Narthangai in tamil and popularly known as the citron or the kaffir lime belongs to the citrus family. This bitter sweet fruit is usually used in our households to make a kind of salted dry pickle that when eaten with curd rice is manna from heaven. Some of our families have exploited this fruit in making “puli pachadi”, “vathakuzhambu” and also “narthangai rice”. My today’s special is the vathakuzhambu all fragrant with bits of the citron floating in the spiced tamarind base.
I sliced the citron into 1/8th pieces and sautéed them along with spluttered mustard, asafoetida, and chillies in sesame oil. Then added a teaspoon of turmeric, 3 spoons of sambar powder and required salt and gave them a good mix. As they were sizzling in the citron juice and oil, thick tamarind extract was poured in. The mixture was allowed to simmer till the citron was cooked. To thicken the kuzhambu, slurry of rice flour was added. The final finish was with a little of dry roasted fenugreek seed powder and jaggery. Green chillies and curry leaves lend a characteristic flavor to this sumptuous dish which is eaten with hot rice. This tangy fruit is a good digestive, great appetite enhancer and a boon for those convalescing from fever.
- KAFIR LIME – 1 medium
- Tamarind – 1 marble size soaked and extracted in 1 cup of water
- Sambhar powder -3 TSPS
- TURMERIC POWDER – 1/2 TSP
- MUSTARD SEEDS – 1 TSP
- FENUGREEK SEEDS – 1 TSP
- FENUGREEK SEEDS – 1/4 TSP ROASTED AND POWDERED
- ASAFOETIDA – 1/2 TSP
- JAGGERY – 1/2 TSP
- GREEN CHILLY – 3
- SESAME OIL – 1 TBSP
- CURRY LEAVES A FEW
- SALT TO TASTE
