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    Home » Recipes » Kuzhambu & Other gravies

    Thakkali kuzhambu recipe, south Indian gravy

    December 24, 2012 by Raks Anand 34 Comments / Jump to Recipe

    Thakkali kuzhambu, learn how to make tomato gravy for rice! Tangy and yummy gravy with tomato, onion , coconut milk.

    thakkali kuzhambu
    Thakkali kuzhambu
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    • thakkali kuzhambu recipe

    Thakkali kulambu/ thakkali kuzhambu – I drool 😋even when I say that. I like this a lot but never got chance or had a recipe to try.

    When I was going through the recipe book mom gave me, this suddenly fell in my eyes.

    I have scanned this book several times with my eyes for recipes to try, but somehow this recipe has been ignored by me.

    So at last I tried this and loved it to the core. I had this two times with hot rice the day I made it.

    It's so yummy and rich with coconut milk in it. Usually the tomato kuzhambu recipe will be with ground coconut and fennel, this one was totally different.

    And I am sure I would make this often here after. I just followed the recipe as such in the book as I was making it for the first time.

    tomato kuzhambu
    Tomato kulambu

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    Vazhakkai curry recipe

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    Vazhakkai curry recipe, made with raw banana cooked in a coconut based masala, a quick and easy to prepare recipe but turns out delicious and flavorful.
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    Stepwise images

    1. Boil enough water in a vessel firstly and add the tomatoes to keep immersed for 20 seconds to half a minute. Then take it out and you should be able to peel off the skin like just we do for potatoes.
    peel

    2. Grate coconut and grind it with ¼ cup water and strain/ squeeze to get first milk using a broad metal strainer.

    Again add ¼ cup lukewarm water to the coconut remain and grind again to extract second.

    step 2 coconut milk

    3. Keep both extracted milk separately. Meanwhile, mash the peeled tomatoes well with your hands. Peel the shallots and slice them lengthwise.

    step 3 mash

    4. Heat a kadai/pan with oil and splutter mustard. Add curry leaves,green chillies and onion. Fry until golden spot appears over the onion.

    temper

    5. Add the second extracted thin coconut milk, 1 & ¼ cup water, the mashed tomatoes, sambar powder.

    Boil for 5-6 minutes in medium flame or until desired thick consistency is reached.

    step 5 boil

    6. Lastly add the first extracted coconut milk,salt and boil until oil separates and floats on top.

    step 6 coconut milk

    Thakkali kuzhambu ready! Who wants tangy, yummy thakkali kuzhambu?

    thakkali kuzhambu
    Thakkali kuzhambu

    Check out my tomato rasam recipe.

    Recipe card

    thakkali kuzhambu
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    thakkali kuzhambu recipe

    Thakkali kuzhambu, learn how to make tomato gravy for rice, tangy yummy gravy with tomato, onion , coconut milk.
    Course Side Dish
    Cuisine South Indian
    Prep Time 20 minutes
    Cook Time 20 minutes
    Servings 3
    Cup measurements

    Ingredients

    • 4 Tomato
    • 12 Small onion shallots
    • 10 Green chillies Medium spice
    • 2.5 teaspoon Sambar powder
    • ½ cup Coconut milk from ½ of a coconut
    • Salt

    To temper

    • 3 tablespoon Oil
    • ½ teaspoon Mustard
    • 1 teaspoon Fennel seeds Optional (I did not add)
    • 1 sprig Curry leaves
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • Boil enough water in a vessel firstly and add the tomatoes to keep immersed for 20 seconds to half a minute.
    • Once done, take it out and you should be able to peel off the skin like just we do for potatoes.
    • Grate coconut and grind it with ¼ cup water and strain/ squeeze to get first milk using a broad metal strainer.
    • Again add ¼ cup lukewarm water to the coconut remain and grind again to extract second.
    • Keep both extracted milk separately.
    • Mash the peeled tomatoes well with your hands. Peel the shallots and slice them lengthwise.
    • Heat a kadai/pan with oil and splutter mustard. Add fennel seeds (if adding) curry leaves, green chillies and onion.
    • Fry until golden spot appears over the onion.
    • Add the second extracted thin coconut milk, 1 & ¼ cup water, the mashed tomatoes, sambar powder.
    • Boil for 5-6 minutes in medium flame or until desired thick consistency is reached.
    • Lastly add the first extracted coconut milk, salt and boil until oil separates and floats on top.

    Notes

    • Use red ripe and tangy tomatoes for best results. (Naatu thakkali)
    • If you feel the tomato is less in tanginess, you can add a tablespoon of thick tamarind extract in this.
    • Don't think 10 chillies are too much for this, it will be needed to balance the tanginess.
    • You can replace sambar powder with 1 teaspoon red chilli powder and 1 & ½ teaspoon of dhaniya powder.
    • If you want it on more spicier side, add more chilli or chilli powder.
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Vardhini

      December 24, 2012 at 7:51 pm

      Looks terrific Raks. My mom makes a version of tomato kuruma that I drool over all the time :). The coconut in this kuzhambu reminded me of the kuruma. 🙂

      Vardhini
      Event: Bake Fest

      Reply
    2. Anu

      December 24, 2012 at 11:36 pm

      Thakkali kuzhambu with coconut milk would have tasted wonderful, even I drool for thakkali thokku and kuzhambu.

