Here is the sweet, sour, and slightly bitter orange peel kuzhambu or gojju recipe with detailed step-wise pictures. A great rice accompaniment and a perfect side for savory gruels and yogurt rice!
As much as I love spicy and sweet flavors, I also love bitter and sour flavors. Don’t we need all the flavors in our food? This orange peel kuzhambu/stew is a recipe with all these flavors. If you love citrus fruits, check out my citron/narthangai pickle, wild lemon rice, and wild lemon gojju for more inspiration.
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Why orange peels?
I consistently look for minimal food wastage and use as much as all part of vegetables and fruits. You can check my pumpkin pith raita and chutney recipes on Youtube where I have insisted on the same.
Coming back to this recipe, yes, orange peels are edible, and you can use the zest in salads and cool drinks and the peels for making candied oranges and this kuzhambu too.
My version of orange peel kuzhambu
We get oranges all year round, but I still love the ones we get during winter and prefer this kuzhambu with winter oranges or cuties. My version of this kuzhambu is slightly on the bitter side as I skip scraping the white parts/pith of the orange peels. We usually have this with yogurt rice or gruels, so it works out well, but if you are trying this recipe for the first time, please follow the tips below.
Tips to remove the bitterness from the orange peels
- Wash the orange peels thoroughly and remove the white pith by scraping them carefully with a knife or peeler. I know it’s time-consuming, but it helps to remove the bitterness. Alternatively, you can also use the cuties/clementines peels.
- You can also soak the orange peels in hot water for 15 minutes and discard the water. Then try scraping the white part.
VVK Tips: Try tasting a small piece of the orange peel; if it’s too bitter, the kuzhambu will turn out bitter no matter what. So try this kuzhambu with the peels that are not-so-bitter.
PS – We all know that it’s hard to remove the bitterness from bitter gourd as it’s the nature of the vegetable. Similarly, there will be a slightly bitter taste in this kuzhambu as well. The above two steps will help to reduce the bitterness to some extent but not entirely.
Ingredients required
To Temper: We start the kuzhambu with the usual tempering, and we need gingelly oil/nallennai, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, curry leaves, slit green chili, and asafoetida.
A note about fenugreek seeds: I always add extra fenugreek seeds and powder for my pickles and kuzhambu varieties. If you don’t prefer the bite of it, reduce the measure.
Onion: I have used half a cup of chopped onions. Alternatively, you can also use shallots. But onions/shallots are optional. I have made this kuzhambu without onion also.
Orange peels: I used the peel of one big orange and got about 1.5 cups. I did not remove the white pith. If you are trying it for the first time, please follow the tips above to remove the bitterness. Also, reduce the orange peel measure to 1 cup.
Spices: We use sambar powder and ground turmeric, and also I used a pinch of roasted fenugreek/turmeric powder which is also optional. I use this roasted fenugreek powder for all kuzhambu varieties and pulikaichal/tamarind rice paste.
Tamarind paste: I used 2 tsp of my homemade tamarind paste mixed with one cup of water. If you are using tamarind pulp/flesh, use a big gooseberry-sized lemon, soak it in water for 30 minutes, and extract the juice.
Apart from these ingredients, we also need rice flour for making the slurry and water for the gravy.
How to make orange peel kuzhambu
- Heat a pan or kadai and add the gingelly oil. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, slit green chili, asafoetida, and curry leaves. Let the mustard seeds splutter and then add the chopped onion and cook until the onions turn soft and translucent.
- Now add the orange peels and saute them for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add one cup of water, salt, and jaggery. Mix well. Cover and cook until the orange peels are soft and tender. It took me 10 minutes.
- Then add the 2 tsp of tamarind paste mixed with 1 cup of water to the orange peels. Simmer the kuzhambu for 5 to 7 minutes over medium-low heat.
- Add the sambar powder and turmeric powder and simmer again for 5 minutes.
- When the kuzhambu is boiling, add the fenugreek powder if using.
- Mix 1 tsp of rice flour and ¼ cup of water, add it to the kuzhambu and simmer until it thickens for 4 to 5 minutes. And that’s it. The kuzhambu is ready.
Recipe Notes
- Usually, we prefer thick gojju / kuzhambu, so I let it simmer for a long time and add 1 tsp of rice flour mixed in ¼ cup of water. If you want thin consistency, you can skip the rice flour completely, add more water, and bring it to a boil.
- Adjust the salt, sambar powder, and jaggery to taste.
- I highly recommend gingelly oil but if you can’t source, feel free to use the oil of your choice.
Dietary specifications and serving suggestions
This orange peel kuzhambu/gojju is naturally a vegan and nut-free kuzhambu. Make sure to use gluten-free asafoetida or skip it for a gluten-free version.
You can enjoy this kuzhambu with plain steamed rice with a dollop of gingelly oil. Or serve it as a side with millet gruel, rice porridge, or yogurt rice.
This kuzhambu stays well for up to one week when refrigerated.
📖 Recipe
Orange Peel Kuzhambu | Gojju
Ingredients
Measurement Details: 1 cup= 240ml; 1 tbsp = 15ml; 1 tsp = 5ml;
- 2 tbsp gingelly oil
- ½ tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp fenugreek seeds you can reduce it to ½ tsp too.
- 1 green chili slit
- 5 curry leaves
- ⅛ tsp asafoetida
- ½ cup onion chopped
- 1.5 cups orange peels chopped into squares
- 2 tbsp jaggery
- 1.75 tsp salt or to taste
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tbsp sambar powder or to taste
- ¼ tsp fenugreek/turmeric powder optional
- 2 tsp tamarind paste
- 2.25 cups water divided
- 1 tsp rice flour
Instructions
- Heat a pan or kadai and add the gingelly oil. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, slit green chili, asafoetida, and curry leaves. Let the mustard seeds splutter and then add the chopped onion and cook until the onions turn soft and translucent.
- Now add the orange peels and saute them for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add one cup of water, salt, and jaggery. Mix well. Cover and cook until the orange peels are soft and tender. It took me 10 minutes.
- Then add the 2 tsp of tamarind paste mixed with 1 cup of water to the orange peels. Simmer the kuzhambu for 5 to 7 minutes over medium-low heat.
- Add the sambar powder and turmeric powder and simmer again for 5 minutes.
- When the kuzhambu is boiling, add the fenugreek powder if using.
- Mix 1 tsp of rice flour and ¼ cup of water, add it to the kuzhambu and simmer until it thickens for 4 to 5 minutes. And that’s it. The kuzhambu is ready.
Notes
- Usually, we prefer thick gojju / kuzhambu, so I let it simmer for a long time and add 1 tsp of rice flour mixed in ¼ cup of water. If you want thin consistency, you can skip the rice flour completely, add more water, and bring it to a boil.
- Adjust the salt, sambar powder, and jaggery to taste.
- I highly recommend gingelly oil but if you can’t source, feel free to use the oil of your choice.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
Wow! It is like I met my perfect twin who loves similar flavors. I make kuzhambu and rasam with oranges too. I love the flavors in this recipe and this is making me go to the kitchen and make it.
Never tried rasam. I will definitely give it a try.
Orange peel curry is an innovative way to avoid fruit waste. Flavors of the curry lent a nice flavor to the peel.
Thanks Usha.
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. :-)