Vetha Kolumbu

Vetha Kolumbu is a Tamil Nadu specialty recipe. It was my grandparents' favorite dish. When mixed with rice, the great combination of tamarind and jaggery gives a tangy taste to your taste buds. 

You need:

1. Tamarind - Size of an orange
2. Jaggery 
3. Small sambar onions - 250 g
4. Rice flour - 1 and 1/2 tbsp (optional)
5. Curry leaves
6. Dry red chillies
7. Mustard seeds - 3 tsp
8. Urd Dal - 2 tsp
9. Fenugreek/Methi seeds - 1 tsp
10. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
11. Asafoetida (Hing) - 1/2 tsp
12. Sambar powder - 2 tsp
13. Oil
14. Salt

All you need to do is:

1. Soak tamarind in water for half an hour. Make it a paste while you remove seeds, if any. 
2. Take a frying pan, put 3 tbsp of oil and heat for half a minute. Add mustard seeds, hing, turmeric powder, urd dal, methi seeds, curry leaves and dry red chillies. Allow the mustard seeds to splutter. 
3. Add small onions. Fry until golden brown. 
4. Now add, tamarind extract, sambar powder, salt and jaggery as per your taste. Add a little water and let it boil. 
5. Boil the vetha kolumbu until the quantity reduces to a 3/4th. 
6. Add rice flour if you want the vetha kolumbu to be thick. Serve hot. 

Tips:

1. You can use tamarind paste/extract available in the market instead of manually extracting it. Decide the quantity depending on how strong the paste is.  
2. You can substitute any other vegetable for onion, which does not require to be cooked in a pressure cooker.
3. Vetha kolumbu should be taken in small quantities with rice as it has a sour and tangy taste.