Orange peel vatha kuzhambu, orange skin puli kuzhambu

Orange peel vatha kuzhambu is a south Indian gravy pairs with rice, prepared in a tangy tamarind base, no onion no garlic orange peel vatha kuzhambu that is so simple to prepare.

A reader friend (Bhavadharini Krishna) sent me Orange peel vatha kuzhambu recipe couple of months back, I wanted to try it out as I love such citrus fruit fragrance when we prepare something from it. Lemon pickle, narthangai pachadi, orange peel rasam.

Now since it is Chinese New Year nearing by, I was so tempted to buy oranges from Fairprice as there are variety of oranges available during this time in Singapore. Orange peel rasam was totally different flavour by which orange peel blends with those spices. Vatha kuzhambu was tasting really delicious, I loved it best. So if you have not tried this yet, please go ahead and try it out.

She asked me to try it out with idli milagai podi prepared with sesame seeds, I used my sambar powder too along.

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Orange peel vatha kuzhambu

Orange peel vatha kuzhambu is a south Indian gravy pairs with rice, prepared in a tangy tamarind base, no onion no garlic orange peel vatha kuzhambu that is so simple to prepare.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Servings 3

Cup measurements

Ingredients

• ¾ cup Orange peel chopped
• 1 tbsp Tamarind packed
• 3 Green chilli
• ¼ tsp Turmeric
• 2 tsp Sambar powder
• 1 tsp Idli milagai podi
• ½ tsp Jaggery
• Salt as needed

To temper

• 2 tbsp Sesame oil
• ¼ tsp Methi seeds/ vendhayam
• ½ tsp Mustard
• 1 tsp Toor dal
• 1 Red chilli
• ⅛ tsp Asafoetida
• 1 Curry leaves

Instructions

• Soak tamarind in hot water and extract tamarind juice. Make it 2 cups. I usually pressure cook it when I cook rice, keeping separately in a small bowl. It is easy for extraction.
• Heat a kadai with oil, temper with ¼ tsp methi seeds, ½ tsp mustard, 1 tsp toor dal, 1 torn red chilli, asafoetida and curry leaves.
• Add ¾ cup chopped orange peel, 3 slit green chilli. Stir fry for a minute.
• Add ¼ tsp turmeric, little salt and cook further more for a minute.
• Add to tamarind extract. Add 2 tsp sambar powder, required salt and boil for 4-5 minutes.
• Once it reduces in volume, add idli chilli powder, mix well.
• Add jaggery, boil until the kuzhambu thickens. Switch off flame.

Notes

• Peel the orange skin, soak in water for 5 mins and wash to use. I used mandarin orange’s skin.
• If kuzhambu does not thicken, add 1 tsp rice flour dissolved in water.
• Do not have sambar powder, but you have idli chilli powder, you can skip sambar powder. use just 1 tbsp of idli chilli powder towards end in step 6.
• You can use kashmiri red chilli powder in place of sambar powder for a lovely colour. Jaggery balances all the spices. so don’t skip.

How to make orange peel vatha kuzhambu step by step: 

1. Wash and chop the peeled orange skin roughly.

1. Soak tamarind in hot water and extract tamarind juice. Make it 2 cups. I usually pressure cook it when I cook rice, keeping separately in a small bowl. It is easy for extraction.

1. Heat a kadai with oil, temper with ¼ tsp methi seeds, ½ tsp mustard, 1 tsp toor dal, 1 torn red chilli, asafoetida and curry leaves. Add ¾ cup chopped orange peel, 3 slit green chilli. Stir fry for a minute.

1. Add ¼ tsp turmeric, little salt and cook further more for a minute.

1. Transfer to tamarind extract. In goes 2 tsp sambar powder, required salt and boil for 4-5 minutes.

1. Once it reduces in volume, add idli chilli powder, mix well.

1. Add jaggery, boil until the kuzhambu thickens. Switch off flame.

Serve with hot rice, sutta appalam and potato curry (suggestion by the reader)