Garlic is known as Poondu in Tamil.
My cousin Viji, who had come home yesterday for Janmashtami celebration, shared this wonderful recipe with me. She told that she had seen this in a TV cookery show and that it is a very authentic dish from Chetinadu Cuisine.

It’s a very simple and easy to make recipe. When I heard the recipe yesterday, couldn’t wait to try my family is very fond of Chetinadu Cuisine. Am so glad that I made this today. It was very yummy and my family, as expected, loved it:)

Ingredients

Tamarind – Lemon ( small) sized

Poondu ( garlic) – 2 pods

Onion- 2 medium sized

Tomato- 2 medium sized

Curry leaves – 3 tbsps

Red chilli powder – 1 tsp

Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp

Sesame oil – 2 tbsp

Mustard – 1 tsp

Fennel seeds ( saunf/ sombu)- 1 tsp

Fenugreek seeds( methi/ vendhayam)- 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves – few

Method

Soak tamarind in a cup of water for 30-45 mins. Squeeze well and take the extract.

Peel the garlic.

Peel, wash and finely chop the onions.

Wash and chop the tomatoes finely.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add the garlic cloves and sauté till it turns golden brown.

Remove the garlic and curry leaves and sauté till it turns crisp.

Reserve some garlic for garnish.

Grind the remaining garlic and curry leaves to a coarse paste.

Heat the remaining oil in a pan. Add mustard. When it starts spluttering, add the fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds and some curry leaves. Sauté for few seconds and add the finely chopped onions. Add little salt and sauté till the onions turn golden.

Now add the chopped tomatoes,turmeric powder, red chilli powder and salt to taste. Mix well and sauté till the tomatoes become very soft.

Add the tamarind extract and let it boil till the raw smell of the tamarind goes away.

Add the garlic and curry leaves paste and mix well. Check for the seasonings. Let it simmer till the oil oil starts floating on top.

Garnish with the golden crisp garlic cloves and serve the Kuzhambu hot/ warm with steamed rice drizzled with dome da same oil:)