. Hari Chandana

      July 01, 2009 at 4:35 pm

      sounds too good.. looks very tempting.. wonderful clicks 🙂

      Reply
    27. Valarmathi

      July 01, 2009 at 5:12 pm

      Wonderful recipe. Nice click.

      Reply
    28. Sushma Mallya

      July 01, 2009 at 5:54 pm

      First time visit to your blog and that looks just yummy .....especially with the ground curry leaves...love the aroma of curry leaves.

      Reply
    29. Mangala Bhat

      July 02, 2009 at 2:45 am

      Wow! very tempting recipe ! Lovely photos !

      Reply
    30. sriharivatsan

      July 02, 2009 at 6:48 am

      Thatz an amazing click Raji..I do in a different way, grinding tamarind along with curry leaves and never added onions..Will try your version this weekend for sure and will let you know..

      Reply
    31. My Experiments with Cooking

      July 02, 2009 at 9:04 am

      yumm o yumm! I like the last pic best. I bet it is very nutritional too right?

      Reply
    32. Doloncookbook

      July 02, 2009 at 12:26 pm

      Picture looks great & will try it , since i love flavour of curry leave ...Thanks for sharing dear .

      Reply
    33. Viki's Kitchen

      July 02, 2009 at 1:24 pm

      curry leaf kuzhambu sounds healthy.Very new variety of kuzhambu.... must to try.

      Reply
    34. Kitchen Flavours

      July 02, 2009 at 1:48 pm

      Very new to me....love the aromatic flavour of curry leaf in that kuzhambu.....Looks drool worthy....

      Reply
    35. vidhas

      July 05, 2009 at 3:02 pm

      I love this kulambhu Raji. I used to do in a different war. Yours looks yum!! Awesome clicks.

      Reply
    36. Vidya

      July 06, 2009 at 2:23 am

      Kariveppilai kuzhambu looks heavenly. Mouthwatering. We love to have it just with rice and ghee. You're right, it tastes even better the next day.

      Reply
    37. sriharivatsan

      July 06, 2009 at 4:16 am

      I tried your method on sat Raji..It was yummy, even my toddler had that..Tx ma.

      Reply
    38. AnuSriram

      July 06, 2009 at 2:51 pm

      Wow.. thats lovely! Yummy recipe!

      Reply
    39. Anupama

      July 06, 2009 at 10:17 pm

      Love that pic of Kuzhambu. I am also a great fan of Paruppu Podi. Cannot have enough of it.

      Reply
    40. Yasmeen

      July 07, 2009 at 11:23 pm

      Tempting shot,love the generous use of curry leaves,sounds yum!

      Reply
    41. Anu

      July 09, 2009 at 5:35 am

      First time to your blog.. You got a very nice blog and interesting recipes. Kuzambu looks mouthwatering. It's a very different dish will have to try this next time...

      Reply
    42. Deepa

      July 03, 2010 at 4:23 pm

      Rak! You rock. I have fallen in love with your blog. 🙂

      Reply
    43. Hema

      October 06, 2010 at 4:41 am

      I tried this one raks.. it was wonderful.. visit my space @ http://salt2taste.blogspot.com/2010/10/kariveppilai-kuzhambu.html

      Reply
    44. Chitra

      September 16, 2011 at 11:15 pm

      Hi! Saw ur site in foodgawker.com
      Very impressive.I tried curry leaves kulambu.It came out well.Planning to post this recipe in my blog too.Do visit my site if u find time
      http://chitrascuisine.blogspot.com/

      Reply
    45. Vishku

      November 06, 2011 at 1:22 pm

      Hi,
      It looks yummy Will try it and thanks for the notes it helps a lot

      Reply
    46. Poornima

      April 20, 2012 at 11:30 am

      Made this today. Excellent kuzhambu. Thanks for the detailed post. I have made a few of your recipes with great success.

      Reply
    47. Chandra's

      January 11, 2013 at 5:46 pm

      awesome one. I loved this recipe. Great post and keep posting these kinda of recipe for bachelors like to try.

      Reply
    48. Chandra's

      January 11, 2013 at 5:46 pm

      Amazing recipe, cooked it last night.

      Reply
    49. Unknown

      February 19, 2013 at 1:13 am

      Nice recipe and it turned out to be a hit!!!!

      Thanks a lot

      Reply
    50. Serene Lee

      March 30, 2013 at 3:05 am

      hi raks, thk u for the great recipies. as am the beginner in cooking i always used to refer ur websites. i tried this curry leaf kulambu today and it was not thick. so wat i should do for thicking the kulambu. even for smabar or other gravys if it has become watery wat v should do for making it thicker. is there any other ideas.. pls give some tips on this..

      regards, serene lee.

      Reply
    51. RAKS KITCHEN

      March 30, 2013 at 3:08 am

      Use water and sambar powder accordingly. Try using less water and bit more sambar powder.

      Reply
    52. Sarada Subramaniam

      August 24, 2013 at 10:57 am

      Hi
      I made this kuzhambu for lunch..the taste was very good but the colour was not like yours,it was more towards green...

      Reply
    53. Keyur Parikh

      September 22, 2013 at 2:59 am

      Does this kuzhambu have smooth texture or is it lumpy?
      Thanks.

      Reply
    54. Raks anand

      September 22, 2013 at 3:04 am

      With Smooth ground curry leaves

      Reply
    55. Jane

      November 08, 2013 at 7:27 am

      Tried this yesterday for Dinner. Came out well. Tasted good with Chapathi. Thanks for the recipe. My husband liked it a lot!

      Reply
    56. Neeru

      November 09, 2013 at 12:09 pm

      Can I make it with dry curry leaves?

      Reply
    57. Bindhu Maria

      January 24, 2014 at 12:37 am

      I enjoy eating curry leaves. coz it helps grow hair.... and taste cum out well.

      Reply
    58. Bindhu Maria

      January 24, 2014 at 12:37 am

      I tried preparing and its cum so yummy. and adding curry leaves to our daily meals help grow hair and thick.......... Try enjoying

      Reply
    59. Nikki

      April 14, 2014 at 12:29 am

      superb recipe...tried out today...it came out gr8

      Reply
    60. KRUPA NAGARAJAN

      January 01, 2019 at 8:55 am

      Hi..did you mean sesame oil or sesame seeds under the tempering table?

      Reply
    61. Raks Kitchen

      January 01, 2019 at 8:59 am

      Oil, sorry will update. Thanks.

      Reply
    62. Supriya

      October 31, 2020 at 12:38 am

      5 stars
      Tried this today and it came out well. It looked just like in the picture.

      In the 'To temper' table, it says toor dal. Did you mean chana dal /kadala paruppu? Because that's what we usually use to temper.

      Reply
      • Raks Anand

        October 31, 2020 at 7:19 am

        Thank you 🙂 We use toor dal for such kuzhambu and puli charu 🙂

        Reply

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    Raks anand

    Hi, I'm Rajeswari Vijayanand! I am the person behind Rakskitchen, sharing recipes with pictures & videos.

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