Paruppu Urundai Kuzhambu is a traditional South Indian dish that is popular in Tamil Nadu. It is a tangy and spicy gravy made with lentil dumplings (paruppu urundai) that are cooked in a tamarind-based sauce. The lentil dumplings are made by soaking and grinding split yellow lentils (toor dal) and mixing them with spices and herbs, then shaping them into small balls and steaming or frying them. The tangy sauce is made by cooking tamarind pulp with a blend of spices, onion, garlic, and tomato, and then adding the lentil dumplings to it. The dish is typically served with rice, and it is a nutritious and filling meal that is rich in protein, fiber, and essential nutrients.
Paruppu Urundai Kuzhambu
Course: KuzhambuCuisine: Indian, TamilDifficulty: Medium6
servings2
hours30
minutesIt is a tangy and spicy gravy made with lentil dumplings (paruppu urundai) that are cooked in a tamarind-based sauce and served with rice
Ingredients
Thuvar Dhal – 3/4 cup
Tamarind – Lemon size
Sambar Powder – 1 heaped tablespoon
Turmeric powder – ½ teaspoon
Rice powder – 1/2 teaspoon
Coconut gratings – 3 tablespoon
Oil – 2 tablespoon
Mustard – 1 teaspoon
Asafoetida Powder – 1/4 teaspoon
Big Onion – 1/2 chopped finely
Sambar Onion – 5 chopped finely
Curry leaves – few
Salt – 2 teaspoon or as per taste
Directions
- Soak thuvar dhal in water for about 1 to 2 hours.
- Soak separately tamarind in one cup of water.
- Wash the dhal and drain out the water completely. Put it in a mixie and grind it in “pulse mode” to a thick coarse paste (like vadai dough).
- Add ½ teaspoon salt, one teaspoon sambar powder, a pinch of turmeric powder, pinch of asafoetida powder, chopped onions, one tablespoon coconut gratings and few curry leaves chopped to the paste. Mix well.
- Make a small lemon size balls.
- Squeeze out the tamarind and extract the juice. Add more water and again take out the remaining juice. The tamarind juice should be of 3 to 4 cups.
- Add sambar powder, turmeric powder and salt to the tamarind juice. Bring to boil.
- When it starts boiling, add four to five dhal balls and reduce the heat to medium. Allow to boil.
- When it starts boiling again, then add four more balls.
- Again wait for the Kuzhambu to start boiling. Add three to four more balls and finish all the balls like this.
- Once you finished all the dhal urundais, gently turn them with a spoon. Keep the flame to low.
- Grind two tablespoon coconut gratings to a fine paste and add to the boiling kuzhambu.
- Season it with mustard, asafoetida powder, chopped onion and curry leaves.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Some people steam the dhal balls and add to the kuzhambu. You can also do it. However, when you prepare kuzhambu as above, the dhal balls cook in the kuzhambu itself and all the spices will go inside the dhal and tastes good.
I tried the paruppu urundai kuzhambu recipe but i seasoned it with onions & tomatoes,its also tasty.
Some people preferred me to add toor dal and bengal gram dhal in equal proportion… Is it right??
Hi Viji,
Yes. You can mix both the dhals. But using only the toor dal give soft balls.
I have tried this, but the balls are not easy to break after cooked? y??
Hi,
May be, you have added more tice. Or you have ground it more. Try without adding rice and the dhal should be ground coarsely.
i am new to this site maam…it is sooooo very useful to me as a beginner….thank u….
Welcome Samyu. Thank you for writing.
Hi, I have tried this recipe and it came out really well. I am going to try all your Kuzhambu recipes daily……..
Thank you Monaa. Nice to hear that this recipe came out well.
Hi maami namaskaram.If i add the urundais without steaming, won’t they get dissolved in gravy?.Please guide.I am planning to make this in a couple of days.Thank you maami
Hi Meenakshi,
No. It will not dissolve. The rice in the dhal paste will bind it. But make sure the dhal paste is firm and coarse and you will be able to make perfect balls. Add 2 to 3 balls first while the Kuzhambu is boiling well. Wait for few minutes and then add another batch.
hi aunti,
i was really confused to prepare lunch everyday bez my father in law is pure vegetarian N my hubby is non vegetarian……but after seeing ur kuzhambu recipes i felt really happy N am going to try all ur recepies day by day….. thanks……
eager to see ur upcoming recipes
Thank you Nisha Karthick for kind words. Please try and let me know the result.
HI mam, i wanted to try this receipe. But i heard that paruppu urandai is always made using Kadalai paruppu. Can you pls explain.
Also, would like to see more receipes from you on panneer and mushroom
Hi Nandhini,
Some people make Urundai with Kadalai Paruppu and some with the combination of kadalai paruppu and thuvaram paruppu. But I always prepare this Kuzhambu only with Thuvar dhal and it is softer also. For mushroom and panner recipes – will try some recipes and post it soon.
namaste aunty
i an new for this site so i am treing to make simple recipes first.this is the first recipe i have tried and comes very well.thank u so much.
Welcome to our site Pallavi Prasad. Hope you will find the recipes helpful to you.
I tried this today. The lentil balls came out very well and soft. Thanks for this wonderful recipe.
Thank you Yayini for your kind feed back.
Hi madam,
I’m new to this site… First of all I enjoyed to see the picture of the receipe before try to make it… picture itself makes me to try it with full of joy. really very thanks..
can u pl post some receipes with panneer…
Welcome to our site Kanimozhi Sivakumar. Hope you will find the recipes useful to you. Will try to post paneer recipes shortly.
Hi, iv been seeing ur recepes 4 somtime bt only now tried ur recepes and it was a huge hit among my friends. thank u
Thank you Praveen.
Hello ma’m…
I’m newly married and we’re from Udupi. My mother in law was out of town and we had sudden guests. But I didn’t know anything to cook except rasam! So just googled out for kuzhambu recipes and searched for spl one’s… I just read “urundai” and blindly decided to do it at any cost. Since we liked anything to be spicy, I added few green chillies also to the dough. It came so nice that I was left with only one ladle of it to taste. I made this recipe with lot of “menakkedal” but it was worth. Guests didn’t knew I was cooking for 1st time. Your recipe made the magic! You don’t know how happy I am…. And so this comment became a long story…
THANK YOU SO MUCH….
Hi Radhika,
I am really happy to note this kuzhambu came out well for you, that too first time. You are a great cook.
Hello. Thank you for this wonderful website. I have one suggestion. When listing recipes that contain soaked tamarind, would it be possible to list the equivalent tamarind concentrate (and water ratio) for those using this method? I use Camicon Brand. It would be very helpful. Thank you.
I have used yellow split peas dal and Tempering with tomato and onion. This gives the delicious taste.