Of wedding feasts and Thakkali Getti Kuzhambu

Go to Thakkali Getti Kuzhambu Recipe

This week we bring to you another of Ayah’s favourite heavy on the tomatoes recipes – Thakkali Getti Kuzhambu, a well spiced thick tomato curry, usually served with steamed rice at lunch, but also great with idlis and dosais at dinner.

The life saving rupee gift envelope. Image courtesy: Amazon India

Weddings in Chettinad are a foodies’ paradise, the question of the meal generally being how many dishes make it to the banana leaf. A good answer would be 21, not just because the leaf can’t hold more than that, but also because any odd number ending with 1 is considered auspicious. The downside to this nationwide tradition is the dearth of one rupee coins, especially during wedding season. Apparently, monetary gifts must be in arithmetic progressions of numbers ending in a 1. While there are a number of theories as to why, ranging from the auspicious to the psychological to plain old tradition, none of those matter to me, except for the fact that at every celebration we scrounge around for those elusive coins. Then, voila, a few years ago, some kind soul who must have gotten tired of begging, borrowing or stealing the coins, came up with the brilliant idea of artistically attaching a rupee coin to gift envelopes – what a life saver, despite the fact that said saviour is pocketing more than the extra rupee on the envelope!

Ruminations about the angst caused by rupee coins aside, serving a meal on a banana leaf is a complicated affair worthy of a doctoral thesis! From the selection of the leaf (the tip of the leaf is prized and there dare not be a tear on it) to the direction it is placed (the tip must be to the left of the person eating and the cut edge to the right) to just the right amount of water sprinkled on the leaf (too much and it lands on the guest’s clothes, too little and it’s not enough to clean the leaf) - it all has to be done right. Oh, talking of sprinkling water on the leaf - has anyone seen the cute settu samiyakaarar (wedding cooks) invented plastic bottle sprinklers which sprinkle just the right amount of water? Necessity is the mother of invention indeed! Another stray thought about the progression of important marriage traditions - is anyone else glad that they no longer have to challenge their creaking knees, extended bellies and loose ends of saris (or gaping veshtis / dhotis) to sit cross legged and reach over a gigantic leaf to get to their meal? Make no mistake - the struggle is real! While I do love my banana leaf wedding meals, I, for one, certainly am glad for the progression to meals being served on tables. I must say though, that the progression to buffets, especially at a Chettiar wedding, is sacrilege.

Those stray thoughts aside, let’s get down to the art (or is it a science?) of serving the meal – a time and a place for every dish, for which I am sure some Vedic sort will have an explanation, but I will limit myself to the higher order of service (pun intended). Start with the salt at the bottom left corner, covered by the appalam (pappads), then the vegetables at the top of the leaf, the driest at the left top corner to the wettest at the top right corner. The variety rice makes it to the bottom right corner, leaving the bottom centre of the leaf free for the steamed rice and curries, all served in a particular order – paruppu masial (garlic flavoured moong dal) with a good dollop of ghee is always first, followed by a getti kuzhambu (thick curry), a mor kuzhambu (yoghurt curry), a rasam or a thanni kuzambu (thin gravy) and finally the thayir (yoghurt). The starter thanni soup (thin soup), water (now served in mini-bottles) and the dessert (usually payasam) make their way in cups to be placed along the edges of the leaf. Phew, that was a mouthful and a half and I’m now ready for virtual food coma - if only this pandemic would be done with and I could get to India for more reasons than a wedding meal in Chettinad! Just the other day one of the brats reminded me that it has been over a year since we were at a wedding - ah, the difficulties of life…

That said, I am eternally grateful to Ayah for training me on the nuances of banana leaf eating. Right from gauging when to get to the bhojana hall (dining hall) so that you have the least wait time for a spot at the teeming hall (maybe go right at the beginning or towards the end?), to the right stretch to get to a favourite morsel which is at the farthest corner of the leaf, to the art of eating the drippy rasam and thayir saadam (rasam rice and yoghurt rice) without getting a drop on my sari (ok, that’s a bit of a stretch), to getting the annan’s (literal meaning big brother, but used for any young man that is visible and has a spoon and a bucket in hand) attention to ask for seconds (this I ace), to which is the right way to fold the leaf once you’re done with your meal (my in-laws had to retrain me on this one) - Ayah, you have definitely raised this child right!

Over the next few weeks, we hope to bring you at least a few of the recipes that make their way to the foot and a half long leaf. In the meanwhile, the Thakkali Getti Kuzhambu is a go to favourite as an option for the thick curry served at weddings and Ayah’s version, reserved for special occasions and for times when she had to use up leftover tomatoes, was a rather splendid one, oozing tomatoey goodness by the ladleful and flavoured with just the right amount of spices. This was another recipe that we thought was lost to us, recreated through various Chettinad cookbooks and blogs and triple tested, once by the apprentice who threw up his hands in despair at a failed attempt which according to him tasted more like Ayah’s other tomatoey favourite, the vengaya kos. I will say here that this recipe contains a LOT of tomatoes – more than any other recipe I’ve seen, because... Ayah LOVED her tomatoes! And a lot of oil because… the recipe calls for it.

The curry, a bit cumbersome to make, with a mile long list of ingredients, is best made in bulk and leftovers stored for a few months in the freezer. But I will tell you - it is worth the effort… once in a while. Whether you make it in bulk or halve the recipe, store it or finish it off at one meal, do share a picture with us and let us know if it was worth the effort.

Notes:

1. This version of Thakkali Kuzhambu requires a lot of tomatoes, the riper the better both for the flavour as well as the lovely red colour. I started out the recipe using 1/2 kg of tomatoes, which most recipes calls for (which is why the pictures will show less tomatoes), but ended up having to adjust the recipe.

