Mor Kulambu is a traditional South Indian dish made with yogurt or buttermilk. It has a tangy taste and is lightly spiced. In this recipe, ash gourd is cooked in a smooth coconut paste made with rice, lentils, and spices. The curried dish is finished with a simple tempering and served with steamed rice.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 20 minutes
  • Total time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: South Indian, Tamil Nadu

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon tuvar dal ((arhar dal, tur dal, hulled and split pigeon pea lentils))
  • 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • ½ teaspoon raw rice
  • ¼ cup hot water (- for soaking)
  • 3 to 4 green chilies (or add as required)
  • 1 inch ginger
  • 5 to 6 curry leaves
  • ¼ cup coconut (- fresh and grated)
  • 1.5 cups white pumpkin (- chopped (petha, ash gourd, winter melon))
  • 1 cup water (or add as required)
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1 cup curd (thick and slightly sour, beaten)
  • salt (as per taste)
  • 1 to 1.5 tablespoons oil (- sesame oil or sunflower oil or ghee or preferred neutral flavored oil)
  • ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
  • ¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
  • 1 to 2 dry red chilies (– broken, stems and seeds removed)
  • 1 generous pinch of asafoetida ((hing))
  • 7 to 8 curry leaves

Method

Making paste

  1. Take tuvar dal, coriander seeds, cumin seeds and raw rice in a plate or bowl.
  2. Using a fine tea strainer rinse them. You can use any type of white rice. If you do not have rice, then 1 to 2 teaspoons of rice flour can be added instead while grinding.
  3. Then take all of them in a bowl. Add ¼ cup hot water. Soak for 20 minutes.
  4. Then take the soaked tuvar dal, coriander seeds etc along with the soaked water in a small grinder jar or chutney grinder.
  5. Add chopped green chilies, ginger, curry leaves and grated coconut.
  6. Grind to a smooth and fine paste. Set aside.

Making buttermilk mixture

  1. Take the thick curd which is slightly sour in a bowl or pan. Beat or whisk it till smooth.
  2. Add the ground coconut paste. Then add 1 cup water. Mix very well. Keep aside.

Cooking ash gourd or white pumpkin

  1. Meanwhile when the rice and lentils are soaking, you can cook the pumpkin. Rinse, peel and chop ash gourd into 0.5 to 1 inch cubes. Take the chopped ash gourd in a pan.
  2. Add ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder and 1 cup water. Stir to combine.
  3. Cover the pan and keep it on a medium-low heat. In between do check and give a stir.
  4. Simmer till the pumpkin is almost cooked.

Making mor kuzhambu

  1. Reduce the heat to a low or you can turn off the heat. Then add the buttermilk mixture. Mix well.
  2. Season with salt as per taste. Mix again.
  3. Simmer the mor kuzhambu on a low heat. Do stir occasionally.
  4. The entire kuzhambu has to come to a gentle simmer. Once you see the kuzhambu simmering, then turn off the heat. Cover and keep aside.

Making tempering

  1. Heat 1 to 1.5 tablespoons oil in a tadka pan or small pan. You can use gingelly oil (oil made from raw sesame seeds) or sunflower oil or safflower oil or even ghee.
  2. Add mustard seeds.
  3. Let the mustard seeds crackle. When the mustard seeds crackle, add fenugreek seeds.
  4. Quickly add red chilies, curry leaves and a generous pinch of asafoetida (hing). Stir and turn off heat.
  5. Pour this tempering mixture in the More Kulambu. Cover with a lid for five minutes and let the flavors infuse.
  6. Serve Mor Kulambu with steamed rice.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.