Orange Peel Vatha Kuzhambu

Orange Peel is popularly used in many cuisines, and South Indian cuisine is no exception. We make a sweet, tangy and slightly bitter sauce with it (also called as pachidi), and use the dried peel powder in flavorings. My mom recently experimented by making a Kuzhambu (a tangy and spicy gravy) with orange peel and she said the dish tasted really good and unique.

So, upon her successful experiment, I took down her recipe and tried it. True to her word,  it truly is unique tasting, for who has tried orange flavored kuzhambu? It is incredibly flavorful if you are a fan of oranges. Both my husband and I loved the kuzhambu. I must say, there was no hint of bitterness despite me not removing the white pith from the orange peel. I think stewing it in tamarind (and some jaggery/brown sugar) eliminated the bitterness. It was spicy and orangey with a trace of lingering sweetness! Highly recommended.

The recipe is very similar to a standard Vatha Kuzhambu, with just a few tweaks and additions.

Ingredients (serves 4):

1. About 2 inch ball of tamarind (depending on how tart the tamarind is; 2" is usually sufficient). 
2. the peel of 1 orange - cut into pieces (comes to 3/4 cup)
3. 1 tablespoon olive oil / vegetable oil
4. 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
5. 1 teaspoon bengal gram dhal / kadala paruppu / channa dhal
6. 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
7. 1 tablespoon ghee / clarified butter (optional)
8. 2 teaspoons jaggery / brown sugar
9. 1 dried red chilli (do not add if you want it mildly spiced)
10. 2  - 2.5 teaspoons sambar powder
11. 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
12. few curry leaves
13. 1 tablespoon rice flour/rice powder (sometimes besan is used instead of rice flour)
14. 1/8 teaspoon hing / asafoetida
15. 1 teaspoon salt (or as needed)

Preparation:

1. Soak the tamarind in 2 cups of hot water for 20 minutes. Squeeze the juice out of the pulp and drain the tamarind extract. Repeat the process by adding 1 more cup of lukewarm water to the remaining pulp and extract more juice. Repeat a third time if you think the pulp can be juiced more. Discard the pulp.
2. Heat oil in a medium-size saucepan. When hot, splutter mustard seeds, and then add fenugreek seeds, hing, gram dhal and curry leaves. Fry for a few seconds. 
3. Add the orange peel and saute on medium heat for 5 minutes.
4. Add turmeric powder and sambar powder and fry the spices for a couple of minutes.
5. Add the extracted tamarind juice, an additional 1 cup of water and salt, and let the whole thing boil on medium heat (uncovered) for 35-40 minutes until the mixture reduces in quantity and becomes concentrated. Add more water (if needed) and if you think it tastes too tart. 
6. Add jaggery/brown sugar (to balance the tartness)
7. Mix rice flour in 1.5-2 tablespoons water and mix well. Whisk into the kuzhambu to thicken it. Reduce the heat, and simmer the kuzhambu on low heat for 5-10 minutes until it thickens. Add more rice-flour-paste to thicken the kuzhambu more (if needed). 
8. Remove from heat and mix a dollop of ghee (optional but recommended)

 Enjoy with steaming rice and vegetables on the side!