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Poricha Kuzhambu is an easy Moong dal and vegetable gravy recipe. This is an everyday dish in so many Tamil homes and uses moong lentils as its base. Think of this as a cousin of Kootu

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south Indian Poricha Kuzhambu served in a steel bowl — Enjoy Poricha Kuzhambu with hot rice and Poriyal

Ingredients

Moong dal – this is the base of the Kuzhambu and adds body and volume to it.
Vegetables – I have used a combination of eggplants, drumsticks and raw mango. You can also use any variety of gourds like bottle gourd or even squash varieties like pumpkin and chayote here.
Tempering – for which we will use coconut oil and regular south Indian spices like mustard seeds
Ground spices like sambar powder and ground turmeric along with salt
A spice paste that uses fresh coconut, dry red chilis and rice flour

Make this in the Instant Pot

A while ago, I shared a small video on Instagram where I showed how I prepped multiple dishes in one go in my Instant Pot. One of them was this Kuzhambu.

You can make this in the Instant Pot or in any electric pressure cooker. This recipe works in a Ninja cooker too.
If you do not have an electric pressure cooker, you can cook this on the stove top in a regular pressure cooker too.

Substitutions

A solid Tamil style recipe, this one uses fresh coconut generously. If you live in a place where access to fresh coconut is not easy, then use

unsweetened desiccated dry coconut in place of the fresh coconut here or
frozen fresh coconut that has been thawed

Variations

Instead of moong dal, use Toor dal or red lentils. Both have similar texture and work really well here. If you are experimental, you can also use yellow lentils.
Any squash or gourd variety is great here. You can make Poricha Kuzhambu out of any thing from Kabocha squash to ridge gourds.

Serving Suggestions

Since we don’t use any tamarind here, I recommend serving this with Vatha Kuzhambu or Milagu Kuzhambu and a south Indian style stir fry like carrot beans Poriyal or Vazhakai Varuval.

A wholesome South Indian Thali with Poricha Kuzhambu, rice and Vazhakai Podimas — This is a minimal south Indian Thali with Poricha Kuzhambu

Recipe Notes

Traditionally, this recipe involves roasting spices along with raw rice and grinding this with the coconut. My version is a quick and easy shortcut version without any roasting involved.
Adding raw mango gives this Kuzhambu a unique and distinct flavor. It is optional but I highly recommend it.
As with any recipe that calls for lentils, in this too, I recommend soaking them before getting started.
This is a slightly thick Kuzhambu. It does thicken further as it cools down. Feel free to adjust the consistency by adding up to 1/2 cup hot water and bringing it to a gentle boil before serving.

Method

Assemble the ingredients for grinding the spice paste first. If you need to thaw the frozen coconut, begin with that.
Place the moong dal in a colander and wash thoroughly until water runs clean. Soak the moong dal with 1.5 cups water and set aside.
Insert the inner pot into the Instant Pot, plug in and press SAUTE mode on NORMAL. Set the timer to 10 minutes.
Wait for the display to read HOT. When it does, add the coconut oil and allow it to heat up for 10 to 20 seconds.
As soon as the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and wait for them to pop. Immediately, add the curry leaves along with the chopped mango, drumsticks and eggplants.
Saute for 2 mins.
Press CANCEL.
Now, drain the moong dal in a colander and add it to the inner pot along with 2.5 cups water, turmeric powder and sambar powder.
Stir and scrape the bottom of the pot to deglaze.
Ensure that the sealing ring has been fitted properly into the Instant Pot lid. Close the Instant Pot, turn the VALVE to SEALING.
Press PRESSURE COOK- HIGH PRESSURE and set the timer to 10 mins. Allow the cooking cycle to complete. Wait for the pressure to release naturally.
When the pressure has released, open the lid and mix the moong dal + vegetables mixture.
To a blender, add the coconut, dry red chilis, rice flour and cumin seeds along with salt and 1/2 cup water. Blend this to a smooth paste.
Stir the ground paste into the moong dal mixture. Press SAUTE on NORMAL mode and set the timer to 2 minutes. Allow the SAUTE CYCLE to complete. You will notice that the Kuzhambu thickens as it boils.
As a final step, heat a small pan with 1 tsp coconut oil. Saute a few curry leaves until they crisp up and pour this over the Kuzhambu. Serve hot with rice.

You can watch the detailed step by step recipe video by clicking the JUMP TO VIDEO button at the top of this page.

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