Vendhaya Keerai Kozhambu

Ingredients:

1. Methi leaves - 2 cups (cleaned and chopped)
2. Tamarind - size of a lemon
3. Solid asafoetida - 1/2 inch piece
4. Red chillies - 2 or 3
5. Sambhar powder - 2 tsp.
6. Oil - 3 tsp.
7. Mustard - 1 tsp.
8. Corn flour - 1 tsp. (optional)
9. Jaggery - 1/2 inch piece (optional)
10. Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Soak tamarind in one cup of water and extract the pulp.
2. In a kadai, heat oil and add mustard.
3. When the mustard splutters, add asafoetida, red chillies and the methi leaves and saute for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the tamarind pulp.
5. Add sambhar powder,salt and bring to a boil.
6. Keep boiling for around 5-10 minutes on a low flame.
7. Add corn flour or rice flour to very little water and make a light paste. Add this to the boiling gravy to thicken it. If you do not want the gravy to be thick, you can skip this step. Also you can add a small piece of jaggery if you like it.
8. Remove from flame and serve with hot rice and ghee/gingelly oil.

The same procedure can be used for Kozhambu with other vegetables. Replace methi leaves with thinly sliced onions, whole shallots, lady's fingers cut into 1 inch pieces or brinjals diced into 1 inch cubes. Add some methi seeds and curry leaves to the seasoning in this case.

Since this kozhambu does not use coconut or dal, it can be stored for upto a week when stored in the fridge.