Curry Leaves Thokku-Karuveppilai Thokku

The curry leaves plant in my garden had lot of fresh curry leaves. I did not want to waste it. Apart from adding tender curry leaves to sambar, rasam and all my curries, I made Karuveppilai podi (Curry leaves podi) and this delicious thokku. Though both are prepared from curry leaves, they taste different. This curry leaves thokku goes well with idly, dosa, chapati, curd rice and parathas. It can also be had mixed with hot rice topped with a tsp of ghee or sesame seed oil. It tastes awesome. Now to the Karuveppilai thokku recipe-

Curry Leaves Thokku-Karuveppilai Thokku

 Prep Time : 10 mins

 Cook Time : 15 mins 
 Yields:1 Cup
 Recipe Category: Pickle
 Recipe Cuisine: South Indian
 Author:Padhu Sankar

   Ingredients needed

   Curry leaves/Karuveppilai - 1 cup tightly packed
   Chilli powder - 1 1/4 tsp or according to your taste
   Tamarind - Small gooseberry sized ball
   Fenugreek powder -1 tsp
   Salt needed

   For the seasoning

   Oil -2 1/2 tbsp
   Mustard -1 tsp
   Hing/Asafoetida - a generous pinch

Preparation

Dry roast fenugreek seeds and powder it. Usually I dry roast 1-2 tbsp of fenugreek seeds, powder it and store it to use for my pickles and thokkus.

Soak tamarind in 1/4 cup of water and extract its juice. Discard the pulp.

Wash curry leaves and grind it with a little water to a smooth paste.

Method

Heat oil, add mustard, hing, when mustard splutters, add the ground paste and cook for a few minutes.

Then add tamarind water, needed salt, chilli powder and cook until oil separates.

Finally add a tsp of fenugreek powder, mix it well and switch off the flame.

After it cools, store in a clean bottle and use it when needed. It stays good for about 10-15 days in the refrigerator.

Tips for the busy women -If you do not have much time on hand to do any elaborate cooking, just mix this thokku with hot steamed rice, top it with a tsp of sesame seed oil/ghee and enjoy it with chips or papads or appalam. It tastes divine. It is also a perfect lunch box recipe.You can also use leftover rice.

If you found this post useful, I would really love it, if you pin it or share it with your Facebook fans or Twitter followers or Google+ circles today. All it takes is a simple click on the “pin it” “like,” “share,” “tweet,” or Google+ buttons below the post. It will keep me motivated. Thank you!