      Reply
    3. Veena Theagarajan

      December 25, 2012 at 12:13 am

      This is my hubby favourite and mum's speciality.. yours looks simple and yummy love the color!
      http://great-secret-of-life.blogspot.com

      Reply
    4. Nagalakshmi V

      December 25, 2012 at 1:48 am

      i too love tangy kuzhambu. yesterday made a version of this since i was craving it so bad.

      Reply
    5. Sowmya D.S.L

      December 25, 2012 at 1:55 am

      I love tangy tomato kuzhambu a lot !! thanks i m gonna give this a try 🙂

      Reply
    6. Sudha Sabarish

      December 25, 2012 at 4:33 am

      Always love to have this with roti,dosa and rice.But never tried with the coconut.Looks yummy.

      Reply
    7. APARNARAJESHKUMAR

      December 25, 2012 at 4:44 am

      we love this kind of kuzhambu instead of milk i use to grind the coconut ! 🙂 always yummy

      Reply
    8. Chitra

      December 25, 2012 at 9:41 am

      Loved its color. will try sometime..As u said i know only the coconut , fennel version 🙂

      Reply
    9. Jiboombaa

      December 25, 2012 at 11:56 am

      Mouthwatering kulambu! love it...

      Reply
    10. Jayanthi Karthikeyan

      December 25, 2012 at 9:50 pm

      Nice colourful clicks.

      Reply
    11. Shylaja Praveen

      December 26, 2012 at 12:20 am

      Delicious Kuzhambu raks. Nice alternative to regular Sambar and vetha Kuzhambu

      Reply
    12. Kalpana Sareesh

      December 26, 2012 at 5:36 am

      i simply love it...

      Reply
    13. Nivedhanams Sowmya

      December 26, 2012 at 8:56 am

      Beautiful pictures... so rich in color and so healthy!!!
      Sowmya
      Ongoing Event - Let's Party - Eggless Bakes and Treats
      Ongoing Event - SYF & HWS - Ginger

      Reply
    14. Shama Nagarajan

      December 26, 2012 at 9:32 am

      Yummy and inviting !!join me in Fast Food - Poha event in my blog here : http://easy2cookrecipes.blogspot.in/2012/12/fast-food-poha-aval-flattened-rice.html

      Reply
    15. Subha

      December 28, 2012 at 5:23 pm

      I tried this yesterday for Dosa when friends visited. Turned out great. I used coconut milk instead and still tasted great. Thanks so much for a quick, easy and delicious recipe.

      Reply
    16. Sharmilee! :)

      January 03, 2013 at 9:55 am

      Can almost see the flavour in ur clicks...nice variation kuzhambu, looks yum

      Reply
    17. Radhika

      January 24, 2013 at 7:10 am

      Wow d pic is sooo tempting..gr8 job Raks..this is sumthg vry new to mee..gonna try it today itself.thnx!!

      Reply
    18. Radhika

      January 24, 2013 at 3:19 pm

      This comment has been removed by the author.

      Reply
    19. Radhika

      January 25, 2013 at 12:31 am

      Raks it turned out super..thnx!!

      Reply
    20. Radhika

      January 25, 2013 at 12:31 am

      Raks..it turned out so delicious..my hubby kept on saying..too gud so yumm...etc am so happy thnx!!

      Reply
    21. Nithya

      April 16, 2013 at 3:32 pm

      hi raji , thakkali kulambu simply super

      Reply
    22. Karkuzhali

      June 10, 2013 at 7:06 pm

      hi, i tried this today, came out very well,
      myself & my hubby liked this very much, nice recipe,
      thanks

      Reply
    23. Durga

      September 14, 2013 at 9:52 am

      Tried and it's delicious...

      Reply
    24. jaya chithra

      October 28, 2013 at 2:26 pm

      cool kozhambu

      Reply
    25. jeya preethi

      October 29, 2013 at 7:09 am

      sema taste!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i cooked .

      Reply
    26. Mahalakshmi

      November 25, 2013 at 8:50 am

      Very nice photos!

      Reply
    27. suchitra

      December 08, 2013 at 6:49 am

      Hi Raks........Kulambu looks great...will try soon...Where did you buy the vessel in which you made Kulambu.?..Is it made of glass? It looks transparent....

      Reply
    28. suchitra

      December 09, 2013 at 8:20 pm

      Hey Raks....Kulambu looks great....will try it soon.Can you pls tell me where did you buy the vessel in which you made kulambu? It looks transparent like it is made of glass.....

      Reply
    29. Raks anand

      December 09, 2013 at 8:28 pm

      I bought that here in Singapore. A type of corning ware. Called VISIONS.

      Reply
    30. jananb4u

      December 24, 2013 at 11:56 am

      Hi Raks, tried this yesterday night for dinner along with idly... it came out so well.. my mom doesn't like fennel, n all those masala items.. she was surprised with this taste without any masala items... u know some thing, normally she eats 4 idlies, with this she ate almost 6!

      Thank u ...
      Jan

      Reply
    31. Ahilaa Kamuthurai

      June 03, 2015 at 9:05 am

      Tasted delicious...made our Sunday 🙂

      Reply
    32. Deepa

      September 07, 2016 at 10:03 am

      Tempted and delicious. Tried it in home and turned out super good result

      Reply
    33. Pooja Ashok

      May 31, 2020 at 11:38 am

      Hi! I want to try this but the grinding of coconut to extract milk is daunting. Can I use canned coconut milk? How do you recommend we adjust the quantity?

      Reply
      • Raks Anand

        May 31, 2020 at 2:53 pm

        Sure can use the canned ones. Dilute with water and use. You can add around 3-4 tbsp for this recipe. Adjust water quantity.

        Reply

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

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