Vendakka Mor Kozhambu

My husband remarked recently that I do not cook many tamil dishes. Well, it is kind of true. But believe me I am not to blame for that. He loves roti so much. So during week days we mostly eat that. So weekends are my old chance to make south indian. That too one of the days, we go out somewhere. So it is packed lunch.

Today I just took the opportunity to create a super simple kozhambu made of yogurt and spiced with coconut, green chillies and curry leaves.



Ingredients

Okra/Vendakka 8-10
Curd 2 cups
Water 1 cup
Coconut 3/4 cup
Green Chilli 1 (add more for spicier version)
Curry Leaf few
Mustard 1/2 tsp
Jeera 1 tsp
Turmeric 1.5 tsp

Method of Preparation

1. Grind coconut, green chilli and part of curry leaf into a smooth paste by adding a little water.

2. Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard. When it sputters, add the jeera, curry leaves and turmeric. Add turmeric according to taste. I like my kozhambu nice and yellow. So I added a lot. Also note that this step can be done right at the end and added to the kozhambu. I did it now as I did want to use more oil and also no second pan.

3. Chop the okra into big pieces (3-4 pieces depending on the size). Add to the pan.

4. Saute till it is almost cooked.

5. Meanwhile, in a bowl take the yogurt. Add the ground coconut paste. Add some of the water as needed and mix well.

6. Once the okra is almost done, add the yogurt mix. Cook in low-medium flame from this point. Otherwise the yogurt will kind of curdle.

7. Simmer for a little while (around 5 minutes) and switch off.

Serve with rice. My favourite side with this is cabbage thoran.

Linking this to Onam Special @ Sharan's Samayalarai