2. The amount of ground masala used depends on the ripeness of the tomatoes, as it is used both for thickening as well as for balancing the flavours. So, start by adding half the masala and add more if you need to. If you have any left over, it can be frozen for at least 6 months.

3. There is a quite a lot of oil used in the recipe, you may reduce it, but it will impact the flavour as well as the shelf life of the kuzhambu.

4. The recipe serves 6, but can be halved. Alternatively, given that it is time consuming, it may be easier to make the recipe as stated below and freeze half of it. It will last for at least 3 months.

Ingredients:

For Grinding

¼ cup (60 ml / 3 tablespoons) cooking oil
10 dried red chillies, whole
¼ teaspoon fennel seeds (saunph / sombu)
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera / jeeragam)
15 pods of garlic, peeled and cut into halves if big
1 medium sized onion or about 10 Indian shallots, cut roughly into 1/2 inch cubes
Pinch of turmeric
20 gm (~10) unsalted cashewnuts, broken in quarters
1/2 tsp Kaskas (poppy seed) – if you don’t have, leave out
⅓ cup grated Coconut

Other ingredients

700 gm tomatoes (~7-8 medium tomatoes), blanched, peeled and ground to a coarse puree
1 medium onion, minced
3 tbsp red chilli powder (reduce if you want it less spicy)
1 teaspoon coriander powder (dhania powder / malli thool)
Salt to taste (~2 tsp)
2 cups water

For Tempering:

½ cup (120 ml / 6 tablespoons) cooking oil
1-inch piece cinnamon (dalchini / pattai)
¼ bayleaf (tej patta / biryani ilai)
¼ tsp fennel seeds (sombu / saunf)
¼ teaspoon black gram dal (urad dal / ulundam paruppu)
2 sprigs of curry leaves

Optional:

10 pods garlic, peeled and sliced in half lengthwise
Minced coriander and fried curry leaves for garnishing

Method:

1. Grinding the masala:

¼ cup (60 ml / 3 tablespoons) cooking oil
10 dried red chillies, whole
¼ teaspoon fennel seeds (saunph / sombu)
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera / jeeragam)
15 pods of garlic, peeled and cut into halves if big
1 medium sized onion or about 10 Indian shallots, cut roughly into 1/2 inch cubes
Pinch of turmeric
20 gm (~10) unsalted cashewnuts, broken in quarters
1/2 tsp Kaskas (poppy seed) – if you don’t have, leave out
⅓ cup grated Coconut

(i) Heat the oil in a frying pan.

(ii) Add the dried chillies, fennel seeds and cumin seeds. Stir for a few seconds till golden.

(iii) Next add the garlic and sauté for a few seconds.

(iv) Then add the onions and turmeric powder and sauté until translucent.

(v) Next add the cashewnuts and continue sautéeing until the cashewnuts are a light brown.

(vi) Finally add the grated coconut and continue to roast until that is golden brown as well. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. While this is cooling, you can blanch the tomatoes.

(vii) Once cool, grind to a fine paste. Add a little water, up to a tablespoon, if required for blending.

2. Blanching the tomatoes:

700 gm tomatoes (~7-8 medium tomatoes), blanched, peeled and ground to a coarse puree

(i) While the roasted ingredients are cooling, blanch the tomatoes. First core them and then cut a small cross at the bottom (this will make it easier to peel).

(ii) Boil water in a saucepan, put the tomatoes in and boil until the skin starts peeling – this should be about 5-8 minutes.

(iii) Drain the tomatoes and put in some cold water to cool.

(iv) Once cool, peel the tomatoes and blend to make a coarse puree (or alternatively, remove the seeds and mince very fine)

3. Making the gravy:

(i) Heat the oil in saucepan. Add the ingredients listed under tempering. Fry for a few seconds until you get the aroma of the cinnamon.

½ cup (120 ml / 6 tablespoons) cooking oil
1 1-inch piece cinnamon (dalchini / pattai)
¼ bayleaf (tej patta / biryani ilai)
¼ tsp fennel seeds (sombu / saunf)
¼ teaspoon black gram dal (urad dal / ulundam paruppu)
2 sprigs of curry leaves

(ii) Next, add the garlic (if adding) and sauté till light brown.

Optional: 10 pods garlic, peeled and sliced in half lengthwise

(iii) Then add the onions and sauté till they are translucent.

1 medium onion, minced

(iv) Next add the chilli powder, coriander powder and salt and sauté for a minute, until the raw smell goes off.

3 tbsp red chilli powder (reduce if you want it less spicy)
1 teaspoon coriander powder (dhania powder / malli thool)
Salt to taste (~2 tsp)

(v) Finally add the pureed tomatoes.

(iv) Allow all the ingredients to cook in the oil itself for 2 or 3 minutes, until tomatoes are well cooked and the oil starts separating.

(v) Now add half the ground masala and mix well. Add 2 cups water.

2 cups water

(vi) Cook until the gravy thickens a little bit and the oil separates, about 5 minutes. If the gravy starts splattering, you can half cover with a lid. If you need more thickness, add more of the masala. If too thick, add more water. Taste and add more salt / chilli powder as required.

Note: If like me, you started out with less tomatoes and find that its not tomatoey enough, mince an additional tomato, saute in about a teaspoon of oil until mushy and add in at this stage. Continue to simmer for a few minutes until the flavours meld.

(vii) Garnish with minced coriander leaves and fried curry leaves and serve hot with steamed rice or chappati or dosai or idiyappam (string hoppers).

Optional: Minced coriander and fried curry leaves for garnishing