Paruppu Kuzhambhu / Spicy Lentil Soup

             In my childhood , our village often suffered powercuts. On those occasions, my mom used to compensate the ‘Edison’less nights  with her moonlight dinner(Nila Choru). My brothers and me sit around her in the moon lit hall , speaking about all good times. The menu would be rice with either this kuzhambhu or our other favourite, Varutha paruppu kuzhambhu with arisi vathal. The simplest menu though , will taste like heaven when she gives us those balls in our palms. Just wait for your turn for a big rice ball in your palm and eat till she finishes a round. No calorie calculations, just keep chatting and eating till your heart and stomach is filled with joy and food.

Ingredients for paruppu kuzhambhu

Ingredients

Toor dall- 1/3 cup

Medium yellow onion-1

Medium tomato- 1

Tamarind- amla size

Dry red chillies- 4/5 nos

         Cut the onion and tomato into wedges and cook the dall , onion, tomato and chilies in a pressure cooker till the lentils are cooked soft. My mom usually adds a few drops of oil when cooking for some good reason.  Add tamarind/ tamarind extract and salt  to the dall and grind it to smooth paste. Back home, my mom always uses a  chatti and maththu  to mash the dall. If you are lucky to have those ,  you may prefer to use them for better taste.  Dilute it to the consistency of rasam.

           Do the thalippu with vadagam , add and heat . When the kuzhambhu is about to start boiling , turn off the heat.

Rice floating in paruppu kuzhambhu

           The trick is to balance the heat , salt and sour . If you can hit the correct balance, this will be a great hit in your home. To me, this is my ULTIMATE COMFORT FOOD.

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21 thoughts on “Paruppu Kuzhambhu / Spicy Lentil Soup”

  1. revathi says:

    nila choru markamudiyuma ? For us fish kozhambu, sambar sadam with sardines fry.. oh my godd… Got back memories..
    thanks for the post

  2. revathi says:

    nila choru markamudiyuma ? For us fish kozhambu, sambar sadam with sardines fry.. oh my godd… Got back memories..
    thanks for the post

  3. Purnima says:

    Lakshmi, the daal looks super! Its new recipe for me, shall surely try it out…U took me down the memory lane, my family used to sit together-talk talk and eat to our heart’s content…(oil is generally used so that daal gets cooked without splattering in vessel or the cooker) I use a round wooden spatula with rounded handle like a churner to churn the hot daal.. tks for sharing!

  4. Purnima says:

    Lakshmi, the daal looks super! Its new recipe for me, shall surely try it out…U took me down the memory lane, my family used to sit together-talk talk and eat to our heart’s content…(oil is generally used so that daal gets cooked without splattering in vessel or the cooker) I use a round wooden spatula with rounded handle like a churner to churn the hot daal.. tks for sharing!

  5. Suganya says:

    You can send this to Meeta’s Monthly Mingle. Glad to see you posting.

  6. musy says:

    The last picture says it all! Sheer delight! Good to see your posts again, dear!

  7. Mythreyee says:

    This is a very good recipe. As you said, this is a wonderful comfort food on a cold day.

  8. Srivalli says:

    Thats wonderful taking a trip down the lane…nila choru was also dal and rice for us…but this used to happen in our village…great thinking back on them..your dal looks good!

  9. vimmi says:

    The dal looks yummy. comfort food is so good, makes us feel we are with our loved ones. I put a few drops of oil in cooker so it does not froth too much and water des not come out while cooking

  10. divya says:

    Hi

    it looks yummy.I am a new blogger.plz do encourage me.
    http://dhivyaskitchen.blogspot.com/

  11. Kaykat says:

    This is definitely a comfort food – sounds perfect especially with the cold weather out here.

  12. Kaykat says:

    This is definitely a comfort food – sounds perfect especially with the cold weather out here.

  13. divya says:

    hi it looks yummy,great job

  14. divya says:

    hi it looks yummy,great job

  15. uma says:

    dear madam,
    i m from mangalore,
    orgin tamil nadu,
    i m a vegetarian and i m interested in cooking,
    and i want to know about the making of eggless cake in cooker, since i m not having oven, i dont know to make cake in cooker pls tell to how to do.
    thanks

  16. uma says:

    dear madam,
    i m from mangalore,
    orgin tamil nadu,
    i m a vegetarian and i m interested in cooking,
    and i want to know about the making of eggless cake in cooker, since i m not having oven, i dont know to make cake in cooker pls tell to how to do.
    thanks

  17. uma says:

    dear madam,
    i m from mangalore,
    orgin tamil nadu,
    i m a vegetarian and i m interested in cooking,
    and i want to know about the making of eggless cake in cooker, since i m not having oven, i dont know to make cake in cooker pls tell to how to do.
    thanks

  18. Menu Today says:

    Hi Lakshmi,
    Very comforting food…

  19. Shvetha says:

    Hi..I had a doubt. You have said – cook all the ingredients in pressure cooker. You have also mentioned “grind”. Do we grind everything? Meaning dal, onion,tomatoe and chillies along with tamarind water??

    Please do let me know.

    I have just started cooking recently.

    1. lakshmiammal says:

      After pressure cooking everything, do grind it in a mixer/blender.

  20. nagarajan.krishnamurthy says:

    dear amma, even though i am attained the age of seventy,
    being guide for cooking i can also callyou as amma.. in goodsence
    i am seeking your guide line for lemon pickle for preservation and ellu podhi
    can you instruct me to do the things
    thanking you yours n.krishnamurthy.,
    [email protected]

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