Orange Peel Kuzhambu is yet another sweet and sour and mild rice accompaniment prepared with orange peels (of course). I should say it’s the cousin of puli Kuzhambu or Vathal Kuzhambu. I am a big fan of Kadarangai Pachadi or gojju, so I thought of mimicking that with orange peels.
The first ingredient that came into my mind starting with O was onions and then Oats. But I wanted to try something different. When I was preparing my Narthangai pickle, we were discussing other citrus fruits and veggies and that’s when the idea of orange peel gojju stroked. Instead of preparing it as a thick gojju, I thought of preparing it more like Kuzhambu. It can be called as Pachadi, Kuzhambu or Gojju. But not to confuse this with Gothsu which is different from gojju.
When it comes to the full meals in Tamil Nadu – Sambar, Kuzhambu and rasam are the major rice accompaniments. Some serve Mor Kuzhambu or Butter milk sambar or Vathal Kuzhambu or Puli Kuzhambu. As I have posted the other two before, here I am with Kuzhambu. You can find the Leeks sambhar that I tried here. Now back to the recipe,
Ingredients:
- Orange Peel – 2 cups (approx)
- Oil – 1 tbsp
- Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
- Methi Seeds – 2 tsps
- Hing – 1 tsp
- Tamarind Paste – 1 tbsp mixed in 1 cup of water (If using tamarind, soak a small gooseberry sized tamarind in water and extract about 1 cup of juice)
- Water – 1 cup (for tamarind extract)+ 1 cup + 3 tbsps
- Sambar Powder – 2 tsps
- Jaggery – 1 tbsp
- Salt – 2 tsps
- Curry leaves – 1 strand
- Rice flour – 1 tsp
Steps:
- Wash the orange, peel the skin and chop them into squares.
- Mix the tamarind paste in 1 cup of water and set aside.
- Heat the pan or kadai and add oil.
- Once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, methi seeds.
- As they start to splutter, add hing, curry leaves and the chopped orange peels and mix them well.
- Cook for couple of minutes and then add the tamarind extract.
- Add salt and let it simmer till the orange peels are tender. (For about 5 minutes)
- Mix the 2 tsps of sambar powder in 1 cup of water and add it to the gojju mix.
- Add the jaggery and let it simmer again for 5 minutes. [Usually we prefer thick gojju / kuzhambu, so I let it simmer for a long time and add 1 tsp of rice flour mixed in 3 tbsps of water. If you want thin consistency you can skip the rice flour completely and add more water and bring it to a boil]
Notes:
- This is a sweet and sour and spicy gojju. The sourness of course comes from orange peel and sambar lodi gives the spiciness and sweetness from jaggery. The above proportion is more sour and sweet. (Kiddo likes it that way) But you can adjust the quantity according to your preference. You can increase the 2 tsps of sambar lodi to about 1 tbsp and reduce the jaggery.
- Orange Peel - 2 cups approx
- Oil - 1 tbsp
- Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
- Methi Seeds - 2 tsps
- Hing - 1 tsp
- Tamarind Paste - 1 tbsp mixed in 1 cup of water If using tamarind, soak a small gooseberry sized tamarind in water and extract about 1 cup of juice
- Water - 1 cup for tamarind extract+ 1 cup + 3 tbsps
- Sambar Powder - 2 tsps
- Jaggery - 1 tbsp
- Salt - 2 tsps
- Curry leaves - 1 strand
- Rice flour - 1 tsp
-
Wash the orange, peel the skin and chop them into squares.
-
Mix the tamarind paste in 1 cup of water and set aside.
-
Heat the pan or kadai and add oil.
-
Once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, methi seeds.
-
As they start to splutter, add hing, curry leaves and the chopped orange peels and mix them well.
-
Cook for couple of minutes and then add the tamarind extract.
-
Add salt and let it simmer till the orange peels are tender. (For about 5 minutes)
-
Mix the 2 tsps of sambar powder in 1 cup of water and add it to the gojju mix.
-
Add the jaggery and let it simmer again for 5 minutes. [Usually we prefer thick gojju / kuzhambu, so I let it simmer for a long time and add 1 tsp of rice flour mixed in 3 tbsps of water. If you want thin consistency you can skip the rice flour completely and add more water and bring it to a boil]
This is a sweet and sour and spicy gojju. The sourness of course comes from orange peel and sambar lodi gives the spiciness and sweetness from jaggery. The above proportion is more sour and sweet. (Kiddo likes it that way) But you can adjust the quantity according to your preference. You can increase the 2 tsps of sambar lodi to about 1 tbsp and reduce the jaggery.
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WOW – so unique – never before heard of using orange peels in this way
:-) Thanks Mir
I have always wanted to make orange peel kuzhambu, but not sure what kind of orange to use. I am bookmarking your recipe to try soon :)
Thanks a lot :-)
Very very very interesting and innovative dish Vidhya. Kudos to you for coming up with this amazing idea.
Thanks a lot for that wonderful comment pavani.
That is one mouth watering dish!! Lovely pick and use of orange peel!!
Thanks a lot Smruti.
Very innovative Pachhadi Srividhya, as Usha said I never would have thought of cooking with orange peel.
Thanks Amara. :-)
This is such an innovative idea Sri :) Do you think there would be slight bitterness from cooking the orange peels?
Thanks. No CH.. The peels has all kind of taste. It was sweet, salty and bit sour and bitter. I loved the peels with curd rice. I just added peels from one orange. I think more than that might add bitterness.
Wow! Orange peels in a gojju? Love the flavor of oranges in there.
:-) Thanks Harini.
Innovative recipe, well done!!
Thanks Bhavna
This gravy would taste and even smell good, I bet. Are the orange peels supposed to be eaten like in the case of lemon pickle or discarded?
They can be eaten Suma. Thanks a lot.
Very innovative Vidhya. Looks so nice..
Thanks Gayathri.
Wow.. i am intrigued to try this one out :)
Thanks Trupti. Please do try and we can prepare it like the traditional gojju.
Never knew Tamilians cooked with orange peels..very nice…
Kadarangai got replaced with this one Srivalli.. ;-);-)
So differently and interesting…. Looks delicious
Thanks Bharani.
yum yum….
Thanks Bhumi. :-)
Very interesting using orange peels , but doesnt it get slightly bitter ? All the same i am loving it .
Thanks Vaishali. :-)
As Usha mentioned Eve n I would have never thought using them in cooking pachadi.Looks tasty though.
Thanks a lot.. The citrus fruits are basically used for gojjus and pachadis sapana.
Its been a while i had this kuzhambu, fingerlicking dish definitely.
Thanks Priya.
This is new and an innovative curry. I never would have thought of cooking with orange peel.
:-) Thanks Usha.. Adding orange zest gave me this idea but there are lot of recipes with orange peels and skin. :-)