Garlic — a common ingredient that is used for seasoning and flavouring food worldwide. From chutneys to dips to pickles to pasta, garlic is used in enhancing the flavour of the dish. Garlic Curry/Poondu Kuzhambu is a recipe with garlic as the main ingredient. Yes, the flavour of garlic is quite strong. But, so are its health benefits. Without further ado, let’s get to the recipe.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup Pearl/Solo garlic
- 1 cup Shallots
- 1 Onion
- 1 medium-sized Tomato,
- 3 Green chillies
- 2 sprig Curry leaves
- 1 tsp Cumin seeds
- 1 tsp Pepper
- 1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds
- 1/2 tsp Fennel Seeds
- Tamarind small lemon sized
- 1 tsp Salt or as needed
- 1/4 tsp Turmeric
- 2 tbsp Curry powder
- 1 1/2 cup Water
- 4 tbsp Oil(*refer notes)
Preparation:
Soak tamarind in 1/2 cup water for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, peel and chop garlic, shallots and onion. Slit the chillies and chop the tomato. Extract the tamarind and discard the pulp.
Take the chopped onion, cumin seeds and peppercorns in a blender and grind them to a smooth paste.
Heat oil in a wok over a medium to high heat and add mustard seeds followed by fennel seeds and shallots.
Fry them in the oil and let it turn translucent. Add the ground paste and sauté till it starts to brown.
Add the chopped garlic, green chillies and curry leaves. Fry the garlic well in the oil, until the raw smell leaves and a nice aroma arises.
When the colour of the garlic starts to turn, add the tomatoes, salt and turmeric. Mix well.
Then add the extracted tamarind and remaining 1 cup water. Let it boil. Add the curry powder and mix it through. Reduce the heat, cover and cook for five minutes. Take off the cover and cook till a nice gravy consistency is reached.
Take it off the heat and serve hot with rice.
Notes:
- The same recipe can be followed for regular garlic that comes in bulbs as well. Keep in mind that regular garlic cloves cook faster than pearl garlic.
- Prefer using gingelly oil for making this curry it improves the taste. I use gingelly oil for all my recipes unless mentioned otherwise.
