Spicy Kongunad Kozhi Kuzhambu

Spicy Kongunad kozhi Kuzhambu-Kulambu / Chicken Curry/Kurma.

Easy recipe for South Indian Tamilnadu Kongunad style kozhi kuzhambu curry without coconut.-A sunday special. Serve with Rice or Roti/Chapati. With step by step pictures. Spicy Chicken kurma /Murg Korma.

The first time I ate chicken – kozhi Kuzhambu as a kid was at my aunt/my dad’s sisters place as my parents are vegetarian. We would visit my aunt once a month usually on Sundays. Sundays meant meat for lunch. Those days, in most of the homes in South India, meat was consumed only on Sundays. The men folk of the house would generally go and get the meat in the morning. The ladies of the house would start the ritual of grinding the masalas on the stone mortar just after breakfast. I would eagerly wait for lunch time as the whole house would start smelling like flavor town. This kozhi Kuzhambu curry takes me back to my childhood. Food is nothing but memories. This is my Aunt Sarasu Athamas Kozhi Kuzhambu recipe.

In the below picture, Sarasu athama can be seen decorating snack boxes for the grooms folks during my wedding at mid night. She was so tired that she could no longer sit that day. She is now 80. I pray to god to keep her in good health. Come with me and I will show you how to go to flavor town.

Here is the video of the recipe:

This kozhi Kuzhambu recipe has one raw masala paste and one fried masala paste. So lets make them. Shall we?

Kozhi Kuzhambu Raw Masala Paste You will need the following things for the raw masala paste. Grind everything as smooth as possible. You can add enough water while grinding to get the desired texture.

Kozhi Kuzhambu Fried Masala Paste

Heat oil in a pan and add in pepper, cumin seeds, curry leaves, coriander seeds and dry red chillies. Briefly roast for a minute in medium flame. Add in the onions and saute until the onions are slightly brown. Remove off heat. Empty the mixture in the pan to a bowl and let it cool slightly.

Take the empty pan and set on heat again. Do you see those brown bits sticking to the pan? Those are flavor bombs. De-glaze the pan by adding 1/2 cup of water and allowing it to boil for a couple of minutes. Scrape the pan while boiling to remove off all the caramelized bits. Add it to the fried mixture.

Grind the mixture to a very smooth paste. Add enough water while grinding to get a smooth paste.

Now lets start building the flavors. We need to peel and finely chop about half a cup of shallots. Heat oil in a pan and add in 3 sprigs of curry leaves and the shallots. Fry till nice and translucent.

Add in the chopped tomatoes and turmeric and fry till the tomatoes are nicely cooked and juiced down.

Once the tomatoes are cooked, add in both the ground masala paste (raw and fried). Add 2 cups of water or as necessary. Add in the chicken pieces with the bone. Reduce the flame to low and let it simmer on a low flame for 40 minutes. Oh yes. 40 minutes. Stir the curry every 10 minutes once so it doesn’t scorch at the bottom of the pan. Finally add in the salt. My aunt almost always added the salt only at the end for this curry. So I do the same. Now, don’t ask me why?

After 40 minutes, Remove the pan from the heat and serve hot with rice.

Raw Masala Paste:

• 1 pod Garlic
• 1 tablespoon Fennel Seeds
• 1 inch Cinnamon
• 2 Cloves
• 3 teaspoon Poppy Seeds
• 1 small piece 1 inch Ginger

Fried Paste

• 1 tablespoon Oil
• 1 tablespoon Pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon Cumin seeds
• 1 sprig Curry leaves
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 3 dry red chillies
• 2 medium Onion, chopped

For the Gravy

• 3 tablespoon Oil
• 1/2 cup shallots
• 3 sprigs curry leaves
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1.5 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 kg chicken with bone

Raw Masala Paste

1. Grind everything as smooth as possible. You can add enough water while grinding to get the desired texture.

Fried Masala Paste

1. Heat oil in a pan and add in pepper, cumin seeds, curry leaves, coriander seeds and dry red chillies. Briefly roast for a minute in medium flame. Add in the onions and saute until the onions are slightly brown. Remove off heat.
2. Take the empty pan and set on heat again. De-glaze the pan by adding 1/2 cup of water and allowing it to boil for couple of minutes. Scrape the pan while boiling to remove off all the caramelized bits. Add it to the fried mixture.
3. Grind the mixture to a very smooth paste. Add enough water while grinding to get a smooth paste.

For the gravy

1. Heat oil in a pan and add in 3 sprigs of curry leaves and the shallots. Fry till nice and translucent.
2. Add in the chopped tomatoes and turmeric and fry till the tomatoes are nicely cooked and juiced down.
3. Once the tomatoes are cooked, add in both the ground masala paste. Add 2 cups of water or as necessary. Add in the chicken pieces with the bone. Reduce the flame to low and let it simmer on a low flame for 40 minutes. Oh yes. 40 minutes. Stir the curry every 10 minutes once so it doesn’t scorch at the bottom of the pan. Finally add in the salt.
4. After 40 minutes, Remove the pan from the heat and serve hot with rice.

• Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Category: Main
• Cuisine: South Indian

Raw Masala Paste:

• 1 pod Garlic
• 1 tablespoon Fennel Seeds
• 1 inch Cinnamon
• 2 Cloves
• 3 teaspoon Poppy Seeds
• 1 small piece 1 inch Ginger

Fried Paste

• 1 tablespoon Oil
• 1 tablespoon Pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon Cumin seeds
• 1 sprig Curry leaves
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 3 dry red chillies
• 2 medium Onion, chopped

For the Gravy

• 3 tablespoon Oil
• 1/2 cup shallots
• 3 sprigs curry leaves
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1.5 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 kg chicken with bone

Raw Masala Paste

1. Grind everything as smooth as possible. You can add enough water while grinding to get the desired texture.

Fried Masala Paste

1. Heat oil in a pan and add in pepper, cumin seeds, curry leaves, coriander seeds and dry red chillies. Briefly roast for a minute in medium flame. Add in the onions and saute until the onions are slightly brown. Remove off heat.
2. Take the empty pan and set on heat again. De-glaze the pan by adding 1/2 cup of water and allowing it to boil for couple of minutes. Scrape the pan while boiling to remove off all the caramelized bits. Add it to the fried mixture.
3. Grind the mixture to a very smooth paste. Add enough water while grinding to get a smooth paste.

For the gravy

1. Heat oil in a pan and add in 3 sprigs of curry leaves and the shallots. Fry till nice and translucent.
2. Add in the chopped tomatoes and turmeric and fry till the tomatoes are nicely cooked and juiced down.
3. Once the tomatoes are cooked, add in both the ground masala paste. Add 2 cups of water or as necessary. Add in the chicken pieces with the bone. Reduce the flame to low and let it simmer on a low flame for 40 minutes. Oh yes. 40 minutes. Stir the curry every 10 minutes once so it doesn’t scorch at the bottom of the pan. Finally add in the salt.
4. After 40 minutes, Remove the pan from the heat and serve hot with rice.

• Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Category: Main
• Cuisine: South Indian

Find it online : https://www.kannammacooks.com/spicy-kongunad-kozhi-kuzhambu-chicken-curry-kurma/

Plain Vanilla Sponge Cake – Moist and Fluffy.

Your search for soft and spongy Vanilla cake ends here. This is the best basic recipe for simple, fluffy, moist plain vanilla sponge cake with butter and hot milk. With step by step pictures.

This Vanilla Sponge Cake is very close to my heart. This is my mums favorite cake. She calls it tea cake. She would have a piece of this cake with coffee in the evening. This cake is the lightest, fluffiest and tastiest simple plain vanilla sponge cake ever. It is called as the hot milk cake. This old-fashioned cake has been around for a very long time. It’s a very delicate and moist cake. “If you look over the years, the styles have changed – the clothes, the hair, the production, the approach to the songs. The icing to the cake has changed flavors. But if you really look at the cake itself, it’s really the same.” -John Oates.

Preheat the oven to 350F/180C. Line and grease two 8 inch round pans and keep them ready. Take a large mixing bowl and add the eggs, sugar and vanilla in it.

Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water. Heat the eggs,sugar and vanilla until slightly hot, stirring constantly to prevent curdling. Don’t move away. Constant stirring is the key..Else you will end up with sweet curdled eggs. Agh….I have done that before and you cannot do anything about it. So all eyes on the bowl. OK.

Keep stirring until all the sugar is completely dissolved. Run your fingers in the batter and feel the batter. It should be smooth. If its grainy, stir for some more time. This whole process can take between 3-5 minutes. Remove the bowl from the water bath. Note: Indian sugar granules are really big. Grind the sugar once in the mixie and add or use castor sugar so it dissolves completely.

Now, lets start whisking. Using the whisk beater, beat the mixture on high speed for 5 minutes or until triple in volume. If you are using a hand beater you might need to beat for at least 10 minutes. Its important that you beat for the above said time. Do not stop after 3-4 minutes even if it looks done. Trust me, the eggs are doing their work. It should form a light ribbon when the whisk is pulled up.

Combine flour and baking powder and sift. Add it to the batter. Whisk until smooth.

In a small saucepan, heat milk and the melted butter just until the mixture is slightly hot. Add the hot milk mixture to the batter. Gently whisk to fold in the batter.

The batter will not be thick. Pour the batter in two 8 inch pans and bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Do not open the oven for the first 20 minutes of baking. Cool on a wire rack.

Update: A reader used only 1.5 cups sugar instead of the two cups and informed me that the cake turned really well. Using less sugar makes the cake lite too! I tried it and I liked it too!. The original recipe uses two cups of sugar.

• Measurements used – 1 cup = 240ml , 1 teaspoon =5ml
• 2 and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (maida)
• 2 and 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1.5 cups to 2 cups sugar (use 1.5 cups for a very lite cake)
• 4 eggs at room temperature
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 and 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (use the real kind)

1. Preheat the oven to 350F/180C.
2. Line and grease two 8 inch round pans and keep them ready.
3. Take a large mixing bowl and add the eggs,sugar and vanilla in it. Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water. Heat the eggs,sugar and vanilla until slightly hot, stirring constantly to prevent curdling. Keep stirring untill all the sugar is completely dissolved. Run your fingers in the batter and feel the batter. It should be smooth. If its grainy, stir for some more time. This whole process can take between 3-5 minutes.
4. Using the whisk beater, beat the mixture on high speed for 5 minutes or until triple in volume. If you are using a hand beater you might need to beat for at least 10 minutes.
5. Combine flour and baking powder and sift. Add it to the batter. Whisk until smooth.
6. In a small saucepan, heat milk and melted butter just until the mixture is slightly hot. Add hot milk mixture to the batter. Gently whisk to fold in the batter.
7. The batter will not be thick. Pour the batter in two 8 inch pans and bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

• Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 40 mins
• Category: Dessert
• Cuisine: American